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I think the first year is absolutely horrible. The second sucks, but by year 4, we are home free. here are my ideas.
1. Pick a southern state where there isn't a real chance for dying of exposure, also pick a rural area that is fairly poor. If you look hard enough you can find a crappy shared room for $150 a month. We are talking worse than your dorm room.
2. Learn to hunt and fish--lots of public lands around. Use your work internet to learn to make traps and build your own fishing pole.
3. have a vegetable garden--same as above
I know i could survive on ~$58 a month eating expenses. These guys suggest $20 is doable.
http://getting-green.blogspot.com/20...000-month.html
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In college I got by consistently on far less than $100 in food a month; I actually got by on less than a dollar a day for extremely long stretches. The financial aid office told me I was actually too poor to qualify; they figured nobody could live like that and I must have been lying about my income.