[erikpukinskis]

Go ahead and try to plan out a week's worth of meals while building up the list of staples and cookware that you would need to support it.

I've done it. I think $50 is pretty conservative actually. It would be easy just to spend $50 on some fats and spices.

[maxerickson]

If you are talking about avoiding McDonald's to save money, it starts to get easier.

Plain pasta. Plain potatoes. Rice-A-Roni. Hamburger Helper.

Now, should someone stick to that diet for years? No. Will the savings compound at a fantastic rate using that diet? Yeah.

If it is sufficiently horrifying, a person could even limit themselves to the above for ~1/2 of meals.