I'm one of the few people that bounces between 70-95% soylent each month. I do the powder which is the cheapest option and it comes out to around $230/mo if it was my only source.
The average per person spending in the US is somewhere close to $300 per person if I recall correctly. Taking that into account with the time savings, and it's really quite cheap as a pure fuel source.
$220 on groceries (not eating out or takeout) for one person is enough to buy good stuff. You could make your own protein/fiber bars, yogurt smoothies, slow cooked foods. A freezer and a slow cooker will free you.
I guess I was taking the "people who can afford " part of your comment as "it's for well off people" when it's actually a reduction in spending for many Americans.
I can see how'd you'd draw that conclusion from what I wrote, sorry for the confusion. I just mean that your money can be better, um... eaten, not that it's some kind of expensive luxury.
This depends greatly on where you live. I grew up in a middle class town in CT but now live in NYC. The price differential for groceries is huge. And compounded by the fact that you don't have a car, so you're limited in the stores you can reasonably go to and bring groceries home from.
NYC isn't totally unique, but it's hardly the norm either. Most of the people I've seen here at least, talking about Soylent, are struggling to find affordable groceries. Almost universally it's a variation on convenience or (to broadly paraphrase) "Freedom from food."
I didn't specify regular, plain yogurt rather than the junk food version because I assumed people were smart enough to know that junk food yogurt is junk, and there is plenty of sweetness from the frozen fruit. I would make a terrible contract lawyer.
Cereal is expensive, and not a great thing to eat most of the time. Make your own breakfast bars, cookies, or muffins. They'll taste better because you can tailor them precisely to your tastes.
