Elon Musk Says It's 'Easy To Keep Yourself Alive' In America—He Lived On $1 A Day Eating Hot Dogs And Peppers, Citing His 'Low Threshold For Existing'

Easy for him to say. With a net worth near half a trillion dollars, Elon Musk could probably survive on vintage caviar and moon cheese if he wanted to. But according to the Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder, survival in the U.S. doesn't require much more than a dingy apartment, a computer, and some discount hot dogs.

Before becoming the richest man in the world, Musk set out to prove to himself that even if all his grand ventures crashed and burned, he'd still be fine. Literally. In a 2015 interview on StarTalk Radio, he told astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, "In America, it's pretty easy to keep yourself alive… So my threshold for existing is pretty low."

Don't Miss:

• Fast Company Calls It a ‘Groundbreaking Step for the Creator Economy' — Investors Can Still Get In at $0.85/Share
• Earn While You Scroll: The Deloitte-Ranked #1 Software Company Growing 32,481% Is Opening Its $0.50/Share Round to Accredited Investors.

To test that threshold, Musk challenged himself to live on just $1 a day for food. His grocery list? Hot dogs, oranges, pasta, green peppers, and a big jar of sauce. "You get really tired of hot dogs and oranges after a while," he said, laughing.

For perspective, that $1-a-day budget would break down to 33 cents per meal. In today's economy, that won't even buy a slice of bread in many cities. And for the more than 44 million Americans struggling with food insecurity, Musk's self-imposed challenge reads less like resilience and more like a luxury experiment.

Still, the point wasn't to romanticize struggle—it was a mental exercise. "If I can live for a dollar a day, then at least from a food cost standpoint… well, it's pretty easy to earn like $30 in a month anyway, so I'll probably be okay," he reasoned.

Back in the mid-1990s, when Musk first tested his $1-a-day survival challenge, grocery prices looked very different. All-beef hot dogs averaged around $2.03 per pound. Today, that same pound of hot dogs runs over $5.20, based on the most recent federal data. That's a 150% jump, making meat a much pricier staple. 

Trending: An EA Co-Founder Shapes This VC Backed Marketplace—Now You Can Invest in Gaming's Next Big Platform

A loaf of white bread cost under $1 in most stores back then. Now it averages about $1.87—not as dramatic, but still nearly double. Pasta, one of Musk's go-to survival foods, has also crept up. Once 69 to 89 cents per box, it now sells for $1.50 to $2 on average. The numbers show that Musk's "low threshold for existing" diet hasn't just aged—it's inflated.

But the frugality didn't end when the money started rolling in.

In 2022, Musk's ex-partner Claire Boucher, known as Grimes, told Vanity Fair in 2022 that his bare-bones lifestyle continued well into his billionaire years. One time, when their mattress had a hole on her side, Musk refused to buy a new one—he told her to bring the spare from another house instead.

Grimes said their shared $40,000 rental had no security, curious neighbors peeking through the windows, and so little food that she once resorted to eating peanut butter for eight days straight. "Bro does not live like a billionaire," she said. "Bro lives at times below the poverty line."

See Also: Missed Tesla? EnergyX Is Tackling the Next $200 Billion Opportunity — Lithium

And maybe that's the throughline: for Musk, discomfort was never a dealbreaker. He didn't need luxury to function—just a mission and a floor to sleep on. "I figure I could be in some dingy apartment with my computer and be okay and not starve," he said.

But for millions of Americans who aren't CEOs, who don't have degrees from Penn or connections in Silicon Valley, the idea that survival is "easy" sounds less motivational and more disconnected.

Still, there's something revealing in Musk's framing. Whether it's rockets, EVs, or peanut butter on repeat, he's always betting that discomfort is temporary—and that survival, no matter how barebones, is just the first step to something bigger.

Read Next: Forget Flipping Houses—This Fund Lets You Invest in Home Equity Like Wall Street Does

Image: Imagn