The $3-a-Day Challenge: How a New Yorker Eats Out for Every Meal and Still Saves for Early Retirement

Eating out is often one of the first things someone cuts out of their budget when they're trying to tighten their purse strings, but one man living in New York City has found a way to keep it in his daily budget. Kevin Smedley, who has been making content online under the username "KingKev," tells PEOPLE that the best way for him to save money is actually by eating out for almost every meal.

The 25-year-old has gone viral on more than one occasion for his "What I Spend in a Day" videos, showing all of the local and fast food joints he picks up for his three meals a day (and, of course, the crispy Diet Coke he has upon every visit to his office).

A Deliberate Choice for Happiness

"The best part of the day was eating with my coworkers and going out and getting lunch," Smedley tells PEOPLE of when he realized eating out might be more affordable than he'd been led to believe. "That was my biggest source of happiness, and I contemplated bringing lunch, or maybe I brought lunch a few times, and I just wasn't nearly as happy as when I would just go get Chipotle or whatever it was, and I was like, the $10 for these lunch meals isn't going to kill me."

Smedley, who has a "regular corporate 9-to-5" while using content creation as a side hustle, explains that after a couple of months following this lifestyle decision (coupled with some comped meals from work for overtime), he felt that the happiness it brought him was worth the trade-off and wasn't breaking the bank.

"I just didn't make it to the grocery store for a couple months, let's say, and I was looking at my expenses… I was like, this really isn't that bad," he says. "Yes, I'm spending a little bit more than if I had bought groceries, but I'm pretty happy with my daily life right here. Lunch and dinner are always great. So I just kept it up and just never really wanted to go back to the grocery store."

The Economics of Cooking for One

When Smedley started making his content in early 2025, it was before he moved in with his girlfriend, and he says that in the grand scheme of things, cooking for one didn't make sense.

"It's so hard to get groceries for one. And sure, you can meal prep, and obviously that's going to be way more affordable but that's the exact thing that I don't want to do," he adds. "I'm trying to have some more variety than just eating chicken over rice for every meal that I made last week… But somehow I still eat Chipotle three times a week, so I don't know. I guess I'm lying."

Smedley explains that while it's easy for New York City residents, in particular, to rack up impressively high food bills by eating out regularly, he says, "whatever I'm spending my money on, I try to figure out how to do it as affordably as possible."

Cracking the Code: Rewards, Freebies, and Budget Challenges

To ensure that he's getting the most mileage for his money, he frequently checks for freebies available at various fast-food chains and perks offered through rewards programs. These, he says, are especially handy for his random budget challenges, where he pulls a number from a cup to dictate his spending for the whole day. To date, his lowest daily budget with this series has been just $3.

"There are a lot of creators who post the freebie stuff, and that's their entire content," he says. "I do check those accounts. If I'm doing a random budget and I have a very small budget, I'll pull up one of those accounts and be like, 'Yeah, is there anything that I can get for free today that is publicly stated?'"

Of course, Smedley admits this is only possible because he considers himself a "numbers guy" and keeps meticulous track of his rewards and points across all of his various accounts. But he's also found ways to rack up points that don't involve spending money out of his own pocket.

"It's kind of about staying organized and just remembering. Every time you go, even if you don't go to Chipotle all that often, you can get a free bowl relatively quickly," he says. "But if from time to time you forget to scan your app, that is a big hit to your rewards. So it's all about using it every single time and never wasting it."

The Health Trade-Off

"Obviously my diet is not the best," he concedes, noting that if he were eating at places with some "healthier options it definitely wouldn't be anywhere near as affordable."

Despite the fast-food heavy diet, Smedley has found a balance that works for him. The social aspect of dining with coworkers and the variety of options available in New York City outweigh the nutritional concerns at least for now.

The Bigger Picture: Saving and Investing for Early Retirement

Smedley says being frugal with his daily spending and the money he's now making from his various social media accounts have allowed him to build up his emergency fund and also invest in the stock market (which is where he says all of his money from social media that isn't set aside for taxes goes). Though it may seem excessive especially when some of his monthly income breakdown videos show him netting as much as $9,000 from social media alone Smedley says it's all working toward one simple goal: "I want to be rich one day."

"I feel like one of the easiest ways to get rich is to save as much as you can when you're young. I think early retirement and that kind of stuff is a lot more obtainable than a lot of people give it credit for," he says. "... If you can just be a little bit more reserved, I think not enough people appreciate how easy you can get ahead by saving up some of that money in your early 20s."

A Philosophy for Spending

"Something I try to get across in my content, and I wish I did a better job of it, is I want you to spend your money on the things that make you happy," he clarifies. "You're going to save money if you can spend the money on the things that make you happy, but also save the money on things that don't add that kind of value to your life. And it's going to be different for everybody… if you go to the extreme trying to save money, trying to pinch every single penny, you're going to end up just giving up and spending a lot."

His philosophy is simple: prioritize spending on what brings genuine joy, cut ruthlessly on everything else, and stay consistent. For Smedley, that means eating out daily and using rewards programs and social media income to make it work.

Kevin Smedley's approach to eating out daily in New York City is a testament to the power of intentional spending. By prioritizing what makes him happy, leveraging rewards programs, and maintaining a disciplined savings and investment strategy, he has turned what many would consider a financial liability into a lifestyle that works for him. His message is clear: financial wellness isn't about deprivation it's about alignment.