Australian jobseekers living below the poverty line have been granted an increase to their Newstart allowance of 50 cents a day – or a total of $7 to the base fortnightly payment of $545.80.

That money doesn't add up to much, but what difference could it actually make to the average unemployed or underemployed person struggling to put food on the table each day?

What can you buy from the supermarket with just 50c in your pocket?

A quick shopping trip to Coles confirms this statement from Brotherhood of St Laurence executive director Conny Lenneberg: "You can buy very little for 50 cents a day."

With a 50c coin in your pocket, what exactly could you purchase? Browsing the shelves, we thought it might be possible to buy a single bread roll – but the cheapest bakery items that are sold separately are muffins and hot cross buns, which both come it at $1.