Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Live Below the Line

Now many of you don't know that I am a student. I am going for a degree in Human Services, there is so much bad in this world, and I want to be one of the people that helps others in their time of need. I'm a fixer, one of the first people to jump in line to help someone who needs it as long as I can, sometimes even if I can't. I had hoped to write about this yesterday, but I didn't get a chance. I hope to update you every day of the challenge.

One of the huge problems in this world is poverty, poverty is the cause of lots of different problems, it is linked to things like crime, disease, death and hunger. Hunger is easy to help, so many people live in excess, they throw away half their food after eating, they can afford to go gout to eat several times a week, they get giant gourmet coffees at the drive through every morning before work. I am not saying that it is not okay to do these things, to each their own, I just hope that the next time someone is paying $7.50 for a coffee they take a moment and remember that this is the budget for many people for 5 days for all of their food.

This week I am taking the Live Below the Line challenge and my chosen charity is The Global Poverty Project. This week I will be eating on $1.50/day. I decided since I do all of the cooking in the house, and because it would help stretch the budget, my husband would take the challenge with me. So, for 5 days and two adults we get $15 for groceries. (I did not include my son in this as I did once a month cooking for him, and most of his meals are already made although he will share most dinners with us.)

If you would like more information or to donate my link is here:
https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/sknoke

To help with this, I did check for sales at my local grocery stores and gas stations for sales.

Grocery List

1 dozen eggs $.99
1 bag white rice $1.00
2 cans of green beans $1.00
1 Gal milk $3.29
1lb butter $1.79
1 Canister oatmeal $1.79
2lbs lentils $1.94
1 bag carrots $1.00
2lbs bananas $1.29 

Total $14.05

The extra change, I am counting towards the staples we have in the house, flour, sugar, etc.  I don't think it's cheating too much since we're also sharing with the kiddo since I'm not including him in the budget. :)

Yesterdays menu:
Breakfast - Oatmeal
Lunch -  Lentil soup
Dinner - Lentil soup and flat bread

I did fine yesterday, wasn't too hungry or anything. :) Quite happy with how it turned out. My husband said the soup was hearty enough to get him through work. So... so far so good. Let's see if we can make it without breaking down.






4 comments:

  1. What an interesting concept. And you aren't even eating Rahmin noodles! Can't wait to read all the installments.

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  2. Wow, good for you! I don't know if I would be able to do this-- speaking honestly here... I donate to a local foodbank here but personally don't think I would be able do $15 a week (I also don't buy $8 coffees -- that's just ridiculous!).

    Good luck with the challenge!

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  3. I'm participating in this too- it's tough, but it's something I try to do anyway...I'd rather have pennies left over to give than an extra twinkie in my belly making my hips bigger :) Good for you!

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  4. Great post! I love this idea!

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