A few of my friends signed up to do the Live Below The Line challenge and after hearing about their experiences, plus about a couple who lived a month on $1 a day in the USA, Beza and I decided to try for 5 days. Each person has a food budget of $2 (2 euros in our case) for the day. This has to include everything you put in your mouth- drinks, ingredients, oil, spices, salt, chewing gum.
Admittedly, we cheated a bit because if you take the exchange rate into account, the $2 AUD a day allowance should only be 1.35 euros. We did this because a) we wanted to see how it would be to live on so little a day and b) now that I'm not working, my bank account is going steadily towards zero.
I've learnt a few things:
If you planned in too little food for the day, you'll get hungry and hunger makes people cranky. Also, no matter how big a salad is, it gets digested within an hour.
We spend a lot of money out just on beers, the odd pincho and snacks without thinking. Spanish culture is so dependent on bars and meeting up with people in cafes and bars- on the 2 minute walk between the gym and our flat there are at least five different bars. Our social life was non-existent that week because you can't afford to spend the day's allowance on one beer.
We didn't budget beer into our food planning and this was a BIG mistake. (OK, this may sound flippant but there were times when I would have gladly exchanged something on the menu for a small can of cheap supermarket beer, 23 cents)
Still, I'm thinking about making this a permanent part of my meal planning. It really makes you think- we have so much but give it so little thought. We consume so unconsciously. One pincho and small wine or beer in Calle Laurel costs 2 euros- there goes your food budget for the day.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
great idea -i'm borrowing a book called the "$21 challenge" you are supposed to spend $21 a WEEK for a family of 4 (that's us, baby doesnt eat). Astounding how one can do it. I'm sure i could. There was also this website about a man/woman who spent $1/day on food for a month. I think it was american. Put me to shame reading it.
Btw, that was me, carobs
Oops - didn't read your post properly (Am so tired!!!) but you saw the website that i was referring to, the $1/day one. Makes you think twice about chucking away food that is a bit discoloured but perfectly edible.
Post a Comment