Living Below the Line - Day 5

End of day 5 - the aftermath... I'm not eating that bread crust

It's over!

While yesterday wasn't the hardest day physically, it was definitely the hardest psychologically. On several occasions throughout the day I found myself absent-mindedly getting up to make a cup of tea and having to remind myself I couldn't. I kept thinking, "It's the last day, who will know. What is one more day anyway..." but my resolve stuck and I didn't crack.

I'm also thrilled to announce that I raised $270 towards Live Below the Line, which beat my goal of $250 (of course you can still donate by clicking on the link at the bottom of this post).

I was going to try and use up whatever I had left on the last day, but that would have entailed eating about 10 bowls of porridge which was never going to happen so I'm proud to say I have food left over.

Breakfast - a bowl of porridge with milk (7c)

Mid morning snack - 2 pieces of buttered toast (13c)

Lunch - 2 minute noodles with vegetables and barley in broth (43c)

Afternoon snack - a bowl of porridge with milk (7c)

Dinner - an omelette with zucchini, barley, onion and garlic ($1.25)
This would have been delicious with some cheese, salt and pepper so I'll file it away to try again when I don't have such a strict budget

Not quite Jamie omelette

Day 5 total - $1.95

Week total - $8.36

I learnt a lot this week doing the challenge. I learnt how hard it is to be so strict with what you eat you have to go hungry some days. I learnt that flavour is a luxury that most people can't afford. I learnt that nutrition is also a luxury as I felt drained and fatigued every day of the challenge. And I learnt I can make 1 onion and half a bulb of garlic stretch across 5 meals!

I also learnt that social support is one of the most important things when undergoing a struggle like this. I never would have been able to finish this challenge if it hadn't been for the fact that three of my very close friends were doing it with me. Even though we didn't see each other throughout the week (two being in other states) it made all the difference to get an email or a text message in the middle of the day asking how I was going and sharing their struggles. Just knowing my friends were going through the same thing made it easier.

Finally I learnt that living this way is easy when you know you have a plate of bacon and coffee and oven baked pizzas waiting on the other end of the five days, which is something millions of people don't get. While what I put in my mouth matched living below the poverty line for a week I still had an unlimited supply of clean water. I still had a roof over my head and a safe place to sleep. And if worse came to worse, and I got so sick I couldn't continue, I had a support system there to take care of me.

Thank you to everyone who donated throughout my challenge, seeing the numbers climb each day made living below the line worthwhile. A reminder that you can still donate up to the 31st July so if you haven't yet, please drop some money into this very worthy cause.

Now, if you don't mind, I'm off to eat an obscene amount of bacon.

Please support my effors the Live Below the Line Challenge by clicking here. Even a couple of dollars will make the difference! The money raised goes towards educating children in Cambodia and New Guinea in order to break the poverty cycle

Living Below the Line - Day 4

End of day 4 - I'll be feasting on oats & eggs for my last day

It's the last day of my Live Below the Line Challenge and I'm amazed by how quickly I slipped into the routine of counting everything I ate. That being said, I will be exceedingly glad to put the home brand pasta aside on Saturday and eat whatever I like.

Yesterday was relatively non-eventful. With a full day in the office there wasn't much to tempt me which made it easier. I did long for a cup of tea when I got home though. One more day and it will be rivers of tea again.

I had a much easier day of it today which was a combination of being frugal with my food at the start of the week leaving me much more to eat in the last few days and the psychology of knowing it would be over soon.

Breakfast - a bowl of porridge and 2 poached eggs on toast (65c)

Breakfast of kings!

Lunch - 2 minute noodles with vegetables and barley in broth (43c)

Afternoon Snack - 1 pear (33c)

Dinner - Leftover pasta with zucchini & barley (74c)

Day 4 total - $2.15 (I know, I went over by 15c - but considering I ate under $1.50 all the other days of the week, I'll let this one slide)

With only one day left of the challenge I'm reflecting on how lucky I am that come Saturday morning I can eat a plate of pancakes and bacon. I can drink as much tea as I like. I can pop up to the shops for fresh vegetables and free range eggs and chocolate and coffee. I was lucky enough to be born in a country where an education is easily accessible and my parents were able to put food on the table three times a day.

If you can say the same thing I urge you to please donate to Live Below the Line to help give an education to children in Cambodia and New Guinea and release them from the cycle of poverty. I'm only $80 away from my fundraising goal - if just 8 people donate $10 I will make it.

Thank you to the generosity of those who have donated already. I, and others you will never meet, heartily appreciate it.

DFTBA every body!

Please support my effors the Live Below the Line Challenge by clicking here. Even a couple of dollars will make the difference! The money raised goes towards educating children in Cambodia and New Guinea in order to break the poverty cycle

Living Below the Line - Day 3

End of day 3 - Looks like I'm going to be fine for the last 2 days

It's officially half way!

The general consensus across all my fellow LBLer's is that Day 2 sucked beyond the telling of it, but it was definitely the worst.

I also came the joyous realisation that I had been rationing my food so severely that I have a metaphorical cornucopia of foodstuff for the last two days of my challenge. (2 eggs for breakfast today!)

I'm also feeling particularly enthused as I submitted a major assignment last night and am now proceeding rapidly towards the end of semester.

Food for Day 3...

Breakfast - 1 bowl of porridge (getting used to the lack of sweet-stuff on it) (7c)

+ a glass of boiling water (which tastes nothing like tea, but is free)

Boiling water ≠ Tea

Mid morning snack - 2 pieces of buttered toast (13c)

Lunch - noodles and vegetables in broth  (29c)

Afternoon snack - 1 pear (33c)

Literally the best thing I've eaten all week

Dinner - a much better version of pasta where I wasn't so impatient and cooked a nice pasta sauce with fried zucchini and pear parley (74c)

It could still do with some cheese - but much better than the last pasta effort

Day 3 total = $1.56

In just two days I'll be able to eat whatever I want, but there are people the world over that don't have the luxury. Please donate to Live Below the Line to help children in Cambodia and New Guinea break out of the poverty cycle by getting an education.

You can sponsor me in my Live Below the Line Challenge by clicking here. The money raised goes towards educating children in Cambodia and New Guinea in order to break the poverty cycle

Living Below the Line - Day 2

End of day 2 - and there still some frozen vegies in the freezer

The morning of day 2 was probably the worst I've felt so far. I felt extremely tired and light headed. I was having trouble concentrating and keeping my vision in focus. I felt so bad I wondered if I was able to go on at all. After speaking to another friend doing the challenge she assured me it would be okay to have a cup of tea and then see how I felt. So I did, and I did feel better. The rest of the day picked up from there.

Breakfast - 1 bowl of oats and milk (8c)

Mid-Morning Snack - cup of tea with milk and sugar & 2 slices of buttered toast (15c)

Lunch - 2 minute noodles with frozen vegies in broth (29c)

Dinner - the left over horrible pasta from the night before :( (71c)

Day 2 Total - $1.23

After the morning slump, yesterday was easier. I didn't go to bed hungry and I got a good nights sleep. Today is the last of the uphill climb so whatever happens I know it will be over soon.

I can't imagine how awful it would be to go on for the rest of your life living like this, and not having the opportunity to do anything else. Live Below the Line is not just donating  funds to buy people food. They are aiming to break the poverty cycle in Cambodia and New Guinea where peoples choices are between sending their children to school and going hungry or sending their children to work and having a meager amount of food on the table.

By donating you are helping to educate children in these developing countries to break out of the poverty cycle. If you can skip your morning coffee today and donate the money instead that will make a difference.

You can sponsor me in my Live Below the Line Challenge by clicking here. The money raised goes towards educating children in Cambodia and New Guinea in order to break the poverty cycle

Living Below the Line - Day 1

End of day 1 - the pile is reducing scarily fast!

I was going to post this last night but after I ate dinner I was so tired I just went to bed.

Day 1 was very hard. I'd like to think that was the hardest hill to climb (shock to the system and all that) but I think that would be naively optimistic.

The first few hours were okay as I usually eat a late breakfast anyway. I managed to con myself in thinking I was having comforting cups of tea by drinking boiled cups of water. It seems to have worked to some extent as I am drinking one right now as I type this.

Breakfast consisted of a poached egg and two pieces of toast with butter. It was tasty, but didn't fill me up as much as I would have liked.

Poached egg on toast - 39c

By 10am I was starving again so I made a bowl of porridge which was possibly the most uninspiring thing I've ever eaten as I couldn't but anything on it. But it filled me up quite well.

Tasteless Porridge - 8c

I was trying to make it until 2ish until I ate lunch but only got to 1pm before I cracked and made my 2 minute noodles with some frozen vegetables thrown in. I left the broth in and slurped down every last drop. This was quite a satisfactory lunch.

2 minute noodles + vege in broth - 29c

Dinner was... sigh... dinner was horrible. I love my pasta, but I just couldn't love this pasta. Dinner was a combination of various factors that mixed to make the most disappointing dinner ever.

Disappointing pasta - 71c

Recipe for the worst pasta ever

1. Take home brand pasta and mix with a sauce created out of only tin tomatoes, onion and garlic.
2. Of course, you don't have any oil so you use a little butter to fry the garlic and onions with but that burns off so quickly your onions start to stick to the bottom of the pan.
3. You are both not wanting to waste your precious onions and are so hungry you can't wait for anything to cook properly you tip the can of tomatoes in there.
4. You taste the sauce like you would normally and are saddened to discover you can't taste any garlic or onion, just tinned tomato (and we all know how 'great' they taste).
5. Dump the frozen vegetables in and basically just wait until they thaw.
6. Now add your pasta and stare longingly towards the fridge where you have some cheese that you absolutely can't grate on to the top of it.
7. Serve and scowl at your horrible dinner that you also have to eat tomorrow night because you cooked up two batches.

Then I curled up on the couch thinking I should attempt to get some of an assignment that is due tomorrow done, but felt so weak I just went to bed.

And it's only day 1!

Day 1 total = $1.47

Please support my effors the Live Below the Line Challenge by clicking here. Even a couple of dollars will make the difference! The money raised goes towards educating children in Cambodia and New Guinea in order to break the poverty cycle

What you can eat for $2 day

So here it is. The last day of eating whatever I want before I have to survive on $2 day for 5 days. I celebrated by eating a packet of Twisties, 3 sushi rolls and a bubble tea (I have eaten more than that, but these seemed the most extravagant).

The Dashing Hans is taking part along with me so we pooled our shopping resources and managed to get some good bargains.

My weekly list includes:

• 1/2 L skim milk - 50c
• 2 cans of tomatoes - $1.53
• 375g oats - 29c
• 1/2 loaf of multi-grain bread - 75c
• 5 pack of noodles - $1.09
• 1/2 bulb of garlic - 30c
• 500g mixed frozen vegetables - 76c
• 6 cage eggs :( - $1.49
• 250g pearl barley - 71c
• 500g pasta - 69c
• 60g butter - 34c
• 2 pears -66c
• 1 zucchini - 25c
• 1 onion - 45c

Total - $9.81

When you see all the food laid out on the counter and it looks more like what you would have out to cook for one nights meal... that's when it hits home how little you will be living on for the next five days.

Oh God.

Don't forget... You can sponsor me in my Live Below the Line Challenge by clicking here. The money raised goes towards educating children in Cambodia and New Guinea in order to break the poverty cycle

You can follow The Dashing Hans journey through the week here

My friend The Hungry Babushka is also participating and you can follow her progress here

Starting with Sour Dough Starter

It's a good thing I'm not a perfectionist and understand when you try something new for the first time there is going to be a learning curve, because creating a sour dough starter for the first time certainly has one hell of a learning curve.

I've always wanted to try a sour dough recipe. My mum did her own last year to great success, so I was eager to have a go myself. And with my $2 a day challenge coming up on Monday I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try something new and save some money in my piddling $10 budget for the week.

So I dove straight in and read a lot of blogs about sour dough. Most of which recommended buying a pre-made starter until you get a hang of sour dough. 'Ha', I scoffed, 'I bake all the time. Just watch me make a perfect sour dough from scratch first go.' ...

Hmmm, maybe I spoke too soon.

I used a very simple starter from the Stone Soup, and even improvised by using sultanas, which I'd read on another blog as I didn't have any yogurt. 

Day 1 - right after I mixed it together

By the second day I was feeling really optimistic. The starter had doubled in size and was starting to bubble. This is really going to work, I'm really going to be able to make my own sour dough!

Day 2 - my starter behaving exactly how I expected, I feel so proud

But on day 3 I started to worry. This is when the smell arrived. It didn't smell all that bad I suppose, just like something that's been left in the fridge a bit long. I read many blogs again. 'Yes', they said, 'it will smell... a little sweet... a little fruity...' Was it fruity though? I couldn't tell, what if something's gone wrong.

I discarded half the starter into the compost heap like instructed (while trying not to breath in), and fed it with fresh flour and water.

I didn't take a photo because I was a little embarrassed.

So here we are on day 4. I have to confess, I actively tried to ignore my starter today. Every time I went near it I'd catch a waft of the smell and my heart sank a little further and I averted my eyes. Eventually I bit the bullet and had a good look. It wasn't very promising - there was a layer of stagnant water simmering away on the top.

I madly Googled sour dough starter trouble shooting and read further. Expect it to smell, just keep feeding it and discarding half each day. Let it get past the smelly phase.

I don't know though... I've got my doubts that this is going to work. And I certainly don't think I'll be baking with it in the next couple of days.

Looks like it's $1 bread from Aldi then.

Day 4 - the sour dough starter from the black lagoon

Has anyone made their own sour dough starter before? Please share you tips (or condolences as I feel it might be).

Or... share you baking disasters, sometimes it's better to grieve together.

Don't forget... You can sponsor me in my Live Below the Line Challenge by clicking here. The money raised goes towards educating children in Cambodia and New Guinea in order to break the poverty cycle

Can I live on $2 a day?

There's days that I whinge and complain a lot about not having enough. I want to buy new clothes but I can't afford them. I want to buy expensive cheese, but I have to get the tasteless home-brand stuff. I want to drive down the coast for the day, but have to wait a couple of days until I can afford to put petrol in my car.

At these times I feel like I've got it so bad. Why can I not just have a little bit more to make my life easier? It's just not fair.

Well, no actually, it isn't fair. It isn't fair at all and I'll tell you why.

• If you are lucky enough to earn $50,000 a year you are in the top 3% of world wealth.
• If earn $20,000 a year (basic starting wage) you are in the top 13% of world wealth.
• Even if you are on Newstart and only earn $13,000 a year you are in the top 19%.
• 1.3 billion people live in extreme poverty and survive on the equivalent of $2 a day

If we were to live in a fair world a lot of the luck that we have would be spread a little more thinly. We are lucky we have so much.

So I feel it's important to spend some time doing our part for people who have no choice in where they live or what luck they've been dealt. The Hungry Babushka directed my attention to the Live Below the Line challenge that is coming up in a couple of weeks (6-10 May). The goal is to live on $2 a day for 5 days and experience what is like to survive on the extreme poverty line.

What can you do to help support Live Below the Line?

1. You can sign up and try to live for $2 a day yourself 

2. Or you can donate here to help the Oaktree Foundation raise money for those living in extreme poverty.

Let's all be grateful for what we have and spend some time thinking about others who aren't as lucky as we are in Australia.

DFTBA

Debbie x

If you do sign up share the links to your page below so we can support each other going forward.

I'll be posting thoughout the week my trials and successes.