Day 5: End of the Line

So yesterday was my last day living below the line. After a little bit of time thinking about the past 5 days I realised I have learned a few things...

1: Eating for £1 a day is possible, simple and interesting. Although I stuck to lentils there are plenty of other beans and veggie based meals that would keep me below the £1 mark.

2: I really missed meat and fish. It is surprising how expensive even cheap meat is compared to other protein sources. For example, 2kg of lentils cost me £3, 2kg of Tesco's cheapest beef mince (the one you don't want) costs about £8, almost 3 times as much and without the shelf life so unlikely to last how ever many weeks lentils last (pretty sure they last forever).

3: The markup on pizza is ridiculous. Today my lady and I made a pizza. It had mushroom and ham and cheese and onion and cost about 60p. The same in Pizza Express, you're looking at something nearer £10 or more!

4: Flour costs 45p for 1.5kg, yet you pay how much for doughballs?

5: Three meals a day without snacking is enough.

6: We have it pretty easy over here.

So there you have it, yes lentils got tiresome, but you can live on £1 a day relatively easily if you give up meat. But what made it really easy was having that food available, I had the means to cook them and I could drink water whenever I wanted without fear of dying from dysentery, one of the many diseases I haven't had thanks to the sanitation and hygiene in this country.

Don't drink the water in Oregon.

Those 1.2 billion people I mentioned before, many of them don't have a readily stocked supermarket two minutes away. They are struggling to survive and reminding myself of that fact as I thought about how boring lentils are made me realise how lucky I am to live where I do.


Donations this week were a little disappointing. I have raised £28 for Save the Children, which is quite a bit below my £100 target, but that wasn't the only reason I did it. This blog has had over 300 hits this past week, which suggests some people are at least aware of the campaign and the 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty, so I am still a little proud of myself in that respect.

Friday's total cost looked like this:

Breakfast: 4.6p
Lunch: 30.75p
Dinner:
1/2 a pizza = 22.5p
1/8th of a lentil shepherd's pie = 12.3p
Totalling 70.15p

So my total after 5 days was...

£3.99

A whole week of food for £3.99. Think about that next time you pay £12 for a medium margaritas pizza.
To conclude:
It's been an eye opener, for a guy that is ok with spending £5 at McDonald's for one (unsatisfying) meal I never thought £1 a day was even possible. Looks like it's home made flat breads and lentil soup from here on out! Thanks to those that have supported me and I hope I have inspired you to take action to help those in need and maybe support one of the many charities working to eradicate poverty by 2030.

If you wish to donate, you can do so here...

https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/ryanwhitwell

Thanks again guys and girls! Until next time, peace out and eat your lentils!

Day 4: Final Straight

I am taking part in Live Below the Line for Save The Children. You can donate to my fundraising page here: livebelowtheline.com/me/ryanwhitwell)

Only 24 hours to go!Today I took liberties with my pizza to use up a few ingredients. Now, there is a risk of going a bit nuts with ingredients and racking up the cost (especially with cheese, that stuff is a luxury commodity) so I had to add up what I was going to use before I used it.

Breakfast

Porridge & Jam (4.6p)

Lunch

Spicy lentils I made last night and will have again tomorrow

Big Ol' Pizza

250g Red lentils (37.4p)
1 Carrot (8.7p)
Half a small Onion (1.5p)
1 Garlic Clove (3p)
Crushed Chillis (2p)
Stock Cube (2p)
1 Mushroom (3.6p)
Total for 2 servings = 61.5p

(1 serving = 30.75p)

Dinner

A Big ol' Pizza
150g Flour (4.5p)
Half can of Tomatoes (17p)
2 Mushrooms (7.2p)
Half a small onion (1.5p)
1 Carrot (8.7p)
Cheese (20p)
Chilli flakes (2p)
Total= 60.9

Day 4 total = 96.3p

Bit near the knuckle today, but I was way under the other 3 days so I'll let myself off. The pizza was really good and I'm still surprised at how cheap it was to make, it was probably enough to save some for tomorrow but I was really hungry.

I also got a donation today, yes from my Mum, but it still counts. As does the donation I donated myself bringing my fundraising total to £25! My girlfriend, Maddy, is also taking part in the challenge (you can read her blog here: madalinahanc.wordpress.com) and tomorrow we will have a mini celebration with a lentil shepherd's pie at her place, then it will be back to overpriced coffee and bacon sandwiches!

But I am lucky. I know that after tomorrow I don't have to eat for less than a pound a day. There are around 1.2 Billion people on this planet that are not as lucky, that will wake up on Saturday not knowing when or where they will find their next meal. That is why I have taken part in Live Below the Line and why I am raising funds for Save The Children, who are working to eradicate poverty by 2030 alongside many other charities. If you can donate, please do, or take part in the challenge yourself next week and raise awareness for those affected by extreme poverty. Thanks again for reading.

Day 3: Pizza!

I am taking part in Live Below the Line for Save The Children. You can donate to my fundraising page here: livebelowtheline.com/me/ryanwhitwell)

 Today I did what I do everyday...

I wasn't as tired as the day before (which was good because the boss was very boss-like today). Also I spent much of the day looking at stock images of food, which was a struggle...

Great, more flipping oats!

Breakfast was the same old porridge, lunch was the same spicy lentil soup thing as yesterday, but dinner was pizza! Hooray! Everybody loves pizza! What a treat!

So here's a total for today:

Breakfast 

(same as yesterday) 4.6p

Lunch 

Spicy Lentils
(same as yesterday) 29.7p

Dinner:

Something that isn't lentils!

Pizza!
100g Flour 3p
2 small onions 6.3p
1 mushroom 3.6p
Cheese 15p
Half a Tin of Chopped Tomatoes 17p
Cost of my 1 pizza = 44.9p

Today's Total = 79.2p

Yep, eating cheap doesn't have to be boring. But this isn't for fun, I'm doing this to raise money and awareness for Save The Children and their work to eradicate poverty. If you would like to donate and inspire me to continue my various charity stuff that I plan to do throughout the year then please click the link below and donate whatever you can afford.

https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/ryanwhitwell

Thanks!
If you need me I'll be making my lunch for the final two days. Lentils? Why of course! How did you guess?

I just can't get enough of the little buggers.

Day 2: Lentil Health Problems

Man, already tired of spicy lentils already. After two days all I really want to eat is a bacon sandwich, but alas, bacon is kind of pricey, so lentils and oats it is!

Today I had oats and jam for breakfast and went to work. Now, I don't know if it is the fact I was at work or my dramatic change in diet but I felt tired, really tired, and coffee costs money so I could only have water all day, apart from my lentil lunch, which didn't exactly have me brimming with energy.

Pictured; 2 days' worth of lunch

But home time beckoned and I was soon at home, surrounded by food that was off limits and I would usually have (including beer). But it would all be ok as I would soon be tucking into more lentils and flat bread! Yay.......

So here's today's total,

Breakfast:

Porridge (1 Serving = 50g) + Tbsp Strawberry Jam

Total = 4.3p

Lunch:

"More Lentils"
250g Red Lentils (37.4p)
1 Carrot (8.7p)
2 Small Onions (6.3p)
1 Garlic Clove (3p)
Crushed Chillis (2p)
Stock Cube (2p)
Total for 2 servings = 59.4p

Dinner:

Lentils, all day everyday.

Spicy Lentils with Flat Breads
200g Flour (6p)
1 Crushed Garlic Clove (3p)
1 Small Onion (3.2p)
Sprinkle of Crushed Chillis (2p)
100g Brown Lentils (15p)
Butter (5p)
Cheese (5p)
Total = 39.2


Total for today... 73.2p (I only had half the lunch today, I will have the rest tomorrow)


Waaaay under budget, which is great. Hopefully I can keep this up, but it is taking all of my will power to not munch down a 50p bag of crisps.


Please donate if you can, any amount would be greatly appreciated and would give me the inspiration to keep this thing going. https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/ryanwhitwell

Day 1: Sharing is Caring

Today was the first day of Living Below the Line (Only a week later than most people), I didn't do too much, sat at my laptop and drew pictures of cartoon animals for the most part, so I didn't get too hungry.

So how much money did I actually spend/eat today? Here is a total after Day 1 of me Living Below the Line;

Porridge and Jam

Breakfast:

Porridge (1 Serving = 50g) + Tbsp Strawberry Jam

Total = 4.3p

Lunch:

Spicy Lentils with Flat Bread (2 Servings)

Spicy Lentils and Flat Bread

250g Flour (6p)
1 Crushed Garlic Clove (3p)
2 Small Onions (6.3p)
Sprinkle of Crushed Chillis (2p)
250g Brown Lentils (30p)
Butter (5p)
Cheese (5p)
_________Total 54.3p (for two)

Dinner:

Lentil Shepherd's Pie (Although I'm certain there is no such thing as a lentil shepherd)

Lentil Shepherd's Pie

2 large potatoes (50p)
2 small onions (6.3p)
1 Crushed Garlic Clove (3p)
Half a Can of Chopped Tomatoes (17p)
Crushed Chillis (2p)
100g Lentils (15p)
Butter (5p)

Total 98.3p (but my lady and I had half each)

So for just me the total for today was... 80.6p

So I think I'll treat myself to a cup of tea or two (4p per bag)


Great start. Only 4 days of this penny counting left, then I can drink £3 lattes and eat 70p chocolate bars again!
If you wish to donate and inspire me you can do so by clicking the image here:

Please spare whatever you can this week, it all means a great deal to me and those it will help, like this guy...

Living Below The Line

On Saturday I ate a massive pie...

Today I started to take part in Live Below the Line.

I do charity stuff quite often, last year I walked 50km for Save The Children, more recently I fund-raised for the Sumatran Orangutan Society's Ape-ril campaign. This week I will be taking part in Live Below The Line, which means I will not spend more than £1 a day on food.

Click here to go to my fund-raising page

Live Below the Line is challenging individuals and communities to eat and drink on just £1 per day for 5 days, to bring to life the experiences of the 1.2 billion people currently living in extreme poverty. Think about that figure - 1.2 BILLION - that's nearly 20 times the population of the UK - living every day in extreme poverty.

This morning my girlfriend (who is also taking part) and I drove to Tesco and using a list provided by the LBTL organisers set about shopping for the bare minimum.

One thing that did strike me as odd was the suggestion of a banana for breakfast, apparently they think bananas only cost 11p each... erm, no, try double that. So opting instead for dirt cheap porridge and value strawberry jam as a breakfast (which works out at 3.7p for porridge and 0.6p for jam) we found ourselves taking things seriously and exercising our maths skills.

The way Live Below The Line works is you go by the value of what you are eating, so the limit isn't £5 of shopping for 5 days it's £1 worth of food per day (because looking at the shopping list provided you're not going to get 20p worth of flour from many places). That means bulk buying, so £3 for 2kg of lentils works out at around 15p per serving. When looking at those numbers it doesn't seem impossible, lentils are great!

Shopping done, the total for both of us hitting £18.35, but things like butter, cooking oil, cheese, lentils, porridge, jam and crushed chillis would not all be eaten in 5 days, so we should be well below budget day-to-day.

After food shopping, my girlfriend spent £4 on tobacco and I spent £25 on unleaded petrol and wondered if I could starve for a day and a half and get a doughnut.

Want to send me a donation for Save the Children? Click here and donate away!

Peace out!