Sunday, December 14, 2008

$30/30 days


Has anyone else seen the story that's been circulating recently about the two married high school teachers in Southern California who gave themselves a food budget of $30 each for a month? For the month of September they spent $60 total on food - three meals a day for two people for thirty days. And they blogged about it, too. It's a very interesting read, if you have the chance. And not terribly long either.


According to their story, there was no political agenda behind this. They just wanted to see if they could. The rules were minimal - ramen noodles only when absolutely necessary, attempt a varied diet, any "freebies" they ate had to be available to everyone (such as fast food hand outs like ketchup and maple syrup). I got the impression that part of their motivation was to make people think about what and how they ate, and the fact that a huge number of people eat this way not to challenge themselves, but because they have to.


I've got to say - it sure made me think. Like an armchair quarterback, I found myself thinking of what I'd do differently. Things I'd eat that they never even contemplated. Ways to buy food cheaper so you could eat more for less. Bulk cooking to provide more variety and be less time consuming. In my head I worked out the whole scenario as it would apply to my family.


And then I remembered. One dollar per person per day. For a month.


More power to them. But count me out.

9 comments:

That Janie Girl said...

That's crazy. I'll go read it!

Pam said...

i saw them & seen a lil bit of their blog. i'm sorry, but i cannot eat oatmeal & pbj sandwiches everyday considering i HATE most oatmeal and peanut butter lol two ppl maybe on $30, but for family of 4 or more (possibly even 3 or more) it would not do. but i guess all over the world there are ppl who eat on less than that a day & some who can't afford to eat at all.

btw i was gonna blog about it, too, but ya beat me to it hehe you're a better writer anyways...i'll just send peeps this way when i post again :)

-Ann said...

I've been trying to cut out food spending as much as possible, but I doubt I could cut it to that degree. That said, there are still things I buy that aren't strictly necessary, but we don't want to cut out every luxury until we absolutely have to.

Irene said...

I live somewhat frugally, but I would not want to live on a dollar a day. It would mean eating hardly anything when I am already so restricted in my diet. I understand the challenge and admire them for trying it, but am not even going to try it myself. Some things I would not want to cut back on, life needs some thing to be enjoyable and food is one of those things, however simple it is.

Maggie May said...

I'm all for trying to cut back a bit..... but life is too short for total deprivation.
I make tasty stews out of lentils and things like that.I wouldn't cut back on fruit and veg or yogurt or seeded bread though.
A bit of common sense is needed to ensure that there are enough vitamins going in......

MarmiteToasty said...

Well my lads eat me out of house and home and most weeks I spend as much as £150 ($280) a week, and often more, especially the weeks I need washing powder and stuff like that.....

But I have given myself a challenge in the new year to try and cut that back considerably what with the recession and every other bill sky rocketing....

I buy at least 6 pints of milk a day, and NON of the above budget goes on take-away meals or processed rubbish......

MarmiteToasty said...

I will just add, thats also feeding numerous girlfriends of my lads throughout the week and members of the bands when they just happen to be here at dinner time and the odd friend of theirs that pop in..... so even though that sounds excessive its feeding well many people....

x

Wisewebwoman said...

I haven't finished reading their blog yet, RC but it got me to thinking of doing much the same and donating money saved to a homeless shelter I support here. I'd have to do something really positive and meaningful with the money saved to get me even remotely interested in such frugal living. I admire them so much for this.
XO
WWW

Susan said...

I enjoy eating and enjoying eating costs more than a dollar a day. A dollar a day doesn't sound healthy, either. The sixteen year old boy probably drinks more than a dollar's worth of milk per meal!