 |
| Before |
Day 0: Bought as much food as we could for $2.25 per person per day for the five days. That's $22.50 for all food items. The coffee machine was ceremoniously turned off. The wine fridge is still on and the bottles are tantalisingly visible.
Since we start the challenge tomorrow, we felt no guilt going out to a dinner where there was buffet-style dining. It was a delicious last supper.
Day 1: Strangely enough didn't feel like breakfast. Did some more shopping and came in under budget so we have a few cents to play around with to allow for home-grown produce or if anyone offers us a cuppa.
Lunch - Vegemite and lettuce sandwiches and tap water. We're very lucky to have the best tap water in the world. It's fluoridated but not chlorinated, comes from a secure aquifer and the reticulation system is more than adequate.
Dinner - pasta, cabbage and a bit of that giant carrot. Mint, parsely, lemon, thyme and bay from the garden. Used a wee bit of bacon fat from a cup of the stuff we found in the fridge. It wasn't doing anything anyway.
Day 2: Porridge for breakfast, Vicki had toast. Lunch was Vegemite and lettuce sandwiches. Could get a bit sick of these...
Dinner! And this is what it takes to get Vicki to cook! She did a nice rice dish with a tin of tomatoes, mixed veges and breadcrumbs on top. And she thought it all up in her head beforehand. Half an apple each for dessert. Yeah, we really know how to live.
Day 3: Getting good at porridge now; Vicki is getting good at toast. Pushed the boat out a bit with lunch and had budget bake beans and a couple of slices of toast. Vicki had leftovers, which is a turn-up for the books!
Dinner - again I was home, rather conveniently, after Vicki, so she had started the dinner. Plain pasta, a couple of hunks of that massive carrot, a fried egg each, and chips from 4 potatoes. Again with the apple.
Day 4: Again with the porridge; again with the Vegemite and lettuce sammies (three this time because two just don't cut the mustard). Vicki jazzed things up a bit with a lunch comprising a hard-boiled egg on toast.
Dinner - again with the rice/vege/tomato bake thing with breadcrums on top.
Day 5: plain old porridge was zhoozhed up a bit with some old dried fruit I found in the cupboard. Just couldn't face plain old plain old again. Lunch was leftovers from the previous night (almost plain old - treated myself to some seasoning - daring eh?). Vicki's lunch was same as yesterday.
Dinner - I couldn't persuade Vicki to eat the tin of budget spaghetti so I ate it myself to show just how edible it is. Tasted funny. Vicki had plain old rice/veges and an egg. She doesn't need to follow the recipe book for cooking a hard boiled egg any more so things are looking up.
So that's it then! Five days of living below the poverty line. We had food left over, so if we had known, we could have bought something with some flavour. Meat, even!
Day 2: Porridge for breakfast, Vicki had toast. Lunch was Vegemite and lettuce sandwiches. Could get a bit sick of these...
Dinner! And this is what it takes to get Vicki to cook! She did a nice rice dish with a tin of tomatoes, mixed veges and breadcrumbs on top. And she thought it all up in her head beforehand. Half an apple each for dessert. Yeah, we really know how to live.
Day 3: Getting good at porridge now; Vicki is getting good at toast. Pushed the boat out a bit with lunch and had budget bake beans and a couple of slices of toast. Vicki had leftovers, which is a turn-up for the books!
Dinner - again I was home, rather conveniently, after Vicki, so she had started the dinner. Plain pasta, a couple of hunks of that massive carrot, a fried egg each, and chips from 4 potatoes. Again with the apple.
Day 4: Again with the porridge; again with the Vegemite and lettuce sammies (three this time because two just don't cut the mustard). Vicki jazzed things up a bit with a lunch comprising a hard-boiled egg on toast.
Dinner - again with the rice/vege/tomato bake thing with breadcrums on top.
Day 5: plain old porridge was zhoozhed up a bit with some old dried fruit I found in the cupboard. Just couldn't face plain old plain old again. Lunch was leftovers from the previous night (almost plain old - treated myself to some seasoning - daring eh?). Vicki's lunch was same as yesterday.
Dinner - I couldn't persuade Vicki to eat the tin of budget spaghetti so I ate it myself to show just how edible it is. Tasted funny. Vicki had plain old rice/veges and an egg. She doesn't need to follow the recipe book for cooking a hard boiled egg any more so things are looking up.
So that's it then! Five days of living below the poverty line. We had food left over, so if we had known, we could have bought something with some flavour. Meat, even!
 |
| After |
