Lessons from eating on $2 a day: Live Below The Line challenge

This May, I put my food budget on lockdown to take on the Live Below The Line charity challenge. Participants eat on $2 per day for 5 days – experiencing a small taste of life at the poverty line, while fundraising for Oaktree education and aid projects.

This is the third year I’ve taken part and I’ve learnt much more than simply meal planning on a total $10 budget.

Here are my reflections from the challenge week and why I recommend it. I also breakdown my grocery shopping costs and cheap meals below.

Live Below The Line challenge

The rules

• The $10 budget could be spent all at once, covering the 5 days of food @ $2 per day.
• I could NOT use anything already owned, such as spices or oil.
• The full cost of each item purchased must fit within my budget. Eg. a $2 loaf of bread is a $2 hit to the budget, even if I only used half for $1 worth.
• I was not allowed free food or have others buy food for me.
• When shopping, I could only use coupons that were readily accessible to others, not hardcore couponing strategies. (See Twitter poll!)

What I bought

I did this challenge while on my current year-long miniretirement trip in USA, so prices are in US dollars. I got my groceries in one shopping trip from a local Safeway store.

• Pasta = $0.49*
• Pasta sauce = $1.79
• Instant Ramen Noodles x 2 = $0.50
• Tinned vegetable chili = $1.79
• Frozen vegetables = $0.67*
• Bagels x 6 (reduced near expiry date) = $0.99
• Cream Cheese = $1.79
• Yoghurt (reduced near expiry date) = $0.99
• Carrots 1.4lb = $0.99
• Bananas 1.6lb = $0.08*

TOTAL: $10.08 (oops, 8 cents over!)

*Note: I used coupons on these items. Original prices were: pasta ($0.79), frozen vegetables ($1.79) and bananas ($1.08). These coupons were readily available, so someone on a limited food budget could also use these.

What I ate

Breakfasts

• Bagel with cream cheese x2
• Banana with yoghurt x2

Lunches/Dinners

• Pasta with sauce and veggies x4
• Tinned veggie chili with pasta x2
• Instant ramen noodles x2
• Bagel with cream cheese x4

Snacks

• Carrots
• Bananas
• Yoghurt

Shopping and meal tactics

• I went into my grocery shopping with a rough idea of what to buy, but was open to adapting my meal plan depending on discounts found.
• I looked for marked-down items, often found in bakery and dairy aisles (especially near store close times). While these discounted items may be approaching their ‘best before’ dates, they are typically fine for consumption days later.
• I checked for coupons and discounts available via store loyalty membership and apps.
• I aimed to get the best bang for buck with generic and homebrand items, typically found on top or bottom of store shelves.
• I prioritised quantity of food, as I much prefer to be full (even if uninspired) than hungry and grumpy!
• I skipped breakfast one day and delayed eating until later on others, so I would feel more full throughout the day.

Reflections from challenge week

It reset my perception of food as fuel, not entertainment

With our current abundance of readily available food and dining experiences in the developed world, it is easy to lose sight of what food is actually for – sustenance and fuel for our bodies.

Food has become fodder for perfect Instagram pics and bragging rights. In other times and places, undernourished people are lining up to get food rations for survival. Meanwhile, others are queuing for an hour for hip restaurant reservations or the latest cookie dough fad.

There is a strong association of eating with entertainment – with emphasis on making meals memorable. Taste and visual appeal of dishes are prioritised over nutrition. The ambiance and social status indicators of dining environments add significantly to costs and overshadow food’s true core purpose.

Don’t get me wrong. Having local food experiences is one of my favourite ways to enjoy new cities while travelling… However, rather than panic about ensuring each meal is picture-perfect and a trip highlight, this was a good reminder that it’s ok to just eat cheaply and move on with life!

It reduced my using food to alleviate boredom

Related to the entertainment point above, I’m certainly guilty of using food to alleviate boredom.

When I’m procrastinating or at a loss of what to do next, I sometimes find myself browsing grocery store shelves or the pantry at home for ‘inspiration’. Before I know it, I’ve found a (usually sugary) treat to distract me… with unnecessary expense and calories!

This challenge made me more conscious of my eating-to-escape-boredom tendencies. With meals pre-planned, plus no disposable treat money in my $10 budget, I had no ability to temporarily amuse myself with snacks.

This freed up time and energy, which I was forced to channel into other things… omigosh, like actually writing on this blog! (I can see why productivity fans find appeal in Soylent).

It made me reconsider always incorporating food into socialising

This challenge was a keen reminder that much of my socialising with others defaults to involving food and drink.

With my meals already rationed, I became a bit of homebody during the five days of LBTL (though I had two cats to keep me company while housesitting in Portland OR).

I didn’t go full cat-lady-hermit though! I enjoyed a food-free ‘walking meeting’ with Financial Mechanic one afternoon. (One of my favourite new blogs. Check it out!)

I also organised a meetup of ChooseFI Portland group during challenge week. It was great to enjoy conversations with 12 other financial independence enthusiasts, including That Frugal Pharmacist. Full disclosure: I did order a coffee to support the cafe where we met… damn, it felt indulgent! When a smaller group stayed on for ramen, I went along and forlornly sipped my water at the restaurant, biding my time until my $0.25 instant ramen at home later.

This experience was a good motivator to make a list of other non-consumption based options for future socialising – such as hikes, walks around town, and park or library meetups.

It reminded me I can handle anything for a short time

I’ve found that when there’s a specific end date, I can happily manage any challenges I dive into. Whether it’s having a no-spend week or a DietBet weight loss mission, the limited timeframe gives motivation and makes any temporary discomfort bearable.

Bonus: Once that short timeframe has lured me into achieving a challenge, I often find it easier to keep going! For example, I had little sugar during the week. Now, my five-day streak puts me in a good place to continue keeping sugar low, using the Don’t Break the Chain approach for daily achievement.

It inspired gratitude and appreciation for doing this by choice, not necessity

I gained a greater appreciation for what it’s like to make tough decisions to get by within a tight budget. It really hit home when I had to put an extra $0.25 pack of instant noodles back on the shelf because I couldn’t afford it in this challenge. I have renewed gratitude that this isn’t my ongoing reality.

I noticed links to the ideas of stoicism, which encourages pondering or experimenting with living worst case scenarios to reduce their power. Living on a very small food budget made me realise this is not to be feared. It was empowering to know I can eat on $2/day if needed, which expands my options. For example, keeping food costs super-low can lengthen my financial ‘runway’ and allowing savings to stretch further before any new venture experiments start paying off. I could also knuckle down and go full-frugal on food spending to use savings towards other goals.

It made me extra conscious of avoiding food waste

There was no way I was going to waste a morsel of the food this week! My limited budget was spent before the challenge started, so I needed to make my food stash last the full 5 days.

Having a good meal plan in place helped me to avoid any food waste from what I’d bought. I was mindful to spread out leftovers and eat before they spoiled. I also had to be conscious of expiry dates on perishable products, to make sure to consume these in the best order.

It made me more resourceful through creative constraints

Having the constraint of a tight $10 budget made me more creative and intentional than usual for my meal planning. It gave the opportunity to learn and improvise some new recipes with limited ingredients, adding meal options to my repertoire for the future.

Being unable to use spices and oils already at home, I learned to be more resourceful in this experiment. For example, I saved a portion of the instant ramen sachets to jazz up the flavour of some pasta leftovers. I also used the excess bagel poppy seeds as a successful topping to my banana and yoghurt! (Just call me MacGyver).

It showed me $2/day is not too far from a decent food budget

Aside from wanting to add some spices, a few more veggies and cheap proteins, many of my meals didn’t need much altering. I’d say a flexible $5/day budget and access to pantry staples would have me pretty happy with my home-cooked meals.

While I was a single participant in this challenge, others who took part in groups could pool their $10 budgets to buy in bulk and enjoy a greater range of ingredients. It showed that families or household groups can enjoy the advantages of ‘economies of scale’ when it comes to food spending and having more diverse meals.

Inspirational reading for the challenge

While I was fending off my sugar and chocolate cravings, I enjoyed reading the following related blog posts. Check them out for inspiration during your own food challenges.

Zen Habits – It’s Time for a New Relationship With Food
“The problem is that we have a complicated relationship with food that started when we were toddlers and has become more and more complicated through the years, through endless amounts of advertising, of eating when we’re sad and lonely and happy and bored and at parties and going out and on dates and watching TV and dieting and so on.”

“Let’s teach ourselves some simple things: food is just fuel. Most of us need to eat less. Food isn’t love or entertainment or anything else like that. It’s just fuel.”

Raptitude – Life is Easier When You Take the Stairs
“What we often overlook is that embracing difficulty in certain places nets us a lot more ease than our usual “easy” ways. Putting in three hours a week at the gym is easier than being out of shape 24 hours a day. Studying is easier than sitting in an exam room not having studied. Doing a good job at work is easier than wondering when they’ll finally fire you.”

Scott H Young – Financial Freedom
“The poverty threshold is a term I use to describe the minimum amount of money you need to enjoy a comfortable life… Your poverty threshold is psychological. It’s not about actually having to survive poverty. Having a low threshold simply means you’d be willing to sacrifice more to make bigger changes. A lower threshold is freedom.”

“Experiencing mild poverty in small doses allows you to lower your threshold. It’s just like dipping your feet in a lake to get used to the cold water. Occasional splashes keep you from being afraid to dive in when you need to.”

Mr Money Mustache – Fasting: a Fast Way to Greater Badassity?
“The goal is mainly to understand more about self discipline, as well as learning new things about how the mind and the body work together. Fasting will be just another example of a healthy self-deprivation – the kind we must all do in all areas of life to remind ourselves just how cushy our normal life is.”

Simple Dollar – 30 Store-Brand and Generic Items I Use… and Five I Don’t
“Let’s say I save $0.75 by purchasing a store brand item over a name brand item. Let’s also say that I make 20 such decisions per shopping trip, and that I go to the store once a week. Over the course of a year, that means I’m making 1,020 such choices. If I’m saving $0.75 per choice, that’s $760 in annual savings just by consistently choosing to buy a functionally identical store brand over a name brand item at the grocery store.”

Want to know more about Live Below The Line?

You can read about the LBTL experience of other Australian finance bloggers here: Ms Frugal Ears and All About Balance.

Info from the Oaktree website: “We started Live Below the Line in 2010 as a way of enabling Australians to engage with the issue of poverty and to take meaningful action on it. Since then, over 50,000 Australians have raised more than $10 million for education and campaigning initiatives that help fight poverty.

This year, thousands of participants will be putting change on the menu by feeding themselves on $2 a day for five days. That’s the Australian equivalent of the extreme poverty line. By taking the Live Below the Line challenge, we’re raising much-needed funds for work that helps end poverty.

For us, Live Below the Line is all about creative cooking, rationing and caffeine deprivation: we know it’s just a glimpse into what life is like for people in poverty, not a real experience of it. But we know what we do has a real impact.”

Curious to do your own low-cost food challenge? Want to know if I’ll ever eat pasta again after this? Let me know in the comments!