anyone taking up the live below the line challenge?

HappyMJ

Why do Australians get AUD$2 per day? That's worth £1.30.

Why do we have to buy the whole bag of rice? I buy that in larger quantities so I'll be including 1kg of it @ £0.66 unless anyone can find me basmati rice in small quantities for about £1 for 1kg or less which I think would be near to impossible.

Alison_Funnell

I think that is the whole point.

If you can't save enough to buy larger but cheaper/kg quantities then the food isn't as cheap.

[Deleted User]

I did this a few months ago and managed to live for a week on just under £7 it was hard and quite thought provoking, but I did also use some of my existing food to streeetch stuff out a bit.The hardest thing was finding fruit and veg for that money.I managed to make a big vat of soup that lasted me for several days as a food streetcher.Rice is a tummy filler along with pasta. After I had done the week I sent a cheque to Christian Aid as I realised how hard it is for the poorest in this world to exist at times .They also have the worry of keeping a roof(often leaky) over their heads as well.
I will sign up myself for this if only to make me think about the difficluties that some poorer people face.

Softstuff

HappyMJ wrote: »

Why do Australians get AUD$2 per day? That's worth £1.30.

Well, it used to be $2.50 to the £1, at least that was the exchange rate about 3 1/2 years ago. As the dollar has gone up in value in comparison the the pound, our food prices have not gone down, they've gone up. You'd be lucky for $2 australian to get you the same amount of food as 1 gbp.

That made me a bit curious, so I went to the Asda website, to try and do a weeks shopping that hubby and I could survive happily on for £14.

I spent £13.85 and got the following:
1 ASDA Smartbuy UHT Milk (1l) £0.52
1 Asda Smartbuy teabags(80) £0.27
1 ASDA Smartbuy Easy cook rice (1kg) £0.49
1 ASDA Smartbuy Pasta shapes (500g)£0.09
1 ASDA Smartbuy Bananas (1.5kg)£1.15
1 ASDA Smartbuy Apples (650g) £0.76
1 ASDA Smartbuy Smartprice mince (400g) £0.96
1 ASDA Tomato puree (142g) £0.25
1 ASDA Smartbuy White cheddar (334g) £2.00
1.0kg ASDA Cabbage £0.67
1 ASDA Smartbuy Carrots (2kg)£0.76
1 ASDA Smartbuy Smartprice potatoes(2.5kg) £0.97
1 ASDA Courgettes 3pk £1.00
1 ASDA Smartbuy Sweetcorn £0.32
1 ASDA Smartbuy SP Eggs 15pk £1.48
2 ASDA Smartbuy Baked Beans £0.56
1 ASDA Smartbuy SP JAM/STRAWBERRY £0.38
1 ASDA Smartbuy Smartprice loaf £0.47
1 Asda Smartbuy Porridge Oats (1kg) £0.75

I then went to the Coles website, and tried to find equivalent items. Coles is the supermarket I shop at most regularly here.

The same shop (near as dammit - some things are smaller, some are a bit larger) came in at $57.

1 x Coles Smart Buy Oats Rolled 900g $1.27
1 x Coles Smart Buy White Bread 700g $1.09
1 x Coles Smart Buy Spread Strawberry 500g $1.49
2 x Coles Smart Buy Baked Beans $1.48
1 x Coles Smart Buy Eggs Cage 12 pack 700g $2.71
1 x Edgell Corn Kernels Super Sweet 125g $1.17
3 x Zucchini Green loose approx. 210g each $1.56
1 x Potatoes Baking/Roasting Prepacked 2kg $5.98
1 x Carrots Fresh Prepacked 1kg $2.25
1 x Cabbage Drumhead Quarter 1 each $1.19
1 x Coles Cheese Block Tasty 250g $4.06
1 x Coles Smart Buy Tomato Paste 170g $0.85
1 x Coles Beef Mince 3 Star 500g $3.00
4 x Apples Red Delicious loose 180g each $2.00
8 x Bananas loose approx. 180g each $18.72
1 x Coles Smart Buy Pasta Penne 500g $0.63
1 x Coles Smart Buy Rice Jasmine 1kg $2.45
1 x Smart Buy Tea Pot Bags 100 pack $1.70
1 x Coles Smart Buy Milk UHT Full Cream 1L $1.16

The bananas are a bit unfair, given the price after the cyclone I wouldn't consider eating them at the moment, so if you subtract those, you get $38.28 compared to an Asda price (without bananas) of £12.85. I guess that's what you get when there's little competition and fewer imports.

In any case, that explains why Aussies get $2!

It seems a bit unfair for me to be in on this, since I have $30 and a half empty storecupboard to last 2 of us the next 2 weeks in any case, but if anyone would like any meal ideas or suggestions lemme know

LJM

sounds really interesting will take a look

rachbc

HappyMJ wrote: »

Why do Australians get AUD$2 per day? That's worth £1.30.

Why do we have to buy the whole bag of rice? I buy that in larger quantities so I'll be including 1kg of it @ £0.66 unless anyone can find me basmati rice in small quantities for about £1 for 1kg or less which I think would be near to impossible.

Thats the point - if you live hand to mouth you never have a chance to build reserves or bulk buy. Asda have 500g bags of basmati for 54p.

As I have a huge 15kg bag of rice already will use that - but I will count the cost of the small bag rather that what it actually cost per kg for the large bag from the £20 if that makes sense...

Its the not having a store cupboard that I will struggle with - no olive oil or soy or other condiments.

laineyc_2

We discussed it at dinner last night. The boys are not keen. I am weighing up the options and trying to price a menu plan. Then I will broach it again.

Biggles

The Sally Army? No way. A bit more religion is the last thing these people need right now!

I'd rather send money where it would do some use than play games like this.

HappyMJ

rachbc wrote: »

Thats the point - if you live hand to mouth you never have a chance to build reserves or bulk buy. Asda have 500g bags of basmati for 54p.

As I have a huge 15kg bag of rice already will use that - but I will count the cost of the small bag rather that what it actually cost per kg for the large bag from the £20 if that makes sense...

Its the not having a store cupboard that I will struggle with - no olive oil or soy or other condiments.

I'm pretty sure people living hand to mouth would buy a large sack of grain to last a few weeks.. They usually buy for a larger family than we tend to so can pool money and the challenge says that's fine to do so I'll buy a kg of basmati from my neighbour from a bulk bag.

Also, on the next line in the conditions of the challenge it says you can use the price per gram for things like olive oil and condiments which again someone on very little in India would buy 5 litres every 4 weeks or so.

brendanjames

Biggles wrote: »

The Sally Army? No way. A bit more religion is the last thing these people need right now!

I'd rather send money where it would do some use than play games like this.

That was my initial thought too, but there are load of other charities you can fundraise for on the our impact page

The £1 thing is interesting as well - my initial response was that £1 would buy you a lot more in other countries, but apparently it's adjusted for that.

It's certainly an interesting challenge, I'm getting involved!