AndyB

Now that the challenge is finished (and I’ll say over as I won’t eat between now and midnight) I thought I would share some closing remarks. But first I’ll start with a photo of the food left over from my shopping through out the week.

Read on for the rest…

Understand this: I don’t really feel relieved to be finished. Living like this for a week, took a bit to get used to, but was not a hassle. And I feel that the diet was fairly acceptable from a RDI and volume perspective. (But I don’t have any form of qualifications that can give any credit to that statement; i.e. take it as just my opinion).

I have a few lessons learned through the week:

• Scales in the fruit and veg section of the supermarket won’t be calibrated like those at the checkouts. I got lucky the checkout was lighter. Give yourself at least a 10% margin either way though.
• Buying cheap brands requires a bit more concentration when cooking.
• Fruit doesn’t really last a week in the fridge. Buy a few days at a time if possible.
• Make sure you get a range of flavouring items early in the week. I should’ve had the onion and chilli’s from the start. Not for the weekend.
• Pasta bake is not good cold!
• Rice would be better than pasta. If you can afford it.
• Drinking only water get’s old. There is nothing that can be done about it so just get used to it.
• Regulating your meals makes you eat properly.
• Enjoy your food. No matter what it is.

Could I do another week? Yes. Will I do another week? No.

Proving you can live for a week on $30 has been achieved. Testing how many consecutive weeks you can live on $30 for is not the same. That is a mind game of how long ’til you break. You could easily buy the same goods over and over, with some variation in meat and fruit for price fluctuation, and never spend more than $30.

The fact I have left over food suggests you could eventually have some treats.

Could you go cheaper? Maybe. I shopped exclusively at one supermarket. Which I don’t normally do; nor is it likely to produce the cheapest results. Certain shops will be cheaper for certain goods. It just becomes a balance between cost of shopping around vs. price savings.

What was the point?
I have had many different reactions through the week. Most supportive. However the one common question has always been: why? what’s the point? In all honesty I think actually doing this had a lot to do with two things: 1) to see if it could be done; and 2) because I do strange things when challenged to.

Ignoring #2; Yes it can be done. What will that knowledge do for me, you, everyone? That is the $64 million question. While I, obviously, can’t answer for you or anyone else; for me I hope that it leads me to recognise and reduce how much I do waste. I know in the past I would have thrown out food that, this week, made 3+ meals.

When this all started I was amazed (Brad and Matthew probably would agree) at the sheer comparative luxury in which I live (remember we we’re in Egypt). I do not think this was a tough week. Not at all. And I know that there are people in western countries that would love to live like I have this week. But this week has reminded me of the thoughts that came out whilst in Iran and Egypt. This post is already too long without visiting on those, so to quote:

If you want milk, do you get a cow for your house?

The context was TOTALLY different. But it, strangely, highlights the point I want to make: We do things because our circumstances allow us to. I wanted to live off $30; so I did.

All I’ve shown is: I feel it’s easy to live on $30. Which, if you are someone that has to, probably looks really arrogant. So if you’re like me and don’t have to live on $30, sure I hope this helps people save some money, but please realise you’re doing it for yourself nothing more.

The week was a success. All goals were achieved. The outcomes interesting. To those who know the back story: we need to work out what the point is. If any. Before anything more can be said, than: it was an interesting experiment.

Ciao

Everyday Life food challenge