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Live Below The Line
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JeromeBarry1 wrote: »Would you be willing to open your diary so we can see how you do it?
Yes I will, the first day of this challenge. This was requested by another friend. I think it will be a great learning experience all the way around.0 -
L1zardQueen wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »Only $1.90? Yikes. I'm in Canada and need to eat gluten free for celiac disease, which tends to raise cost of filler foods like bread or crackers... I could buy half dozen eggs. Maybe 250 mL of yogurt if it was on sale.
It seems like an interesting idea but I would need a Canadian number in order to relate. I couldn't even get on a bus for that. I could buy a little over a litre of gas.... Maybe if I just ate rice.
I'm actually wondering where that number comes from. The 2018 U.S. federal poverty level is $12,140 for an individual, or $16,460 for a family of 2. We'll use the family of two, since that seems to be OP's situation. That's $8,330 $8,230 per person. $1.90 per day is $693.50 per year. I find it odd that less than 10% of income is allotted for food for someone who clearly is not going to be able to spend on anything non-essential. Is that because middle-class households in the U.S., where food is actually cheap relatively many other developed countries, spend less than 10% of gross income on food, so they just use the same percentage, as though someone at the poverty line is going to have similar percentages of their income taken up by cable bills and car payments and clothes and vacations?
According to USDA, the amount that the lowest-income quintile of households spent on food ranged from more than 40% to about 28% of their income during the last quarter century or so.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2016/september/percent-of-income-spent-on-food-falls-as-income-rises/
So where does the $1.90 per person per day come from?
Edited to fix typo.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_Below_the_Line
Thanks! Didn't see this.
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lynn_glenmont wrote: »Is it just for awareness and weight loss, or does the money you save go to causes that provide groceries or meals to those who are hungry or food insecure?
Ive been talking to my husband about this all night, the best way to handle our saved money. We've decided to donate it to a state run assisted living and skilled nursing facility down the street. I am a nurse, and I'm passionate about the senior or geriatric population some of my favorite patients. It so happens this is the most food insecure population in my local community.4 -
Doing it for a week for awareness and I'd guess gratitude as well makes sense to me.
Doing it for 30 days in order to tie it to weight loss doesn't.
One of the challenges for the poor is eating a healthy well balanced diet. You have to put finding calories you can afford above quality and nutritional balance. I think your goals might be at odds.
I also think it's important to lose weight the way you intend to maintain. If you end up losing weight during this period due to limited choice, won't you be back to square one when you increase your budget?
Regardless, best of luck! I don't have the discipline to do that now, though it's pretty much how I lived during my college years. Lots of ramen, canned macaroni, and bummed pizza and beer! If nothing else, it will be an experience and conversation starter
You make complete sense, and this is why I decided to take the extra time in planning out our meals, to ensure they are nutritionally as dense as possible. I'm a registered nurse and one of my best friends is a registered dietitian, so she will help us plan it out best we can. She encouraged me to buy in bulk and calculate money by food consumed, instead of starting with a blank slate of $117.80 between 2 people. So I'm labeling my foods purchased by cost per serving. I've already frozen some very inexpensive avocados and have them portioned out for next month. It's kind of exciting really.
My husband is a big guy and has weight to lose (60lbs), he is encouraged to do this for the entire experience and is also looking forward to it. The inability to afford alcohol on this budget will likely lead to weight loss, but this really is not the motivation. He drinks beer, 1 or 2 a day and is likely gluten intolerant.1 -
Mandylou19912014 wrote: »Leslierussell4134 wrote: »Hello All, hope everyone had a great weekend!
Wanted to share my husband and I have decided to take the 'Live Below The Line challenge.' I've heard of people doing this, but never really found interest before now.
In short, it is a challenge taken on a voluntary basis to only consume food and drink valued at or below the poverty line. Today, the poverty line sits at $1.90 per person, per day. Now most people do this challenge for 5 days, but we decided to do this for 30 days in hope to kick start him into some weight loss.
Has anyone done this before ? Do you believe it possible to be healthful during a challenge like this?
The point of this is to bring awareness to the approximate 765 million people living in extreme poverty around world. I am entirely grateful for my life, but I have a feeling after, I'll have an entirely new perspective. Both of us have never done anything like this before. I first considered this when another thread brought to my attention how much I was spending on food and alcohol per month...too much. Hoping to discover a better balance.
We set some ground rules, please comment if you can think of anything to add, or something you followed in the past.
1. I, 31y F, have to consume at least 1200 calories per day.
2. My husband, 33y M, at least 1800 calories per day.
3. Protien requirements, myself 50g, my husband 64g.
4. Cost will be determined by food consumed, allowing us to buy as much in bulk as we can. I understand in real poverty, this isn't common or always possible, however I don't want to go into nutritional deficits, so bulk is required.
5. Foods consumed from our home garden will be accounted for at market value, as many people living below the line do not have access to farming for themselves.
6. We cannot accept free foods from others during this challenge, to experience what it feels like to have extremely limited resources and community.
We also understand that the poverty line represents buying power for all basic needs: food, clothing, housing, education, healthcare. So an actual challenge apples to apples, isn't truely possible. So, this will include all food and beverage consumed by mouth.
We are beginning Aug 1st (Don't want to give up all the summer fruit!)
I think this will be such an eye opening experience for you both. It will make you realise how much you take for granted etc, I think you should aim to do it purely for the experience and learning curve. If you truely want to experience what people who live below the line do then I would suggest doing things like accepting free food from friends and family (as you would do if you were poor, that way you can experience the gratitude etc) , growing your own crops (using your money to get seeds) and learning to live off the land and see how much cheaper that could be. Good luck with this and it would be good to read how you got on in 30 days time!
Such lovely ideas, and thank you for the positive feedback. Another user asked if I'll open my diary during the challenge and I definitely will. So you're welcome to follow along for the ride.
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Leslierussell4134 wrote: »Only $1.90? Yikes. I'm in Canada and need to eat gluten free for celiac disease, which tends to raise cost of filler foods like bread or crackers... I could buy half dozen eggs. Maybe 250 mL of yogurt if it was on sale.
It seems like an interesting idea but I would need a Canadian number in order to relate. I couldn't even get on a bus for that. I could buy a little over a litre of gas.... Maybe if I just ate rice.
Yes food prices are likely higher in Canada, especially now unfortunately
However, this isn't the US number either, it's the international poverty line, the number in which 760 to 780 million people are living on or below.
I am also plant based, and I don't eat bread often.
My husbands mother was diagnosed with Ciliac 5 years ago, and it was too late of a diagnoses. She now has severe osteoporosis and malabsorbtion. My husband has refused to get tested until now, literally should have genetic testing results tomorrow. For the purposes of this challenge and possible life style change we have decided to eliminate gluten. (I have no allergies, but will avoid for him).
Good luck to your husband.
I've been told that immediate family ( children, parents, siblings) should be tested every 5 years for the disease because it can show up at any time.1 -
Leslierussell4134 wrote: »Only $1.90? Yikes. I'm in Canada and need to eat gluten free for celiac disease, which tends to raise cost of filler foods like bread or crackers... I could buy half dozen eggs. Maybe 250 mL of yogurt if it was on sale.
It seems like an interesting idea but I would need a Canadian number in order to relate. I couldn't even get on a bus for that. I could buy a little over a litre of gas.... Maybe if I just ate rice.
Yes food prices are likely higher in Canada, especially now unfortunately
However, this isn't the US number either, it's the international poverty line, the number in which 760 to 780 million people are living on or below.
I am also plant based, and I don't eat bread often.
My husbands mother was diagnosed with Ciliac 5 years ago, and it was too late of a diagnoses. She now has severe osteoporosis and malabsorbtion. My husband has refused to get tested until now, literally should have genetic testing results tomorrow. For the purposes of this challenge and possible life style change we have decided to eliminate gluten. (I have no allergies, but will avoid for him).
Good luck to your husband.
I've been told that immediate family ( children, parents, siblings) should be tested every 5 years for the disease because it can show up at any time.
Yep, that's what they told us. 1 in 10 chance of getting it verses 1 in 100 for general population.0 -
I think this is a fantastic idea for developing appreciation and gratitude for the everyday things that we so commonly take for granted. Your plans for giving back to the community as part of this challenge are really admirable too.
Personally, I'm really interested to know how you find this challenge and how it compares to your everyday eating and lifestyle, for example:- Do you expect/plan to spend more time planning your meals?
- Will you change your meal prep habits? (e.g. prepping more at the weekends vs every day)
- Will it significantly change your usual macro split?
- Will you be able to meet the recommended minimums for things like protein and fibre?
- You mention that you are plant-based, but is your husband? If not, do you expect to be able to fit animal products into the budget?
- Will it increase stress levels or otherwise affect your usual mood? (I can imagine that if you have to spend more time preparing food, you're losing out on some of the time you usually spend relaxing etc.)
- Will it affect your workouts/exercise regime (if applicable)?
- How will it impact your social life, if at all?
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Applying the global poverty level to buying groceries in California is probably going to make it 10x harder than it should be.
Income in subsaharan Africa averages close to around $1.90 a day and that is total not just for food. That said their cost of living expenses are also considerably cheaper than what you'd get in Cali. If you tried to apply that income to your location you'd have a harder time.
If your point of doing this is you want to see what it is like to live below poverty in your locality you might want to use the poverty line for your locality rather than the amount that defines extreme poverty on a global scale.6 -
Just wanted to update for anyone who’d like to follow along with my “Live Below the Line,” challenge. My husband and I have decided to start tomorrow rather than the 1st of August. We thought this would allow us a little more prep time today, Sunday, rather than starting in the middle of the week Wednesday. I will be moving this thread to the Food and Nutrition section of the community for the actual challenge. I’ll repost the final rules we decided on.
Wish us luck!
Leslie1 -
Good luck.
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