*sips on his coffee and settles down to write*

Its Tuesday. Yes I know I said I would post on the weekend. I didn't. Sorry. But I'm here now, so every cloud etc etc *smiley face*

As I left you on Friday I was not a happy chappy. I was over the week, the challenge and pretty much everything else in general. I went to bed after writing with the intention of sleeping until midnight and then going out for coffee. I did sleep but it wasnt quality sleep. I kept waking up and every time I checked the clock about two minutes had passed. It was, quite possibly, the longest six hours of my life.

At 11.40pm I got up and headed to a garage I knew would be open which also sold real coffee. I knew it was approximately a 20 minute drive and it was better that I was doing something than just lying there. As I came off the motorway and dropped down the hill the midnight news came on the radio and I knew I'd made it. A minute later I turned into the garage forecourt - just as every police officer in central Auckland decided to go on their break.

There were six police cars in front of me and as I parked another three drove in behind me. I found myself at the back of a queue of 18 people all ordering coffee. I looked across at the barista and realised the poor chap was all on his own, so I wandered off and found a seat in the corner and waited for my coffee to be made whilst trying not to look like a junkie waiting for his fix. At 12.25am on Saturday morning I posted the following pic to FB and took my first sip of coffee since Sunday evening...

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The rest of the weekend was one of recovery. The caffeine played havoc with my body clock so I was up early Saturday but by the time I met a friend for brunch (she too had undertake the BTL challenge) I've done all my laundry, been grocery shopping, wandered around the mall and replied to all mails from the night before. Saturday afternoon I spent shopping with another friend and by the time the evening came around I was shattered.

Sunday I spent with my parents. My parents have been so supportive of the BTL challenge - checking in on my progress every day (they even followed me on here) and just before the end they topped up my donations to allow me to reach my final target of $1000. It was nice to be able to share a quite stunning roast lunch and just spend the day catching up with them.

Come Monday it's back to work and the BTL week begins to fade as the reality of this week hits home. It's one of the most hectic weeks of the year and honestly if the BTL challenge had been this week I doubt I'd have coped. But with my blood:caffeine ratio returning to normal, things are much easier. Its a shame how quickly things do fade, and as I made tea this evening (spaghetti bolognaise) I could help but smile as I used the leftover half tin of tomatoes in the sauce.

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"Would I do it again?" is something I've been asked several times over the last few days. To be honest... no I wouldn't. As I said right from the start, one of the motivators for me was the challenge itself and I've ticked that off the to-do list. I know what I would do differently, how I could make it easier but I dont feel any great drive to repeat the experience. Nor experience the sciatic pain!

However on the other side of the challenge at 1.53pm this afternoon my phone went ding as a gmail arrived. Some kind anonymous soul had donated $100 to me and left a nice supportive message. Now although the anonymous bit drives me a little nutty (quite possibly they knew it would!) , the donation was amazingly generous and I do wish I could thank them personally. If they happen to read this - thank you.

Being able to do something worthwhile for others has been hugely rewarding for me - and I intend to continue to support and participate in other events more frequently in the future. The challenge itself was an eye opener - I don't say it was hard, but it was revealing. In many ways (like a number of other moments in my life) its an experience that I suspect will take a while to process and that I will continue to learn from it. But for now life has returned pretty much to normal as the day-to-day distractions return but its something I am very pleased to have done and I am proud of the outcome of my efforts.

My final thanks goes to everyone who did support me during the challenge. To those that sponsored me so generously, and those that put up with me last week - you are all wonderful people and I couldn't have done it without you. *hugs*

Day Five - I'm done

I'm tired. End of the week. End of the challenge. Short post tonight, forgive me.

Todays menu:

This speaks for itself. I just cant be bothered cooking tonight, I've no fruit left, Ive drunk the milk and the end is just a few short hours away. Tomorrow it's all done and I intend to have coffee and a significant amount of dead animal flesh.

What do I have left over?

• 4 slices of bread
• 125g pasta
• 1/2 tin tomatoes

The silverbeet is still in the garden, as are the lemons. Everything else is gone. 

No doubt I'll have time to contemplate over the next few days and will come back to post before the weekend is over. My thanks to those of you who have kept me company over the last week, but I'm going to sleep now. Maybe all night - maybe just until midnight ;)

PS Up to $939. My thanks to all my generous sponsors. I've been good and not deviated from the rules. You've all kept me true to the cause.

Day Four - 7th Innings Stretch

I've always enjoyed sporting traditions. It really doesn't matter what they are, it just interests me how certain things have arisen and become part of something larger. The 7th innings stretch is one such eccentricity. The history of how it came into being is, like many such phenomena, subject to much discussion, but every baseball game play in America has one and sometimes the why doesn't really matter.


Its the evening of day four of the challenge - my own 7th innings stretch. Time to stand up, walk around for a few minutes and get ready for the final chapters in this short adventure. It's been a long day and one where the realisation of what you are doing, and how it could be in a wider reality of actually having to 'live below the line', starts to hit home.

But first (even before the details of the menu for the day!) - I just want to link my BLT page.

 https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/breevok 

 Currently I sit on $788 raised so far, a sum Oxfam will surely put to good use. Feel free to donate more - trust me when I say there are people out there who are desperate for all of our support.

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Anyway todays menu - see Monday. No really, see monday. 

  

Breakfast - porridge. OK, my waxing lyrical has petered out a little, but its comfort food and that cant be sneezed at.

Lunch - as discussed yesterday, the days of luncheon sandwiches are over never EVER to return. But fruit for lunch was nice.

Dinner - the return of tomatoey pasta. Hooray! No photo - looked just like Monday and Tuesday. 

Supper is yet to come but who can argue with fruit and some milk? o.O

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With any challenge that has a finite time associated with it, as the end approaches you mind turns to events afterwards - as it helps get through the last hour/day/week. This challenge is no different. But what is so hard with this challenge, that you long for the 'its over' bit? Well for me, obviously its the caffeine. But there are other things. 

Earlier on the BTL FB page they posted a quote:

"Day three of Live Below the Line and I felt a bit like I’d hit a wall. Not so much out of hunger, though the pangs were there, but mainly a hankering for something other than rice, oats, lentils or chickpeas" 

Oh yes indeed. This diet isnt hard, its just boring. My favourite food is Italian, and I cant see myself having pasta again for weeks. Tomatoes will be banned cooking ingredient until Christmas. Luncheon will never cross my lips again, ever. I miss so many things - but what I miss most is variety. Freedom to choose and that is the whole point!

As the saying goes, walk a mile in their shoes. I havent walked a mile, just a few feet but it quickly becomes a reality check. I chose to do this, I chose whether I complete it, whether I cheat, whether I dont (I havent). I chose. But this isnt a choice for everyone.

Much as the 1.2 billion people living in poverty worldwide are the big picture - there are always smaller stories that are as important. As I discovered back in August when I first engaged in this challenge in 2006/07 22% of New Zealand children were living in poverty. That is, in households with incomes below the 60% median income poverty line. This isnt something that is happening somewhere else. Its happening in your town, within a few miles of you, just down the street or right next door to you.

So as my dreams turn to large flat whites and eye fillets - my own seventh innings stretch - its worth thinking about what we have been emulating. First world problems really are brought into perspective when you think about it that way.

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 https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/breevok

Day Three - a moment of clarity

As day three draws to a close, I sip on my 200ml glass of milk. Today has been the toughest day of the challenge so far, but as as Ed Hillary said "It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves."

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Firstly today's menu:

Breakfast - oh dear sweet breakfast, how I love thee. If there is one thing I will always cherish from the BTL Challenge is discovering porridge!

Lunch - I ate lunch in a seminar at work. Great seminar - 4 minutes snapshots of the research going on across the School - the variety is amazing. Shame the same couldnt be said about lunch. I made a decision as I forced down the sandwich - never ever again. Tomorrow will be fruit only and I'll find other uses for the bread and the damn luncheon meat. If there was one thing I wish I could have done differently when making my purchases - I'd have purchased 150g of shave ham instead of the 200g of luncheon meat. Lesson learnt!

Dinner! And its not pasta! I don't quite know what it is - but it was tasty. Rice, soy sauce, luncheon, silverbeet stalks fried off and served on top of the silverbeet leaves.

Saving the fruit for lunch for now on, I had a glass of milk to make up my allowance for the day. Another successful day eating. I honestly haven't struggled with feeling hungry at all during the three days so far. If only it was what I've found difficult...

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We all knew we'd get here eventually didn't we? Other than needing a constant supply of tissues, my cold/flu from the weekend has gone. But the leg pain I mentioned yesterday hasn't. I admit to myself now something I wasn't quite ready to admit to myself last night as I typed. The pain had only started late on Monday and continued to intensify on Tuesday. Today is has continued and although I currently have some respite I suspect it will return later.

The pain isn't a flu symptom but is a somewhat less well known side effect of caffeine withdrawal. Google it for yourself - story after story of sciatic pain suffered by those taking a break from caffeine. Having never experienced more than the occasional trapped nerve, I really wasn't ready for this. It's one of those pains that just is - it really doesnt matter what you do. Sitting. Standing. Lying. Foetusing. It just bloody hurts. And I a typical bloke - I don't like pain. Evidently it passes in a few day - every cloud I guess. I have also avoided the headaches - which is surprising as I prone to a good headache or five. But let me assure you that at 3am this morning as I was googling caffeine withdrawal symptoms I nearly said to hell with the BTL challenge. It was only because I had a sleeping Tuvok snoring on me as I failed to watch the cricket that I didn't.

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But I need to address the elephant a moment - what do I do on Saturday with my addiction? As a friend of mine told me yesterday:

Instant coffee is a basic human right for office workers.

Today was the first day that I have been able to distinguish symptoms and work without caffeine is an interesting experience. It's not just the leg pain (although that isnt endearing caffeine free life to me much) but my brain. I have lost the edge. I became the man who couldn't multitask. I felt out of control, and that is not a place I enjoy being.

One of the many pages I read in the night struck me and I cant help but reproduce a small section just because it struck a chord as I reread it this evening:

My days now go downhill. This is a strange new experience for me. My mornings start bright and clear and the weariness of my mind and body slowly builds until evening. On the one hand, I don’t crash multiple times throughout the day, but on the other hand, I’m completely worthless at night

Is this what normal people feel like?

I don’t know if I like it.

(http://blessedmadman.wordpress.com/)

That really does sum it up for me, I don't know if I like it.

So sorry, as much as I know people will be suggesting I dont, I will be having a large flat white on Saturday morning. Possibly four.

Want to Donate? https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/breevok

Day Two - a moment of genius!

As I reach the end of day two, I sit feeling comfortably full. I still have a banana up my sleeve for supper but without further ado here is today's menu...

Well that pretty covers everything doesnt it? Basically yesterday's menu repeated! Except with subtle differences which I will now wax lyrical about...

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OK first stop breakfast -

I over cooked it today - still very nice. Worth getting out of bed for, even if the sailing wasnt.

Lunch - two rounds of sandwiches compared to one yesterday. An attempt to redress the balance of bread usage from yesterday - and yes they are fine but I can honestly say that once this week is over I will never ever each luncheon meat ever again. Tuvok seems ok with it though, so every cloud and all that. I also had lemon with hot water to fight back the cold... I missed the honey!

And then to dinner...

Looks very similar to yesterday n'est-ce pas? Well if you think so then you are missing the two slices of bread!

OK give me my 30 seconds of joy and happiness why dont you? That isn't toast. It's fried bread. Good old fashioned English fried bread. The kind mum used to make to go with a full English breakfast. Cooked in the flavoursome fat from all those sausages and bacon and black pudding. Or, in the case of the Below The Line Challenge, not cooked in the flavoursome fat from all those sausages and bacon and black pudding.

I've been thinking about bread a lot in the last 24 hours - dry bread and dry toast - well it just doesn't rock my world. With no butter or margerine in my budget, I kept failing to come up with alternatives. I thought about french bread but although I have milk I have no eggs. Then it dawned on me - butter/marg=fat. Oil=fat. Oil on bread - very cosmopolitan if its olive oil but not so much when its canola oil. The only option left - fried! Genius!

Frankly the best 10c I've spent on the challenge so far, in my humble opinion.

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OK and now for my thoughts of the day

Tuvok -

It appears that she really doesnt appreciate her pasta being served with a tomato sauce and really would prefer I reverted to the normal dairy focused coverings in the future.


Illness - getting there, should be 90% again tomorrow.

Coffee - I have this weird symptom from the cold (or perhaps its the caffeine withdrawal) is extreme bouts of cramp in my legs. Hurts like crazy, wish it would stop. I am hoping it is the illness and not the lack of caffeine because don't know if I could cope with another 3 days of it.

Progress -  so far so good. Variety is lacking, but that is to be expected seeing as I am flying solo on this. Just having one more person doing it with me (thus having $22.50 budget for two) would have meant so much more variety in the menu. But c'est la vie. Two days down, three to go - and with rice on the menu for tomorrow at least you lot will all get a different pic to look at.

https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/breevok - $738 raised so far :)

Day One

Its 7.23pm and I just had dinner. I still have to eat an apply and a kiwifruit. I feel full. Hmmm...

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OK where to start? I suppose when I woke up. I woke feeling terrible and had no choice but to call in sick. I've spent much of today asleep and cant say I feel significantly better now. But I have stuck to the Below The Line Challenge. Here's todays menu:

Breakfast was great - bar the sailing. But the porridge was tasty and I was glad I made the investment in the sugar. I think I've quickly worked out that it's going to be the little things that will make me happy this week - and from today's efforts breakfast was my favourite meal of the day and may well continue to be.

Lunch was... as to be expected. As the week goes on, and the bread gets drier I am sure that this will become more of a chore than anything. But I intend to subsidise lunch with fruit from now on.

Dinner was big and filling and tasty. I even had a glass of milk to ensure I used my daily allowance. And that left me 56c which I've used on fruit which has to be eaten tonight. Because it was day one I didnt know exactly how much everything was going to cost and what that would leave over.

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Anyway onto thoughts for the day...

Bread - bread, like milk - has a  quota I need to meet so I dont waste it. The bread has 19 slices so I should be eating 4 slices a day - today I only ate two. I really cant bring myself to two pieces of bread. Tomorrow I need to have bread with dinner (which will undoubtedly look like today's tea)

Coffee - I miss it. Terribly.

Illness - sucks. Period

See you tomorrow!

T Minus One - Part Four

OK the deed is done.

7 slices of ham and chicken luncheon - $1.08 - 16c a slice
1 banana - 35c
1 apple - 42c
Bread - $1.47 (19 slices including crusts) - 8c per slice

So total spend $10.38. That leaves 87c for lemons, silverbeet, seasoning and oil.

Why fruit  - well fruit is a great backfiller - anytime, anyplace, anywhere.

So now I just have to finish off everything in the fridge that will go off in the next week, make my lunch for tomorrow and have an early night to fight off this cold. See you tomorrow at the end of day one...

T Minus One - Part Three

OK, so here is where I start talking to myself and try and explain where my my thinking is currently. Bear with me as I ramble and over think things...

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Firstly I need to explain the rice - I previously stated that I have two packets of pasta and that was enough for eight meals. I decided that it was unlikely that I would cook pasta eight times - so with five days in the challenge I decided on five evening meals. One packet of pasta is four meals - the rice I purchased will be the basis of the fifth. By reducing the pasta I could also reduced the number of tins of tomatoes I indeed to use. I've therefore dropped those from four to two.

Therefore my total spend so far is:

Pasta - 500g - 99c
Tinned Tomatoes - two tins (800g) - $1.38
Rice - 105g - 32c
Rolled Oats - 260g - 75c
Sugar - 100g - 23c
Milk - 2l - $2.40
Kiwifruit - nine - 99c

Total spent so far - $7.06c

I intend to buy a loaf of bread at $1.47 so that brings the total spend to $8.53. So I have $2.72 left.

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Next - Porridge. I will have the same breakfast each day for all five days. Simple recipe:

52g Rolled Oats (15c)
200ml Milk (24c)
50ml Water (0c)
20g Sugar (5c)
Total Price - 44c

This uses up all the sugar and rolled oats I purchased and half the milk. At 44c per breakfast - that leaves $1.81 for food and drink for the rest of the day.

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I already know that pasta and tomatoes (without cheese - I miss cheese already and I can still eat it) costs 25c for 125g of pasta and 35c for half a tin of tomatoes - so 60c all up. But what to for the rest of the meals (which as I see it is the evening meal made with rice and five lunches). With the kiwi fruit, bread and the odd glass of milk as the way to ensure I get to as close as possible to the $2.25 a day.

So what to have with the rice and what to have for lunch. The rest of the ingredients need to allow me to cook and fill in the gaps. I already said I'd get bread. I will use silverbeet in the evening meals if budget allows (definitely with the rice dish) and will use a lemon a day. Thats 50c in total - leaving me $2.22 left. Throw in a pinch of herbs here and there and oil, salt, pepper... I'm being conservative and saying I have $2 left to spend.

Decisions Decision! I want those eggs! Eggs would be great back fill. Splash of milk and an egg plus pasta - poor mans Carbonara. Boiled rice in a wok with an egg - simple fried rice. Eggs on Toast. Boiled egg with toast soldiers! The list goes on... but none of those are lunch.

But I actually rarely eat lunch - mind you I rarely eat breakfast as well. But common sense says that having just one big evening meal might not be the best idea. I was envisaging luncheon meat (perhaps ham... I hate luncheon) sandwiches and a kiwifruit for lunch. And the luncheon/ham could be added to the rice dish and the pasta dish depending on how much was bought.

Other options includes baked beans/spaghetti. You can generally pick this up cheap but again not really lunch. Having pasta at lunchtime is an option - I can just cook it the night before and reheat at work, but changing my habits so that I don't have the largest meal of the day in the evening - well it just doesn't seem to work for me.

So it seems that eggs are out. I think I'll buy 200g of luncheon for 98c - and that leaves me $1. And I honestly have no idea what to buy for that last dollar. Hmmm.... I'll let you know what I decide when I get back - T Minus One - Part Four

T Minus One - Part Two

Aaaaah shopping - I do quite enjoy it but I have to admit it was a little odd yesterday - especially the looks from people as I took pictures. Before I headed out I did have a plan (which I didnt really follow) but knew I would be starting at Pak'N'Save

First stop Pak'N'Save Glen Innes - this is my regular supermarket and I quickly flew around noting prices. Only two things grabbed by attention. Bread is still $1.47 a loaf for the cheapest but more importantly luncheon meat is just 49c per 100g. After checking prices would be the same the next day I headed off to Sylvia Park...

The aisle of value failed me here (as it had done at GI) - and they didnt even have cheap luncheon. I did price up the eggs in case they were an option

I realised I needed to review this once I'd purchased everything else and I could see what I had left over in my weekly and daily budgets - but 31.5c per egg probably puts it in the 'no' category but we'll see.

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My next stop was, of all places, Howick. Not where I had expected to end up during my weeks of preparation, but there I was hunting down a shop that opened a few weeks ago - Bin Inn. This is a large 'Pick and Mix' shop, and once I found it I was extremely happy I'd made the trip

I made three purchases (finally I bought something!!!) at Bin Inn, although I believe the shop keeper was hoping for a little more than the $1.30 he got out of me. He must have thought I was mad with how happy I was with what I bought:

PURCHASE MADE

260g of Rolled Oats at 29c per 100g = Total Cost 75c

100g of Granulated Sugar at 23c per 100g = Total Cost 23c

105g of Long Grain Rice at 30c per 100g = Total Cost 32c

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Next stop - Vege Oasis. I knew I was going to stop here as I had spotted a bargain earlier in the week

PURCHASE MADE

Nine Kiwi Fruit for 99c = Total Cost 99c

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Last stop - Tripoli Road (I was getting some very odd looks so you dont get a picture!) and I purchased four litres of milk for $4.80. Some may consider this cheating but I have put aside 2 litres of full cream milk for the 5 day challenge

PURCHASE MADE

2 litres of silver top milk = Total Cost $2.40

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 So where does that leave me, what meals am I imagining and what else do I need to buy? All good question - and that's just what I now need to work that out... T Minus One - Part Three

T Minus One - Part One

It's Sunday morning. I should have written this last night but I wasn't feeling 100%. I woke this morning feeling a lot worse. But that's just part of the challenge and I will just spend all day pumping myself full of drugs, hot lemon and honey and anything else I can think of before we kick off our five days from midnight tonight.

How am I feeling other than a cold? Quietly ill-prepared to be honest. I had a busy day yesterday and today really is about the last day fine tuning that will make the difference between tricky and impossible.

But first - a followup from my previous post... I mailed the organiser of the event and received a reply. I really appreciate their time, as they are undoubtedly swamped at the moment. Here's what they said:

The basic principal is that all food items need to be costed for the week including gifts, recoveries or home grown within the 11.25. The only exception is spices/oil that we allow an itemised costing because it's nearing on impossible without. So you can't buy a 10kg pasta/flour etc and itemize the cost per meal - you would have to use it all. If you have spices and oil then you can figure out a per use costing. 

So that means herbs, spices, salt, pepper and oil can be priced per use - for everything else we have to accommodate the full purchase price. I'm really pleased that's been resolved.

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With this in mind, yesterday morning I created a list of things I needed to do:

1. Price up garden produce - silverbeet and lemons
2. Price up salt, pepper, oil, herbs and spices
3. Go shopping!

One thing that is really important to remember is that the challenge is to eat on $2.25 a day for five days. The challenge is not to eat for five days for $11.25. For me its a very important distinction - because it means you have to get as close to $2.25 in a day as you can... which means planning each meal each day in advance.

I can either eat one large meal once a day or several smaller meals per day. But whatever I decide I have to get the daily amount as close to $2.25 because that money isnt rolling over!

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 Silverbeet and lemons

Pricing up my garden produce is not an easy task - I bought these plants with months or years ago. But I'll applying what little logic I can muster today and came up with the following

Aaah my poor old silverbeet. I bought these in January - a punnet of 6 plants for 99c. Since then its supplied dozen of meals and just continues to keep on giving. My mum steals several meals worth everytime my parents visit. Conservative estimates would say we have had 40 meals off them - so I will price using silverbeet in a meal at 5c per meal

The lemons are even trickier to calculate. I planted this tree 6 years ago and every year it produces more and more lemons (funny that!). There are at least 30 lemons of the tree right now and I've used as many already this season. Since it was planted we've had hundreds of lemons off it. The plant cost $25 - so I've priced the lemons at 5c each

Summary

Silverbeet - 5c per meal

Lemons - 5c per lemon

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Pricing up salt, pepper, oil, herbs and spices

This is less tricky.

1. Spices - rarely use, so wont use this week

2. Mixed herbs - $1.99 for 15g (which I can only estimate at at least 100 'pinches') - 2c per pinch

3. Salt - $1.50 for 300g - 1c a pinch

4. Pepper -$1.79 for 50g - 1c per pinch

5 Canola Oil - $6.99 for 2 litres. 1 tablespoon = 15ml. 5c per tablespoon

Summary

Herbs - 2c per pinch

Salt and Pepper - 1c per pinch

Oil - 5c per tablespoon

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So then I went shopping. And shortly once I've done all my final calculations I will go shopping again. But lets start with yesterday.... T-Minus One - Part Two

Revisiting the rules

As the start of the challenge approaches I've had a lot of conversations about how I will cope, what I will eat and so on. Its really exciting that so many people have been inspired by the challenge its self - and it's certainly all across the media as well. Over the last few days it seems that every major media outlet have had a story or two about it.

Many of the stories are about people taking part, and the reasons for the challenge. And then there are the recipes....

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A friend sent me the following link earlier via text:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/recipes/9180726/How-to-eat-for-2-25-a-day

It contains a recipe for smoky breakfast eggs that costs $1.55 to prepare. Now although $1.55 seems a lot for breakfast when that only leaves you 70c for the rest of the day, what really struck me was the ingredients being used:

•     ½ onion, finely diced
•     ¼ tsp smoked paprika
•     ½ tsp ground cumin
•     ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
•     ½ can baked beans
•     ½ can diced tomatoes
•     1 egg
•     1 medium potato, cubed
•     cooking oil

I texted back and the following conversation took place:

Me: Yes I see these recipes and believe they don't actually meet the rules of the challenge.
Friend: Oh?
Me: I covered it in the blog. The cumin for example... That's $2 a box. You have to outlay the $2 whether you use a pinch or a whole box.
Friend: No... you only have to account for the portion you use, I thought the rules were quite clear on that
Me: Check the Sept 7 post on the blog. The rules contradict... I therefore err on the side of caution

<Friend goes off to read the post from the 7th at this point>

Friend: F***... you have over thought it spectacularly!
Me: Of course I have! But am I right about the contradiction?
Friend: No you aren't right. Its quite clear. You have over thought it.They just havent been clear enough.
Me: OK. But just seasoning right?
Friend: Just seasoning...correct. But you have to work out the cost per pinch, shake, teaspoon etc.
Me: So where does seasoning stop???

And that, for me, in the $2.25 a day question. Where exactly does seasoning stop?

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 OK lets review - as I said in the post a few days ago there are rules which seem to contradict:

• The full cost of all the items you consume must be included in your budget. This means budgeting for whole packets of food items such as rice, pasta, noodles and eggs etc.
• For items such as salt, pepper, herbs and spices, simply work out the cost of each item per gram and budget your shopping proportionally. Separate your items before the challenge so there’s no need to be digging around in your cupboards.

Lets try and explain my thinking - if I have to account for the cost of the whole packet of pasta as part of the weeks budget of $11.25 then why are the rules different for seasoning? In the above recipe the oil is part of the $1.55 but not the cost of the whole bottle? So is oil seasoning? If oil is seasoning then surely I could cook with butter or margarine. So is butter and margarine considered seasoning?

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Lets look at another recipe - this time sent from Oxfam to those of us supporting Oxfam during the challenge - surely they must know the rules:


Zeb's Perfect Porridge (five portions)
 
300g Harraways Rolled oats  @ $3.69/800g = $1.38
500ml Milk  @ $1.98/L= $0.99
100g Brown sugar @ $1.69/500g = $0.34
50g Butter @ $4.99/500g = $0.50
Total = $3.21
Per day = $0.64

OK now this is even more confusing - under my understanding of the rules they have spent $3.69 on rolled oats, $1.98 on milk, $1.69 on sugar and $4.99 on butter - which it appears to me that they spent $12.35 on the ingredients to make porridge. Erm - isnt that breaking the max spend for the week just on porridge??

I have to admit I am now very confused. Do I just have to account for the actual cost of ingredients in the amounts I use them? If so, that totally changes everything.

For example - I pay $3.99 for a 100g packet of instant coffee. I made a decision that there was no way I could justify the outlay as part of challenge. But I can get at least 30 cups of coffee out of that packet - I could definitely justify 13c a cup....

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So I now sit as a crossroads... which set of rules so I follow? I think I am leaning towards the harder challenge of only using an ingredient if I take into account the whole cost of buying the ingredient - if I want bread I have to buy a loaf and to benefit most from that investment I have to eat the whole loaf. If I want an egg I have to adjust the menu to eat all that I buy. The alternative is that I go out tomorrow and purchase items in bulk. I'd buy 3kg of rolled oats because it's the most economic way of buying them and the cheapest price per portion, even though I will only use a tenth of that during the week. It means I can buy margarine - I'd accepted that I'd be eating some pretty dull bread/luncheon meat sandwiches. I can season everything at a few cents per meal. Milk? No problem - I dont need to pay $1.80 for a litre - I can just buy 2l for $2.40 and drink half of it. Want eggs? Buy a tray of 30 rather than half a dozen. But for me - that's going away from the challenge. I am attempting to live Below The Line after all. If I was in poverty I wouldn't have the money to buy in bulk, or to let food go to waste. In my opinion, every cent I spend on the weeks food should come from the $11.25 I have for the week. I'll think on it...

5 days and counting - panic slowly setting in...

It's Thursday the 19th of September. In a weeks time I'll be on day four of the challenge which means it's just a few days left before the challenge starts... and to be honest, reality is finally starting to hit home.

I feel that, although I've been contemplating this for weeks and weeks, I am completely unprepared for next week. Right now I have a box sat on my table with pasta and tinned tomatoes. Other than that I just have prices in my head. So much for putting my OCD to work!

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Two events last night caused me to go from a sense of calm to slight panic. Firstly I received a mail from someone I have the utmost respect. Earlier in the evening I had sent them a mail to thank them for their sponsorship and in their reply they said "It wont be easy.".

Why this struck home I don't really know - up to this point I've been quietly confident that I will waltz through the five days simply by reverting to the mindset of my student days - easy peasy! But as I read the comment it dawns on me that this isnt easy - and that I'm reliant and the supermarket gods this weekend to ensure that next week isnt a challenge too far.

So far I have spent $4.74 - leaving $6.51 for everything else. I'm beginning to second guess myself - 1kg of pasta - 125g a meal - 8 meals. Or should I be considering more variety - put back half of the pasta and tomatoes maybe - replace it with something else? But what else? OMG! I'm not prepared at all!!!

Oh please do calm down!

I did do my weekend Pak'N'Save runs last weekend. Alas the Isle of Value failed dismally in terms of the Below the Line challenge - although the cats benefited greatly from 8kg of cat food being purchased. So that just leaves one weekend left to squeeze every last cent out the remaining six and a half bucks. She'll be right...

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I've also been thinking about the blog and how best to utilise it over the next 10 days. I've decided to set a schedule to keep myself on track:

Today/Thursday - this post

Saturday - Final Preparations Part 1

Sunday - Final Preparations Part 2

Monday - Friday - daily posts during the challenge - outlining meals and headspace

Satuday or Sunday - a reflection of the week.

So there you have it - see you Saturday!

Two weeks and counting ... time for some serious investigations

With a couple of weeks left I decided I needed to go off and work out just how I plan to survive the five days other than eating a lot of pasta. The trouble I'm having is that two of the rules I listed in a previous post seem to contradict each other:

• The full cost of all the items you consume must be included in your budget. This means budgeting for whole packets of food items such as rice, pasta, noodles and eggs etc.
•  For items such as salt, pepper, herbs and spices, simply work out the cost of each item per gram and budget your shopping proportionally. Separate your items before the challenge so there’s no need to be digging around in your cupboards.

The first one suggests to me that if I buy an item I have to include the cost of the entire item in my weeks budget - so for example if I buy a loaf of bread for $1.50 which has 24 slices of bread - it doesnt matter if I eat 12 slices or all 24 slices - the bread costs $1.50 of the total budget of $11.25. But if this is the case then the second point seems to make no sense, because you are never going to use up a whole pot of salt, pepper or herbs in a week - so why would you bother?

Erring on the side of caution and not wishing to in anyway be seen to be cheating, I have therefore decided that if I use and item I must factor in the entire amount it cost me to purchase it, even if I only end up using a part of it.

With this in mid I headed off to Pak'N'Save (New Zealand's cheapest supermarket chain for those of you living overseas) and had a look around...

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I actually always shop at Pak'N'Save - I tend care more about price than glamour - so wandering around on concrete floors and under fluorescent lights is well worth the savings I make overall. And as with any vist to Pak'N'Save I started in the 'Aisle of Value"....

 Actually it was a rather disappointing AoV this week however I did manage to find more tinned tomatoes...

Yes. Yes. Yes. I now have a pantry full of tomatoes... but these were only 69c a can compared to 79c which was the cost of the ones I bought previously. Trust me when I say that 40c is a huge difference when its nearly 4% of your entire budget and drops the cost the pasta dish mention early to just $1.05c. I feel this justifies never needing to purcase tinned tomatoes again this decade.

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Quickly passing through the fruit and veg section I headed over to the pick and mix area of the store.
I rarely buy from here on a weekly basis. But the thought had occurred to me earlier in the week that this was the solution to the problem mentioned above - if I have to account for the cost of everything I purchase even if I wont eat it all, then I'll just buy what I intend to eat. Sound logic I thought...

Porridge... I've been thinking about adding in breakfast to my weeks challenge and porridge seemed the most sensible option. The whole of Scotland cant be wrong can it? Except for haggis obviously. And bagpipes.

Porridge is easy to make:
50g of Rolled Oats
250ml milk/water (whichever you prefer)
Sugar to taste (or not if you are on a budget)

It seemed a cheap breakfast - so I went and had a look at the rolled oats in the Pick and Mix.

 At 56c per 100g that seemed like a bargain. 28c per serving (plus the milk/sugar if used) and surely its cheaper to buy pick and mix than prepacked.

Well actually no. Not even close:

750g of Rolled Oats $2.39 = 32c per 100g

1.5kg of Rolled Oats $3.49 = 23c per 100g

SO I would be foolish to put the smaller amount. But am I ever going to eat15 bowls of porridge, let alone 30, in five days? I walked away despondent, wondering what the best solution was. But I have two weeks left to decide.

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Other things I learnt on my visit. Yes mixed herbs is definitely out - at $1.99 its just not a luxury I can afford.

I will need bread I feel. A loaf should see me through the week at $1.50 - and with 22 slices (including crusts) that's around 7c a slice.

I just made a sandwich with ham I purchased. It was 99c for 100g and I put 40g in the sandwich. So excluding margarine (I wont go through an entire tub in 5 days so its off the menu) the sandwich cost 54c. I can reduce this for the challenge using luncheon meat - so yes sandwiches are a viable lunchtime meal.

Frozen mixed vegetables... 1kg for $1.99... I'm still undecided about this purchase but I think I might. Thrown in with the pasta and to bulk things out, get a few vitamins and add some additional flavours for 40c seems worth it. Whether I'll eat 200g a day... well we'll see...

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After all that I came home. Without buying a coffee.

*glares at the elephant*

Attention seeker

Today I did an interview with a lovely lady from the communications and media area of where I work. I did this to promote the efforts I am making with the Live Below The Line challenge, but also to promote the efforts of two other staff members who I also know are undertaking the same challenge. Brothers (ok to be exact - sisters) in arms, so to speak.

As I drove home this evening I was pondering on why exactly I did the interview. The honest answer is for the exposure and hopefully that will result in more sponsorship. Some may think I am doing it with ulterior motives in mind - but they are mostly wrong. I did it to get the sponsorship up, to raise awareness for the challenge and the cause and to try and help out others, but deep down there is a selfish part of me that is benefiting from doing something worthwhile.

I havent done anything for charity (bar the odd donation here and there) for a long time - and over the past couple of weeks, as I have actively started promoting the event, I must admit I've got a real kick out of doing something good. In turn this has made me reflect on the other good things I do - not least my job and how what I do does make the world a better place - even if it'll take some time for any change to be seen.

Sometimes as you move from day to day, week to week, pay packet to pay packet, its important to stop and realise that you are making a difference - and frankly this challenge is doing just that for me. So yes, there is an ulterior motive floating around - but I'm OK with that.

_______________________

Promoting a charity event has changed over the years. I remember as a kid selling raffle tickets door to door. But these says its social media this and crowdfunding that everyone is doing.

Thankfully I'm at an age where the internet isnt a complete mystery to me and although I dont know everything I know enough to realise that if you want to get a message out there. Its a lot easier than it was 20 years ago. I've facebooked (is facebook a verb as well as a noun?), tweeted, blogged, yammered and emailed. So for the final push I've turned to the limited number of news sources I have peripheral access to which includes my work. Fingers crossed it helps with the sponsorship - but my thanks anyway to those who feel its an interesting enough story to publish and read.

Below the line - preparation part one

In just under three weeks I'll be undertaking the below the line challenge. So far I've raised just under $500 for Oxfam, and quite frankly I am pretty proud of myself.

I talked about why I am doing this in my last post but I've also spent a lot of time thinking about the actual challenge itself, and how I need to prepare for it. For for those that have been with me over the years, you know that for me preparation is everything - might as well channel my OCD into something positive! As Benjamin Franklin once said "By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail", and who am I to argue with Ben F?

There some pretty explicit rules about the challenge. Taken from the challenge website...

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Here are the basics:

• From the 23rd – 27th of September you can spend no more than $2.25 a day on food and drink.
• This means you have a total of $11.25 with which to buy all ingredients for your meals.
• The full cost of all the items you consume must be included in your budget. This means budgeting for whole packets of food items such as rice, pasta, noodles and eggs etc.
•  For items such as salt, pepper, herbs and spices, simply work out the cost of each item per gram and budget your shopping proportionally. Separate your items before the challenge so there’s no need to be digging around in your cupboards.
• You can share the cost of ingredients amongst a team, as long as no participant spends more than $2.25 a day or their total $11.25 budget. Working as a team will allow you to pool together funds and do more with your cooking.
• You can’t grab a cheeky snack from the cupboard unless you include the cost of buying the item new in your budget.
• You can use food sourced from your garden as long as you can account for the price of production!
• You cannot accept ‘donated’ food from family or friends, but monetary donations towards your fundraising goals are acceptable, and encouraged!
• You are allowed to drink tap water – remember you should try and drink at least 6-8 glasses of water each day. 

Note: For the record the challenge in the UK is £1 a day. In the US it's $1.50 a day, Canada was $1.75 and in Australia $2 a day.

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The key points for me are as follows:

1. The money doesnt roll over. If I only spend $1.50 on day one, I can't then spend $3 the next day. This means you might as well get as close to the $2.25 as possible
2. The cost of electricity/gas for cooking isnt included. This makes things easier, but its a reality check that those struggling every day DO have to take into account utility costs.
3. Garden produce still has a cost. I'm actually limited in what I have available to me from my garden as we are at the end of winter. I have lemons and some silverbeet but not a lot else. Costing this is going to be tricky (the lemon trees were put in 5 years ago for example) but even though I'll err on the side of caution this really is going to be a lifesaver.
4. Most importantly - I am allow to prepare and stock up on items I find cheaply now, and then use them during the challenge. This is incredibly important - but not something completely alien as I am bit of a hoarder anyways.

So what is my strategy? Well I have to admit its nothing too ingenious - pretty much its carbohydrates and lots of them.

I've been keeping an eye out on what's on offer at supermarkets as I pass them and have managed to grab the following:

2x 500g Pasta at 99c a bag - total cost $1.98

4x 400 diced tomatoes at 79c a time - total cost $3.16

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Wow. Reality just hit me. Four tins of tomatoes and a kilo of pasta - $5.14. That's nearly 50% of the entire budget gone already. But before I run off crying into my pillow lets how these two basic ingredients can be the centre of a week long diet

Recipe One - Penne Pasta with a tomato coulis with a colby cheese topping

Ingredients

125g Penne Pasta (25c)

200g chopped tomatoes (40c)

50g colby cheese, grated (45c)

1. Boil pasta until cooked

2. Stir through tomatoes

3. Serve. Add grated cheese.

Et voila!

Total cost: $1.10

OK so its pasta, tomatoes and cheese, and yes it was a little bland. But I didnt season it at all and now I've eaten, I'm full and I doubt I'll eat again today. So in theory that leaves me $1.15 to feel myself for earlier in the day. So now I just have to find out what that will be.

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So what next? Well I need to price up some other basics and then work out what is left over. Bread is a obvious basic but, as with all perishables, I am are the mercy of random chance whether there will be any offers on bread the sunday before the challenge starts. Can I afford milk? Eggs? Fruit? Veggies?

I also need to think about the costing of the garden produce as well as working out how I will season everything. So much to think about!

And then we have to work out the other things *looks at the elephant* - how exactly will I prepare myself for no coffee for a week? Addiction is a terrible thing!

_________________________________

Next time...

Adding flavour - just how much does a pinch of mixed herbs cost?

Keen to Sponsor Me? https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/breevok

here are the basics:

• From the 23rd – 27th of September you can spend no more than $2.25 a day on food and drink.
• This means you have a total of $11.25 with which to buy all ingredients for your meals.
• The full cost of all the items you consume must be included in your budget. This means budgeting for whole packets of food items such as rice, pasta, noodles and eggs etc.
• For items such as salt, pepper, herbs and spices, simply work out the cost of each item per gram and budget your shopping proportionally. Separate your items before the challenge so there’s no need to be digging around in your cupboards.
• You can share the cost of ingredients amongst a team, as long as no participant spends more than $2.25 a day or their total $11.25 budget. Working as a team will allow you to pool together funds and do more with your cooking.
• You can’t grab a cheeky snack from the cupboard unless you include the cost of buying the item new in your budget.
• You can use food sourced from your garden as long as you can account for the price of production!
• You cannot accept ‘donated’ food from family or friends, but monetary donations towards your fundraising goals are acceptable, and encouraged!
• You are allowed to drink tap water – remember you should try and drink at least 6-8 glasses of water each day.

- See more at: https://www.livebelowtheline.com/nz-how-does-it-work#sthash.bIyjebfV.dpuf

here are the basics:

• From the 23rd – 27th of September you can spend no more than $2.25 a day on food and drink.
• This means you have a total of $11.25 with which to buy all ingredients for your meals.
• The full cost of all the items you consume must be included in your budget. This means budgeting for whole packets of food items such as rice, pasta, noodles and eggs etc.
• For items such as salt, pepper, herbs and spices, simply work out the cost of each item per gram and budget your shopping proportionally. Separate your items before the challenge so there’s no need to be digging around in your cupboards.
• You can share the cost of ingredients amongst a team, as long as no participant spends more than $2.25 a day or their total $11.25 budget. Working as a team will allow you to pool together funds and do more with your cooking.
• You can’t grab a cheeky snack from the cupboard unless you include the cost of buying the item new in your budget.
• You can use food sourced from your garden as long as you can account for the price of production!
• You cannot accept ‘donated’ food from family or friends, but monetary donations towards your fundraising goals are acceptable, and encouraged!
• You are allowed to drink tap water – remember you should try and drink at least 6-8 glasses of water each day.

- See more at: https://www.livebelowtheline.com/nz-how-does-it-work#sthash.bIyjebfV.dpuf

here are the basics:

• From the 23rd – 27th of September you can spend no more than $2.25 a day on food and drink.
• This means you have a total of $11.25 with which to buy all ingredients for your meals.
• The full cost of all the items you consume must be included in your budget. This means budgeting for whole packets of food items such as rice, pasta, noodles and eggs etc.
• For items such as salt, pepper, herbs and spices, simply work out the cost of each item per gram and budget your shopping proportionally. Separate your items before the challenge so there’s no need to be digging around in your cupboards.
• You can share the cost of ingredients amongst a team, as long as no participant spends more than $2.25 a day or their total $11.25 budget. Working as a team will allow you to pool together funds and do more with your cooking.
• You can’t grab a cheeky snack from the cupboard unless you include the cost of buying the item new in your budget.
• You can use food sourced from your garden as long as you can account for the price of production!
• You cannot accept ‘donated’ food from family or friends, but monetary donations towards your fundraising goals are acceptable, and encouraged!
• You are allowed to drink tap water – remember you should try and drink at least 6-8 glasses of water each day.

- See more at: https://www.livebelowtheline.com/nz-how-does-it-work#sthash.bIyjebfV.dpuf