Live Below the Line 7th - 11th May 2012

Well it's here.  The week I've been preparing for and thinking about for ages.  Now all we can do is to get stuck in.  Yes, you read that right I said WE,  although Lovely Hubby due to his work commitments cannot completely do the Live Below the Line Challenge, he has volunteered to take part in it all week for his evening meal. 

That's just 33p allowed to feed him each evening for five days a total of £1.65 for five evening meals, is it possible, am I really going to be able to fill my big hunk of a husband (who loves his meat and tasty foods) for this tiny sum of money.  Well I can't afford the meat, so I am going to have to make things spicy and tasty and as varied as I possibly can.  After all you don't want to come home from work and eat plain rice or boring food do you........hang on......that's EXACTLY what millions of people in all corners of the world do..... 

....AND THIS IS WHY THIS WEEK THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF US ALL OVER THE UK AND IN MANY OTHER PLACES DOING THIS EXACT SAME CHALLENGE.

To give a glimpse into the lives of 1.4 billion people who have no choice but to live below the line every day – and who have to make £1 cover a lot more than food.

 Thank you to all the lovely readers of my Blog who have already sponsored me, you are such a brilliant lot, I do really appreciate each and every penny and every pound, for those of you who haven't yet joined in, a simple way to donate 50p is to join up as a Follower of the Blog as LH has pledged 50p for each and every new Follower until the end of the challenge on the 11th May.  He'll be coughing up later for the next batch of Followers.

Off we go.......

Five little pounds.......which bought me...

you can click on all the pictures to make them bigger.

..... from shops

Pasta 500g 30p

Rice 1kg 40p

Peanut Butter 62p

Lemon Juice 20p

Curry Sauce (2x23p) 46p

Wholemeal Bread (21 slices) 24p

(should have been 47p but I had a 23p off coupon)

10 Vegetable Stock Cubes 10p

Soup Mix 25p

100 mls of Olive Oil - 33p

Toffee Apple Cake 33p

Custard Mix 6p

Gravy Mix 33p

Falafel Mix 33p

Special K Breakfast Bar 5p

5 Small Apples  31p

Produced at Home

15 Lavender Pekin Bantam Eggs  @ 3p each - 45p

Tomato and Garlic Pasta Sauce (2 x7p) 14p

Total - £4.90

Home Grown Herbs and Basic Seasonings

5p

Homegrown and Frozen Veggies

Pumpkin (1 small) - 2.5p

Shredded White Cabbage (half a head) - 0.6p

Broccoli (teeny tiny bit) - 0.3p

Sliced Carrots (5) - 0.2p

Leeks (2) - 0.8p

Celery (3 sticks) - 0.3p

Kale - 4 blocks - 0.1p

Total - 5p

(actually 4.8p)

I know the homegrown veggies seem extra-ordinarily cheap but if you read my stand alone page (just under the heading of the Blog)  you will see how I very carefully priced them all out to make sure everything was done fair and square.  It goes to show, exactly what I was hoping to highlight through my Blog this year, just how cheaply you can eat if you grow, and eat your own foodstuffs.

Total Spent on Foodstuffs for

Live Below the Line 2012

£5.00

My additional £1.65, thanks to LH joining in for the evening meals bought me.....

900g Potatoes - 40p

385g onions - 30p

20g Coffee - 40p

10 sweeteners - 2p

1 pint milk 50p

and 1 additional Pekin egg 3p

Total £1.65

I now have to show that I can produce his evening meal for 33p  or less each night to make this allowable under the terms of the Challenge.  It also has to fill him up so he doesn't get the nibbles during the evening, because although he is allowed his normal breakfast, usually just cereal, and his salad and meat meal during the day at work, he is staying within the remit of the Challenge each and every evening, so just his meal and a cup of coffee.

I must just say here for all to see THANK YOU MY DARLING LOVELY HUBBY FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT IN THE RUN UP TO, AND DURING THIS WEEK (and for patiently waiting to eat until I have photographed your food !!).

I will be posting each morning with the food and information from the previous day, so I can photograph and record each meal we eat and the costings for them.

Wish me luck and please, call back to see how we do, and THANK YOU again for all your support.

Remember ....... to donate 50p the easy way, sign up to be a Follower, of this Blog to donate if you already are a follower (even just 50p) just click on the Live Below the Line picture in my righthand sidebar and you will be whizzed automatically to my official Live Below the Line sponsor page, where you can donate either by Paypal or with your credit or debit card.

THANK YOU

Sue xx