Tuesday 22 April 2014

Live below the Line - year 4

It's time for us to take part in the annual Live Below the Line challenge, where we and thousands of other people feed ourselves for five days on £1 a day each, to make us more aware of those who live in extreme poverty (and raise some funds in the process). In fact, the official week is next week but we've opted to do it Tuesday-Saturday this week instead.

We've just started this morning, having picked up supplies on our travels over the past week or so.

It's certainly harder than it was when we first did it three years ago, though this time we've at least managed to include a bit more fresh food (but no cheese) - notably 4kg of onions (mostly for soup) for £1.20 from one of the many shops in east London that sell them for £1.20-£1.39. Last year, Tim and I couldn't agree on what to buy so had each chosen our own supplies with just a few shared things, but this year we joined forces again.

We're quite happy with the amount we got for our (exactly) £10. But it did involve picking up things in a range of shops - not all of which everyone would have available locally - over several days. The list would certainly have been a lot more restricted if we'd simply gone to one supermarket.

We also had to rethink our plans - eg the local Tesco didn't have the packs of 4-for-18p chocolate mousses, so we switched to tinned rice pudding (and 6 hot cross buns for a bargain, reduced, 13p). Something else that has scuppered our calculations a bit is that Tesco's white loaf now has fewer, albeit thicker, slices.

Breakfast was a perfectly acceptable 2 slices of toast each, with a choice of peanut butter or lemon curd. Time now for the first lunchtime bowl of soup, made from dried split peas, onions, a potato and stock. Veggie bolognese for supper, probably with spaghetti.


price (p)
Meat free bolognese74Asda
Meat free chili74
Asda
Sweet & sour sauce29Tesco
Spaghetti - 500g20Asda
Rice - 1kg40Sainsbury's 
Potatoes - 2kg79local shop
Onions - 4kg120local shop
Tin of sweetcorn21Sainsbury's
Bread - white47Tesco
Bread - brown45Tesco
Digestives - 400g31 Aldi
Peanut butter62Sainsbury's
Bananas - 223Sainsbury's
Drinking choc58Tesco
Chopped tomatoes - can
34
Tesco
Stock cubes
20
Sainsbury's
Baked beans 
24
Tesco
Carrot (1!)1569p/kg Sainsbury's
Green split peas - 250g55Sainsbury's
Kidney beans - can25
Aldi  
Rice pudding - 2 cans
30
Tesco
Sliced mushrooms tin
39
Asda
Lemon curd
22
Sainsbury's
Hot cross buns x 6 (reduced from £1.30!)13Tesco













A further update will follow later in the week.....




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