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 bolognese	74	Asda
Meat free chili	74	Asda
Sweet & sour sauce	29	Tesco
Spaghetti - 500g	20	Asda
Rice - 1kg	40	Sainsbury's
Potatoes - 2kg	79	local shop
Onions - 4kg	120	local shop
Tin of sweetcorn	21	Sainsbury's
Bread - white	47	Tesco
Bread - brown	45	Tesco
Digestives - 400g	31	Aldi
Peanut butter	62	Sainsbury's
Bananas - 2	23	Sainsbury's
Drinking choc	58	Tesco
Chopped tomatoes - can	34	Tesco
Stock cubes	20	Sainsbury's
Baked beans	24	Tesco
Carrot (1!)	15	69p/kg Sainsbury's
Green split peas - 250g	55	Sainsbury's
Kidney beans - can	25	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!)	13	Tesco

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