Live Below the Line-Day 5

Go on, one last time in that Geordie accent…Day 5 in the Live Below the Line Make Do and Mend house…

Breakfast

• Porridge-as per Days 1 and 3 but with the addition of a spoon of jam in each bowl to hold off a tantrum from BigSmall about the lack of toast…55p
• Milk for the Smalls-20p

Snacks

• 1x apple-12p
• 4x bananas-at the new more expensive banana price of 10p each-40p
• Sunshine bun with butter and jam x2-12p
• Banana muffin x1-9p
• Milk for the Smalls-20p

Lunch

• 4x egg rolls, using 2 eggs-40p
• Banana muffins x 3-27p

Dinner

• The other half of the bag of pasta (15p), the rest of the tomato sauce from Day 2 (44p), 2 onions (10p) and the rest of the cheese (85p)=£1.54 And we had my mother in law round for tea-so that served 3 Bigs and 2 Smalls!
• Banana muffins x2-18p

Total cost £3.95

So there we go. We did it. A bit of a wobble part way through about whether or not it was fair to inlcude the Smalls, and a couple of minor tantrums along the way, but I think we did ok. I have to say that I think it is far easier doing it as a family on a £20 budget, than it would have been as a single person on a £5 budget, and I was possibly a bit more relaxed in my interpreation of the rules in that we used a few bits from the storecupboard (although I did account for these in my sums). And I really don’t think we could have done it if the Smalls had been teenagers…

It has highlighted to me just how hard it must be for people who have no choice in the matter, and have to live hand to mouth EVERY DAY. I felt the worry each time the Smalls asked for snacks or another helping of food and trying to work out whether or not that would leave us short by the end of the week, and I had the safety net of knowing that if it really came to it, I wouldn’t let the Smalls go hungry and we could stop at any time. I can’t imagine how it must feel to have NO safety net, and to be accompanied by that nagging fear all day, every day. To know that if the kids eat more one day, then you yourself will be going hungry by the end of the week.
As a family, we are very lucky. We are not rolling in money, but we can afford to pay our bills, and feed ourselves well, and we have never really had to budget our food shop so strictly. It has been a learning curve, and an eye-opener, and I will be counting our blessings when I go to bed tonight.

I chose to take part in Live Below the Line, not only to highlight the issues around global poverty and hunger, but also to raise money for Save The Children, who work around the world to give millions of children nutritious food, life-saving healthcare, protection from abuse, and the chance to go to school. This is massively important work, and we decided that we would donate the rest of our usual shopping budget to the charity. If you too would like to support the work that they are doing, then you can dontate here on my Live Below the Line page.

Thankyou for all your support and kind words this week-you have kept me going and reassured me when it has got a bit sticky with the Smalls!