The results of Living on $2/day for a month

We did it. We survived an entire month on $2/day for food and drinks. What this really means is we didn’t go  out at all in the month of March. 

Our friends didn’t particularly love this idea and were skeptical if we could keep it up. We found creative ways to interact with them without having to go out. This included art walk, morning runs, running the Gate River Run, potluck dinners and movie nights. Many were worried about us starving but the reality is we actually ate really well. We enjoyed cooking at home and figuring out recipes together. Asghar has mastered bread making and stir fry and even gained a few pounds because of his love of fresh bread. I have figured out how to buy groceries in a smart way. I actually lost a few pounds and feel a lot less tired because everything has been fresh and homemade. We now use everything we buy in that week and nothing gets lost in the bottom drawer.

Asghar would say the whole thing was hokey but a lot of fun. It wasn't a real challenge for him. He doesn't think we did anything difficult because we didn't follow the guidelines strictly. For example, we used our pantry items in addition to the groceries we bought. We had three dinners on the calendar at the homes of friends and family and we didn't cancel them even though purists would say they should have been cancelled or their cost should have been deducted from the budget. He holds himself to such high standards and would only say we accomplished a great deal if we did this project strictly on $2/day.

I’m sure many of you are wondering if it was all worth it. My answer is a resounding yes, so much so that I am going to keep it up. For starters, we collectively saved a whopping $1500. We only spent $112 out of our allotted $124 on food. This was an eye opening experiment because we just didn’t realize how much we spent going out. Now that we know, we have decided to set our monthly total to $500. Once we reach that limit, we are going to stay in for the remainder of the month. This is obviously a work in progress and we are eager to make it work but we are going to take it a month at a time.

The time indoors resulted in Asghar and I spending a lot more time together and completing a lot of time consuming projects including our taxes. We were able to build a new raised bed, plant some new flowers and clear out some weeds. When I say we, I’ll be honest it was mostly him. My time was spent on cleaning the house, working on TEDxJacksonville, fighting with Comcast. The remaining time was spent reading books and the stack of magazines that used to pile up every month. 

I would highly recommend this project to anyone wondering if they have the discipline to meet their long term goals. Financial goals  both short term and long term are something we discuss and plan for all the time and this really helped us put it into perspective. I have been saying this forever but I really believe that goals are so much more accessible and realistic when you write them down and come up with a plan. You start to believe the rest is attainable because you have a plan. That alone gets you a third of the way there. 

How We Are Surviving On Two Dollars A Day

Asghar and I are now 16 days into our $2/day/person challenge and I am proud to say that we have not spent any money eating or socializing outside. I think for the first time, in a very long time, both of us even hung out at separate social events and only had water. 

You may be wondering, "How do they do it?" Well it really isn't that hard. For starters, it is really important to plan ahead. Laziness is probably the only thing that prevented us from doing this before. Every Saturday, we sit and make a list of what we are going to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day of the week. Doing this has really allowed us to shop for ingredients that we can keep using instead of doing what we usually do and buy one off items and then let them rot or sit there for weeks before we realizing we had them.  For example, I bought carrots on Saturday so I could use them in my vegetable soup, shred them in my salad and roast them with my chicken. 

We even planned ahead to have a double date. Last Thursday, we had a couple over for some spaghetti and meatballs. The meal was nothing fancy but it was still delicious and filling. And we got to enjoy a great evening with friends without spending $50-$100 on dinner which is what always happens when you go out for dinner. Some of our favorite dishes have been chicken stir fry, chicken tacos, potato cutlets, vegetable soup and of course a good old loaf of bread. Asghar has baked baguettes, sourdough loaves, and white loaves. I have attached pictures of each week's receipts and our meal plans for the week. 

The thing that has touched me the most is being able to feel and understand what it is like for those that do not have the luxury to buy whatever they like. We might be doing this as a fun challenge but for many this is a reality. This really hit me on the morning of Friday, March 6th. It was warm most of the week and all of a sudden it got really cold on Friday. I had to be at the Mayor's education summit by 7:30 and of course left the house without checking the weather. When I got out to the car, I was freezing! But I had to deliver promotional material and could not be late. So I dealt with it and made my delivery downtown. I had a hour to kill before the program actually started so I quickly drove home and grabbed a coat. On the way home, I noticed a woman on Park St who was shivering and only wearing a t-shirt. She didn't have to ability to go home and grab a coat. That's when it hit me, I am so lucky to have everything I have and I felt ashamed because I could do nothing for her. 

There is a reason food drives tell us to look into our pantries around Thanksgiving. We as a society tend buy more than we need. Why not buy less, save more and give more to the organizations we want to rather than feeling like we have to give around one holiday. It has been fun inspiring others to think about what they really need to live comfortably. Now that we know we can do this, I think we might make this an annual tradition.