Yes that's right. Day 10 ended with $1.50 of cheap, cheap wine. Fruity Lexia to be specific, and 6.5 whole standard drinks of it.
And that, plus 50c worth of food for the day and not eating as much as usual for the past 10 days resulted in very, very fun times.
The moral of the story...
I am never paying endless amounts of money for alcohol again!
Doing this challenge has really made me realized how much of our purchases are unnecessary and are hurting our bank accounts, our health and the amount of money that we could be using on more meaningful purposes. The food I have been eating has filled me up adequately, and yet I have been living on so, SO much less than what I would normally eat.
And then this excessive purchasing and consumption leads to more wastage and creates more inequality in our world. IT IS SO UNFAIR. People are dying every day because they cannot even afford enough food to keep themselves alive, and here we are, purchasing things we don't need and buying food we are not even hungry enough to eat and then it all ends up in the bin. As I said in an earlier post, $5.2 BILLION of FOOD are wasted EVERY YEAR in AUSTRALIA ALONE - and yet 1.4 billion people are living on less than $2 (AUD) a day.
Below is the bin at TGI Fridays and below that is a meal, that looks like it could be brand new and fresh for someone to eat, but had to be thrown away, into the bin, because someone bought it and wasted it.
It is just ridiculous and disgusting. I hate seeing the bin full of food and I HATE throwing the food away, and even after working there for so, so long, I have not become immune to this hate. This campaign has made me so much more aware of it though.
So, if living off $2 a day is keeping me alive, who cares that people have to live off that everyday?
Shouldn't it be easy then?
Well, no.
Firstly, the food is enough, but quite often, never fulfilling or satisfying. It never nourishes me and it always leaves me still a little hungry.
Secondly, the food is tasteless and monotonous. As wealthy citizens of the world, we love eating big, hearty meals full of flavours and taste. And imagine not being able to taste that. Imagine your favorite food tasting like bland rice.
Thirdly, the restriction and freedom that this has put on my life is immense. I cannot grab a bite to eat at the food court, I cannot buy myself lunch if I have left it at home, I cannot have a quick muffin from the new muffin shop even though they look so DIVINE. Because I can't afford it. And because I am restricted by my budget.
Forthly, it restricts your social life! This sounds awful but it is true. Grabbing a family meal at a restaurant provokes sympathy stares and everyone negotiating with me, "but if we give you food it doesn't count, right?" I can no longer go for a coffee, have a dinner, or anything else involving food - which is a lot!
Fifthly, and most importantly, those living below $2 live for ALL expenses, not just food. I'm talking transport, technology (or lack of), healthcare, schooling, shelter, etc. Imagine your child falling sick, and having to choose between life saving medication, and a weeks worth of food for the family.
So support the cause.
If you love me / support my initiative / like what I am doing, please sponsor me!
You can sponsor me by credit card here, or email me at p.madan@theoaktree.org for direct debit details. OR meet up with me and give me some cash :)
I really need more donations, so if anyone donates in the next 72 hours, I will make them cookies! And I'm not even joking.
All the money will be going towards life changing education systems and reopening schools in rural areas in Cambodia. You can read about that on my sponsor page, here.
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