Student shares how she lives on less than $10 for five days
Life can be pretty tough for a student bound by a very tight budget – but this 23-year-old manages to get by with just $10 for the week’s food shop.
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Life can be pretty tough for a student who’s often bound by a very tight budget – but that doesn’t mean you can’t still whip up tasty meals.
British student Poppy Barr, 23, decided to challenge herself to spend as little as possible on her weekly food shop – and managed to live of just £5 (around $A9) for five days.
While it’s temping to splash out on extra ingredients, Poppy managed to keep to the limit while getting creative with her meals.
Speaking to money-saving community Vogo, she said: “The premise of my challenge was relatively simple.
“I wanted to save as much money as I could while wasting as little food as possible, spending only £5 in the process.” That’s less than $A10.
Poppy decided to go all in and include everything she ate during the five days within the £5 budget.
She added: “I decided that as much as I needed to be economical, I also wanted to make meals that tasted good and gave me some nutritional value, which is why I picked up the stock cubes for flavour and soya milk, which is fortified with vitamins.
“For the most part, I was pretty happy with my choices! I stayed with own brand items as these were a lot cheaper than the more well-known brands. This reduced my costs significantly.”
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Because of her restricted budget, Poppy admitted that her meals were quite repetitive, but she tried her best to switch it up where she could.
“I even attempted a homemade pizza one night using blended oats and water for a base, pasta sauce and frozen veg – honestly not as bad as it sounds!” she continued.
“I also made homemade cookies that were pretty successful using a mashed banana, peanut butter and oats, which helped satisfy my cravings for snacks throughout the day.
“Overall, I found the week challenging but in ways that I didn’t expect.”
Now sharing her tips to others who are trying to save money, Poppy explained: “I’d recommend shopping around for the best deals.
“I’d rely on cheap staples such as pasta, and planning meticulously for the week – there is no way I would’ve had enough food for over five days if I hadn’t put so much thought into my meals beforehand.”
Poppy’s thrifty ways are a part of the “Living Below the Line” challenge which initially started in Australia in 2010.
It became an annual anti-poverty campaign with users across the globe raising both awareness and money for poverty reduction projects.
She said: “While I only experienced a small part of what those living in poverty face, this challenge definitely opened my eyes to my own privilege.
“I was able to do this for 5 days with a roof over my head, running water, electricity and go back to my regular meals once it was over, whereas others do not have that choice.
Poppy’s grocery list:
Oats: 75p (A$1.36)
Spaghetti: 20p (A$0.36)
White bread: 37p (A$0.67)
Pasta sauce: 39p (A$0.71)
Soya milk: 59p (A$1.07)
2 bananas: 20p (A$0.36)
Vegetable stock cubes: 36p (A$0.65)
Peanut butter: 70p (A$1.27)
Butter beans: 36p (A$0.65)
Baked beans: 29p (A$0.53)
Frozen mixed veg: 79p (A$1.43)
Total: £5 (A$9)
This article originally appeared on the The Sun and was reproduced with permission
Originally published as Student shares how she lives on less than $10 for five days