[Lekooks] Living Below the Line-Our family's experience

[Kristin Sanden]

One more observation to add

8. DONATION! Last year we saved over $100 in grocery bills and donated the
difference to Heifer Project. That, beyond awareness and advocacy, is one
of the main goals of the challenge!

Lastly, As I am meal planning this weekend, I came across this resource. If
you don't want to think to hard, here are some sample 5-day meal plans with
grocery lists already ready to go for you!

https://www.livebelowtheline.com.au/eating-on-2


On Sat, Jan 13, 2018 at 1:49 PM Kristin Sanden <kmksanden at gmail.com> wrote:

> I was asked to send out an email to share a bit of how we approached this
> challenge last year in our family in hopes of making if feel less daunting
> to others who might be considering it. Sorry its so LONG!
>
> Feel free to talk to some of us who have done it...Sandens, Larsen-Lewis,
> Megan Fedders, Sara and Bud Hudson and likely others
>
> Kristin
>
> 1. There is no RIGHT way. The website gives ideas but there are lots of
> ways to make this work. Some families take the money for the week and shop
> just with that and only eat what they bought on Sunday (minus some
> condiments/spices). Its up to you to plan it out and make sure you still
> have food to eat by Friday! I think we are going to try this this year for
> something different
>
> Last year I decided not to waste food we already had and I rationalized
> that in real life I would likely build up food in the pantry over weeks and
> months which allowed us to have some variety rather than eat just rice and
> beans every day. I also decided that I wanted to feed my family as much as
> possible within my values so I didn't give up vegetables and didn't buy
> cheap fake food. After a trip to Aldi I took what I had bought and what
> food I already have that fell into the inexpensive category and put it on
> shelves labeled as "living below the line" so the family knew they could
> chose food from there.  I did pull out a bunch of off limits food out of
> the pantry and stored it in a box for the week and taped off a shelf in the
> fridge. I then took my receipts (and some googling of prices at Walmart)
> and calculated the price per serving of food. So the milk and bread etc
> were labelled. As I made recipes during the week, I labeled the leftovers
> too. Everyone was in charge of their own "budget" for the day and could
> then make decisions or pack their own lunches. It was a fair amount of
> work, but I learned a ton about how much things actually cost (some things
> I thought were inexpensive turned out no to be "worth the cost" for our
> budget and felt suddenly expensive) and the feeling of making decisions
> about going without so that I could have something else
>
> Even if you do it just for 2 days thats ok! Or try it for one meal a day.
> Whatever works for you and your family.
>
> 2. Its about the EXPERIENCE not about being perfect. We were over budget
> by a little almost every day. It was really more about the effort  and
> experiencing how hard it was at times. We had good family conversations
> about what was fair game (hot lunch? Afterall, some argued, it could be
> subsidized if you were low income, the potluck at work? free coffee at
> work? Food from our garden?). I was also willing to make some exceptions
> for the kids when they had a strenuous sports practice-however they took it
> seriously and decided to stick to the plan! I found it interesting to
> notice what feelings came up for me around food....what emotions came up
> when I had to live with being slightly hungry? Would I be willing to give
> up coffee for a few days to allow my child to have extra milk? Why is
> having a variety of food options such a big deal to me? Do I buy the
> factory raised eggs or do without?
>
> 3. It was hard work but FUN. I enjoyed the challenge of searching for
> cheap and healthy recipes that everyone would like. I found some keepers.
> Even the kids got into it
>
> 4. We learned to APPRECIATE our food. We ate more slowly and seated
> together. The kids all ate their vegetables without complaint. Nothing was
> wasted!
>
> 5. We all LOST WEIGHT! I thought all the carbs would pack it on, but it
> turns out small portions and no second helpings was significant!
>
> 6. It was more DOABLE than we thought. In the end, Adia said, "We should
> do a modified version of this all the time. Even if we cut out 25% of the
> food we normally buy we would have enough and could donate money weekly".
> Hmmmm
>
> 7. We make some long term CHANGES. After that experience we were motivated
> to make some changes. We have incorporated more vegetarian meals into our
> week and I have become a fan of Aldi! I am much more aware of food that
> goes to waste and I try to buy less each week to minimize that
>
>
>
>
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