Three Stories

[livingdeb]

Today I read about three interesting stories.

I read a story about a guy who lived for a week on ten dollars. You might think I would identify with this guy, but no. He did things a lot differently than I would have. For example he spent $5.68 of that $10 on a burger.

He did drink water instead of Gatorade on a bike ride. He did buy the ingredients for and cook a cheap dish (split pea soup, $2.38; dumplings from what was in the pantry) and he did eat a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and eggs. However, he also winged it a lot. He ate with friends. He ate at parties. A house guest brought beer. He got paid back a loan he had made (in food, not money).

I also read a story about a guy who went a month without getting into a car. He walked, rode a bike and took a bus everywhere. Although he was already fit, he started sleeping better and quit getting headaches during this month. He's also gotten in some better socializing with his family while they walk to church and such.

He actually talked thirty people into joining him in this "Friends Don't Let Friends Drive" program to help people get fit without having to go to a gym. He says, "Why is every other billboard in middle-America screaming at us to eat more, drive faster, live higher? Why has American become synonymous with excess? And the subtle message is, 'Don't rock the boat.' If you do, if you question this lifestyle, you aren't patriotic."

The most amazing part is that he lives in Tyler, Texas, a place that is basically the exact opposite of progressive.

I also read a story in the book Learning, Culture, and Community in Online Education. Apparently a first-grade classroom had only one computer. "The teacher had allocated five minutes for each child at the computer." It sounds like just another story of a pathetic use of technology in our crappy school system. But no.

"On their own, children developed a system in which one child used the left half of the keyboard, a second used the right half, and a third used the mouse. Thus, they managed to get 15 minutes each at the computer while achieving greater success in navigation or game playing than any one would have alone." First-graders thought this up and did it! I love them!

Comments

[p-j-cleary.livejournal.com]

I've lived several weeks for less than $10 per week. It takes some creativity, and lots and lots of Ramen in the cupboards, but it can be done.

Living with a negative balance in the bank account is a little trickier, but if you have returnables, some loose change, and good friends, it's doable.

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

I've never had to go negative before, although once I did work part time for seven months while I was job hunting, going negative on my credit card. Just as I was maxing out my credit card (at $700--so quaint now), and just when I was wondering if I should give up and move in with my parents (200 miles away), I got a full-time job.

When pay day came, but my pay check didn't, I was told that the first check was normally late, but that I would probably get it the following week. If I did, that would be find. Meanwhile, I was lucky enough to know someone I could get a loan from. We organized a very large loan for one week, which I turned out not to need.

I really hate asking for help. It's nice to be employed.

[raaga123.livejournal.com]

I think the first guy was cheating if he really claimed to be *living* on $10 for a week. He should have counted the value of the foodstuffs he consumed, especially those that were paid back to him in lieu of cash.

Now, if he were only claiming to have gone a week without *spending* more than $10, I'd be right there with him. Though I might challenge him to do it again. :)

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

I definitely interpreted it as spending only $10 for a week, assuming rent, etc. wasn't due.

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about this $10 guy, and at first I thought it was cheating, too, but then I thought about it for a while, and realized that I think it's ok. When I used to have an apartment and had my own pantry, I used to always keep it stocked with certain staples: canned tuna, canned chicken, spaghetti, bottled sauce, rice, boxed mac and cheese, ramen, canned veggies, some of those mysterious "meal in a bag" kind of things, peanut butter, jelly, spices, crackers, cereal, cans of soup, at least one pound of butter in the freezer, a few frozen dinners; probably more I've forgotten. I would use these things and always restock them the very next time I shopped.

My thinking was if I did have a few weeks that I was completely broke, I'd have plenty of food to get me thru. All I'd need to get would be the fresh stuff: eggs, bread, milk, fresh veggies and fruit if I had any extra money. And I usually had bread mix on hand, too, so I could probably even skip the bread.

It's probably my obsessive reading habit or maybe my weird survivalist tendencies, but I've always liked the idea of a pantry full of staples. My romantic view of staple foods is more like the prairie version -- barrels of salt, sugar, flour, lard, cornmeal, etc. Of course I can just picture me, faced with a pantry of that stuff. I'd be dead in a week!

But anyway, fun links. Thanks!

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

I've never lived completely broke, but I did spend my senior year in college pretty poor. It was good that I had good shoes, a good coat, a knapsack, etc. already bought. I ate lots of eggs, pasta, and peanut butter, which is doable for a year, but not so doable for a lifetime. I also walked everywhere, which works only when you're basically healthy and uninjured.

So, besides having a well-stocked pantry, it's handy to have a well-stocked closet, health and energy, the ability to tolerate cheap foods, and close proximity to essential places (job, grocery store). I also saw only movies that were free, which were available on campus. Although as a student you can really spend all your free time studying.

I also had an attitude. I was poor because I had turned down the bigger of the two student loans I had been offered. So the fact that I could live like that was sort of like a victory over the debt monster. If you're just poor because you can't find good work or some other reason that's not so inspiring, then it's rougher. And if you don't know when it's going to end, then it's harder.

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

I did forget something -- something he even mentioned in his article. Condiments! Must always have condiments on hand!