Can I feed myself for £2 for one day?
That was the challenge set by Voucherbox. The purpose of this challenge is to raise money for the charity Zamcog, whose goal is to support Zambia’s most at-risk children through food and education. It costs £2 to feed and educate a child in Zambia every day, and for each #2poundchallenge post published, Voucherbox will donate £50 to Zamcog. That supports a vulnerable child for nearly a month! The challenge also aims to encourage people to think about their own food spending and waste too.
How could I possibly say no? Of course I jumped straight onboard! So here is how I fed myself for £2 for one day (shopping from Sainsburys)…
Morning Smoothie (Breakfast)
Frozen Summer Fruits (500g £2.00) 50g 20p
Fairtrade banana 16p each
Apple (family pack of 11 £1.75) 16p each
Small handful mixed seeds 6p
Kale (500g £2) 10g 4p
(Almond milk £1 per litre) 100 ml 10p
= 72p
Lunch (Jacket with Beans)
Basics baked beans in tomato sauce (25p) 1/2 can 13p
Small baked potato 22p
= 35p
Dinner (Vegetable Cous Cous)
Vegetable stock cubes (10 x 10g 65p) 7p
Cous cous (1kg £1.20) 200g 24p
Chargrilled mediterranean vegetables – aubergine, courgette, red & yellow peppers (500g £1.60) 100g 32p
Carrots (1kg 50p) 2 carrots finely sliced/ grated) 8p
Brocolli (335g 45p) 1/3 15p
Beansprouts (400g 65p) 40g 7p
= 93p
Total = £2
I found it easier than I thought to do this for myself for one day, but it would have been a harder challenge to do it as a family, and I think I would also struggle to do it for long to be honest! However, I was able to still have my breakfast smoothie, albeit abit smaller than usual, that is packed with nutrition and sets me up for the day. I was also able to stick to my usual diet of mainly vegan and raw food, but did have to opt for frozen choices rather than all fresh in order to maintain eating a variety of fruit and vegetables within the small budget set.
It did make me think about how I could reduce my shopping budget though, which I will try to take onboard. I do often freeze fresh fruit and veg just before it goes off already, so this helps to minimise waste and cut down on costs. Also, if I had been doing this challenge at another time of year, I could have used alot of home-grown food. But I enjoyed taking on this challenge and I am thrilled to be able to use my blog to raise money for such a great cause too!
Are you a blogger who would like to raise £50 for Zamcog? If so, why not take part in the #2poundchallenge too!
Thank you for your post! We will be donating £50 to Zamcog which will feed, educate and clothe an at-risk child in Zambia for 1 month.
I seriously considered this challenge, but as you say doing it with the family would be very hard and I didn’t fancy sorting the kids one meal and myself another. Well done you for going ahead with it!