Living below the line: $2.25 a day - day two

Petra Bagust says the challenge to live off $2.25 a day brings everyday convenience into focus. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The Herald will follow well known Kiwis for five days as they attempt to 'Live Below the Line' - by spending just $2.25 a day on food and drink. Beginning Monday (September 21), Petra Bagust, Geoff Scott, Ria Hall, Eve Gordon and Holly Arrowsmith will share their thoughts, struggles and hunger pangs with Herald readers as they attempt to live off little to raise funds for and awareness of TearFund's fight against human trafficking.

Day one
Day three
Day four

Day Two

Petra Bagust

Breakfast - Bircher muesli - oats soaked in some apple juice and water [My fav breakfast, to keep costs down I took out the fancy seeds; like chia, sunflower and pumpkin. I just had some coconut and raisins.]
Morning Tea - Copious cups of tea without milk: 5 cents.
Lunch - Homemade bread, toasted with the vege soup from last night - [Parsley garnish, foraged from the garden. The carrot and tomato soup has pumpkin & kumera in it too, so I won't be getting scurvy - by lunchtime I was really hungry.]
Dinner - 2 eggs on toast - especially now I know they are 20 cents each! [Dinner isn't colourful, but it is good to have some protein.]

How I'm Feeling: Heavy fuzzy thoughts clunk around inside my brain as the lack of caffeine takes effect mid morning. Huge glass of water helps. I feel really hungry during the day, reminding me what a foreign feeling that is and helping me appreciate lunch a lot. Energy levels okay.

Other thoughts: Not snacking is going fine, but I'm feeling conscious of all the choices I have. Even this afternoon the children said - Mum you can still have little bits of lots of different flavours. To get close to Living below the line, I'd need to buy $12.50 worth of food and try and live on it for a week. Then reality would really bite!

Geoff Scott

Breakfast - A delicious tummy filling porridge, a little vanilla, some cinnamon, 2 chopped dates, 1 teaspoon of currants, 1/4 cup of milk - not watered down like yesterday (thank goodness) and a drizzle of our home grown urban honey - yum (45c)
Lunch - I must admit I did not stick to my plan, I was cooking at Vinnies today and being the start of the week - and launching a brand new spring menu I was under the pump from the word go... so at about 2pm I finally whisked up a three egg plain omelette, and boy it tasted good!
Dinner - With my team of chefs and waiters, who all joined me in a 75c helping of Israeli couscous with some chicken thighs I found on special, roasted and taken off the bone, finished with garlic, shaved cauliflower stalk and some fennel tips finely chopped!

'Feeling a bit weird about it all - no major rumbling in the stomach at this stage - let's see tonight when I get home from cooking at the restaurant. I did keep thinking today that 'we are' very lucky here in NZ and I couldn't bear the thought of my daughter leaving home to do what these young girls have to do.'

Holly Arrowsmith

Breakfast - Buckwheat Muesli with yogurt ( 69 cents)
Lunch - Rice noodles with egg (70 cents)
Dinner - Spiced Vegetable Fritters (65 Cents)

'Today was a little easier than yesterday. Perhaps it was because I was busier! I also spent a fair chunk of the afternoon cooking - making bread for tomorrow, and preparing the fritter batter. Strangely I think this tricked my brain into feeling full, with so much aroma and food in front of me (this is probably not scientific but I'll roll with it).

Once again, the daily reflection guide from TearFund was a really good aid, telling the story of Huyen, a young woman from Vietnam who was trafficked, but later rescued and rehabilitated.

This gives me hope for all the people who will be rescued through Live Below The Line efforts. My favourite quote of the day (from One Helping Cookbook) is: 'I cannot do all the good that the world needs. But the world needs all the good that I can do,' - Jana Stanfield'

Eve Gordon

Lunch - carrots and peanut butter on crackers
Snack - yummy soft black licorice
Dinner - one of my favourite combos as a kid: apples with peanut butter!

'Still desperate for coffee but I'm doing great actually! Haven't been hungry at all really... I'm definitely going to be sick of my chosen foods by the end of the week, but I don't think I'll be as hungry as I thought I'd be! Yay!'

-
Ria Hall

Breakfast - Porridge with banana and cinnamon (50 cents)
Lunch - Dinner from last night - glass noodle salad with citrus soy dressing (75 cents)
Snack - Small bowl of brown rice with a dash of soy sauce (10 cents)
Dinner - vegetable and barley soup (75 cents)

'I'm okay today. Feeling a little lacklustre though, energy is definitely depleting. Need to increase water intake as I'm feeling thirstier than usual. So stoked for my 'One Helping' cook book especially created for Live Below the Line - I would've been living on noodles every meal otherwise!'