I took the challenge three times before I made it through the month on the allotted budget. The choices required to survive were difficult to work through even on website that had no consequences in my real life.
It got me thinking. What would living on $1.25 a day would look like in my world?
It would mean...
- No air conditioning in the summer in Alabama
- Fear
- No trips to the pool to cool off
- No money to pay utilities
- Worry
- Walking everywhere we go
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner would consist of mostly beans and rice, if we were lucky.
- No dinners out on a busy day
- No new tennis shoes when the ones my little guy is wearing are worn out
- No "inexpensive" redecorating projects in the dining room.
- Stress
- No trips to the doctor for issues that are anything less than life threatening. And sometimes no trips for the life threatening ones.
- No private school (or for my homeschooling friends- no money for curriculum and activities)
- Concern for the well being of my family
- The inability to pay our mortgage
- Dependence
- No TV, movies, or typically entertainment of any kind
- No trips to Sonic for Happy hour- another "cheap" fun day
- Hopelessness
- No running the washing machine, dryer or dishwasher
- No new clothes- not even from the thrift store
The list could go on and on.
The goal of this post, and I believe the Survive 125 challenge, is not to make anyone feel guilty. Guilt doesn't change anything.
The point is to get us thinking. Acting.
What if we took a look at our daily budgets and tried to find a way to put $1.25 a day to better use. Intentionally use that $37.50 a month, $450 a year to make real change.
What would that look like? Child sponsorship? Groceries for a neighbor? Donations to poverty fighting organizations? How would those changes build relationships? Spread the gospel?
Will you take a minute to take the challenge and check out 58:'s philosophy?
Is there a change you could make?
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