across the wire

With the change in weather, my thoughts turn to once again riding motorcycle. Currently I ride a 500 Honda Shadow, red. -->

If I could, I would love to get a new bike. I am not much for Harley Davidson's look or trademark sound, but if there were a Harley I would like to ride it would be this one: 2008 DYNA Fat Bob.



But I think what I would really like to ride is this one - the VT750C2 Shadow Spirit by Honda.
Riding is just around the corner!

I received the following in my email in box a few weeks ago and found it interesting:

Food expenditure for one week: 37,699 Yen or $317.25
Favorite foods : sashimi, fruit, cake, potato chips

Italy : The Manzo family of Sicily

Food expenditure for one week : 214.36 Euros or $260.11
Favorite foods: fish, pasta with ragu, hot dogs, frozen fish sticks

Great Britain : The Bainton family of Cllingbourne Ducis

Food expenditure for one week : 155.54 British Pounds or $253.15
Favorite foods : avocado, mayonnaise sandwich, prawn cocktail, chocolate fudge cake with cream

Kuwait : The Al Haggan family of Kuwait City

Mexico : The Casales family of Cuernavaca

Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09
Favorite foods: pizza, crab, pasta, chicken

Poland : The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna

Food expenditure for one week : 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27
Family recipe : Pig's knuckles with carrots, celery and parsnips

United States : The Caven family of California

Food expenditure for one week : $159.18
Favorite foods : beef stew, berry yogurt sundae, clam chowder, ice cream

Food expenditure for one week : 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53
Family recipe: Okra and mutton

Mongolia : The Batsuuri family of Ulaanbaatar

Ecuador : The Ayme family of Tingo

Bhutan : The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village

Chad : The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp

Making choices on $6 a day sucks. I made some pretty bad choices with my money this past week:

• I rented 3 DVDs for $5.25
• bought a bag of chips for $1.49
• bought a specialty beer to enjoy with dinner for $4.11
• lots of fresh herbs totaling $3.86

After including transportation costs ($21.00) I had used $35.71 of my weekly $42 budget on things that would not help me throughout the week. The remaining $6.29 went to buy groceries.

Technically I passed this week, but if I really had to live this it would be a failure. If this were real, I probably would not have been able to access much of the food I did consume which consisted mostly of pantry staples like dried beans, couscous, and soup stuff.

Did I mention my cheat weekend last post? Probably not. So during Lent, I have cheat weekend set up when a friend from out of town comes to visit.

The first day was not too bad. I spent $2.50 today: $1.25 on parking at the university and $1.25 on a Twix chocolate bar. I made 4 loaves of bread in the morning and I still have a lot of great food in my fridges.

Lent starts today.
The lent challenge, can I live on $6 a day? Many people do. The SPCW illustrates with this pamphlet the living conditions that many Manitobans face when they need to rely on social welfare.

So here begins my attempt to live/meet my needs for 40 day on $6/day.
2 predictions for the outcome:

• I won't be able to complete this challenge.
• If I complete it, it is because I have a number of unfair advantages starting this challenge which makes it easier than the true experience.

The unfair advantages:

• I have a lot of things at my disposal that a person on social assistance may not have: car, house equipped with cable, internet, a stocked pantry and fridge, an iPod etc.
  
• My parents give me many things, including food.

The rules:

1. Use cash only and cash can be advanced one week at a time.
   
2. Transportation to and from work is not impacted by this challenged.
3. Prior financial commitments are excluded from the $6 budget (i.e. bills, gym pass, autopac payments, volleyball, etc.)
4. Just give it an honest go and keep a log on this blog. We will see how things go.

The exceptions:

• I have a cheat weekend in February, when friends from out of town will be here.
• I can use what I have. I have food in my fridge, I have a computer in my room, I a washer and dryer.
  

Everything that I think I need, I hope my 6 bucks will do. If I quit or can't complete, I'll let you know.