Boyo Talks About Live Below the Line

Hi folks, here's a few thoughts from my wonderful husband about our up-and-coming challenge!

"Hi All,


Amy has asked me to do a little thing for her blog regarding my taking up the challenge to ‘live below the line’ for a week.

I am not too sure what I will write here, so you’ll have to bear with me on this one ;op

When we were out for a walk this afternoon, she asked me what my motivation was. And to put it bluntly, it is the money that we can raise.


I am a very competitive person (that is one of my strengths), so I am trying to raise more than she is. My aim would be to raise at least our goal for the challenge, on my own. Our goal is to raise $500.


When we set this goal, neither of us had any idea as to how exactly we were going to raise this money. So for us, that was a lot of money to expect.


For Amy, she seems to think that if we don’t make our goal, then oh well, her main aim is to raise awareness of the extreme poverty. But because I am so competitive, I really would be disappointed if we don’t (combined), manage to raise that amount.


The more I talk to people, the more I think we can raise. I work in a supermarket, and have had a lot of support from my co-workers there. So it would be disappointing to then not get much money from them all.

They are all a little shocked that we are trying to live off so little. But in my mind, it really doesn’t bother me.

I already have my menu set out (I haven’t purchased the items yet, cause it is still a few weeks away). But my plan is to eat wheat biscuits for breakfast and dinner (I currently already have Weetbix for breakfast, so I know what to expect in that area), and then I will be having sandwiches for lunch (as in, plain bread). As a teenager, I used to regularly eat plain bread, so another thing that really doesn’t bother me. I was originally just going to have plain bread the entire time. But I think that having Wheat Biscuits would be a little more healthy for me.

I am also considering maybe purchasing a small pack of biscuits as a treat. But am not too sure how much bread I will be eating, so will wait until near the end of the challenge and see if I have enough money left, and whether I can be bothered.

One of my goals is to try having as much money left over as possible, which I will then donate to our chosen cause.


We will also be donating all the money that we save during the process. As in, we have a weekly budget for our groceries. So we have divided that up in to 7, to work out what we spend per day. From there, we have worked out how much we will be saving by not eating our normal food, and the difference we will be donating to our charity of choice.


I think it has worked out to be roughly $40 (give or take).

I challenge every one who reads this, to go without something for one single day, and donate that money (for example, try going without that coffee, and donate the $4 to 5 that it would have cost, to these people who are living in extreme poverty instead). It may seem like only a small amount to you, as an individual, but could make a HUGE difference to some one who genuinely needs it.

Just think about how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful country. And be thankful that you weren’t one of the many who really don’t have much chance in life, because they happened to be born in to extreme poverty (out of no choice of their own).

Well, I think I have written enough here. Better sign off and let Amy post this. Hopefully, this sees a few more donations coming in. Remember, the link is:

www.fundraise.livebelowtheline.co.nz/soonarmy"