About Me and My Challenges

So this is me.

As usual hidden behind a cabbage.

I've been in and around Blog land since 2008 so this year is my ten year anniversary and what better way to celebrate than to go back to my basics and set myself some Challenges.

I've done all sorts of Challenges over the years but my favourite ones have always been food related.

 I think the thing that got me started on Challenges was participating in my first Live Below the Line way back in 2011, it seemed to inspire me and get me thinking about food in a whole new light.  And as it was choosing to do it rather than having to do it as I had been forced to do in an earlier chapter of my life it was pretty enjoyable.

I took part every year for quite a few years, raising money for charity at the same time as playing around with food and a very limited budget of £5 for five days.

The photo above is of my 2014 food choices.

I seem to have taken it very seriously that year.

The year after I was much more casual about it, armed with just a shopping list and minimal planning of meals I just went to one shop and bought all my food for the five days in one fell swoop.  Luckily picking up some brilliant bargains from the 'yellow sticker' reduced cabinet.

After doing this challenge until it stopped running a couple of years ago, I blogged a number of times and in various formats about managing on limited budgets, setting myself Challenges along the way for eating from the cupboards, living on money from our Sealed Pot, managing without visiting any supermarkets etc etc.

So this is where this Challenge blog idea has come from, only this time each Challenge I set myself will be just a month or so long.

 The first Challenge of this new blog 'Shopping and Eating for £1 a Day' is purposefully taking me right back to my 'Live Below the Line' roots.  Like then I am relying quite heavily on the supermarkets own 'basics' lines for low priced foods.

It's been interesting to see the price variations over the years and surprisingly even now in this time of recession and cut backs, some of the prices are at the same level.  This is my receipt from the 2015 shopping trolley full of food pictured above.

So if things go to plan this first Challenge will be kicking off next week.  Which is when I'll get my final bits of fresh shopping to start me off.  Just to clarify a few things in case anyone is wondering:  I don't eat any meat,  I am dairy intolerant, so no milk, cheese, yoghurts etc.  So when you see me with black coffee it's through necessity and choice ... not deprivation ☺

Between now and then I'll be doing lots of reading to inspire me, including going back over some of my own old blog posts at Our New Life in the Country to see which of my recipes worked and which didn't when I lived on a pound a day for those five days every year.

😎