Live on £1 a Day: Angie Day 5

It’s the last day. I can almost taste the chocolate that has been sat in the fridge since before I started this. Walked the dogs and did some more weights as I won’t be running again for a couple of days. I’m surprised how well I actually feel; I thought I would be worn down and totally fed up by today, but I’m not.

Lunch was a cheese sandwich; I was able to make the slices of bread nice and thick to fill us up. We only had the tiniest bit of cheese left for tonight. I have been impressed with how we’ve made 1 block of cheese last the week, it does make you realise how much of the things you like that you use. I really should eat less cheese as I don’t need the extravagance of just how much I usually use.

I had to go and do some shopping after work as we have visitors tomorrow. I bought a pack of sausages to add to the pasta with tinned tomatoes and onion, as this made a lovely meal and will definitely be something that I’d do again.

Reflection: I am extremely fortunate! I haven’t always been and because of that, I don’t think I would ever take for granted the fact I am able to make choices about what and when I eat. It made me realise that although I probably eat very similarly to how I did last week, when the choice is taken away from you it feels very different. I probably missed chocolate more than anything else, but I was determined to stick to it and didn’t touch the bars of chocolate that were sat in the fridge. I also realised just how much I snack throughout the day, mostly they are healthy snacks, but not being able to graze constantly hit me hard.

I am lucky that I was able to go out and do ‘free’ things like running with friends. Even going to the pub was not traumatic and I didn’t feel embarrassed about only having water.

It was interesting asking friends to try and do a shopping list for a week allowing a £1 per day per person. When they actually thought about it, they realised it was much more difficult that they initially thought. It also made them think about how much they spend each week and what would they change if they didn’t have the funds available that they have now. Hopefully it has opened their eyes a bit to the challenges that people face day to day.

Live on £1 a Day: Angie Day 4

Woke up feeling remarkably good! Probably still the endorphins from running last night, but I think my body is also getting used to the reduced amount of food it is getting. Took the dogs for a walk and then did some weights when I got back before having my shower.

Lunch today was pasta, not too exciting as it was just tinned tomatoes, butter beans and onion, but there was lots of it and it definitely filled me up. So much so that I didn’t manage to eat it all. My colleagues are still supplying me with tea throughout the day and it is definitely appreciated!

Tea tonight was simply jacket potato with beans and the tiniest bit of cheese. We used up the last of the potatoes, but there were only small ones that were left and it didn’t look as though I had that much on my plate; however it did fill me up. I have to say that drinking water all evening is getting a bit boring. I would have liked some squash, but that will have to wait until day 6.

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Universal Credit (UC) has been in the new a LOT over recent weeks, months and possibly even years. At foodbanks across the country, clients are attending because of difficulties transferring (or ‘migrating’) from one benefit to UC, because of making an initial claim of UC and waiting – on average – 5 weeks for the first payment to be received and issues around budgeting with fluctuating monthly amounts.

The Trussell Trust are running a campaign called #5weekstoolong to call on the government to end this initial waiting period. Have a read about it all here: https://www.trusselltrust.org/five-weeks-too-long/ and if you want to support this campaign, do sign the petition (link in the page) – over11,000 people have signed up already!

Live on £1 a Day: Angie Day 3

Woke up feeling Kk, but worried about my other half. As I was walking the dogs, I decided that he needed to start eating properly again or he was going to make himself ill. This highlighted how difficult it could be for someone doing a physical job to have to have limited funds to buy food and maybe not be able to fuel themselves properly to eat. He burns on average 3500 calories during his working day and given that we were probably eating less than 1000 calories a day, it showed how difficult it could be for someone with a physical job.

Lunch was homemade broccoli and cheese soup again, simply because I love it. We both had bread and spread with it to bulk it up. I didn’t actually feel too hungry today, but I did notice that I struggled to concentrate on my work as well as I should and found myself double checking things to make sure I hadn’t made mistakes. Again, this is something you may not necessarily think about, but how easy is it for someone that is hungry to concentrate on what they are doing if they are at work?

When I got home, I made myself a single piece of bread and spread with a very thin bit of cheese. We were going to the running club that we are part of and I knew that I would struggle if I didn’t have something else to eat. I should have planned better and taken an extra sandwich to work. While we were waiting to go, I made a cheese and potato pie with beans for our tea for when we got home and some pasta for the next day’s lunch. It has been challenging trying to make 2 tins of beans and 2 tins of tomatoes last for 5 days, but I think I managed it as there were still some tomatoes left for our last tea. We went running and after we finished, we all went to the pub as usual. Oddly enough I didn’t feel too awkward asking for a glass of water with a slice of lemon, I guess that’s because lots of people have water as well as a drink when we go there after running.

I have to say that the cheese and potato pie was amazing when we got home. We stuck it in the oven while we were showering and although it didn’t have as much cheese as we would usually have, it was delicious and made me think I should do this more often because it was so easy and quick to heat up.

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One of the foodbank myths is that everyone who uses the service is on benefits, but we often see people who are in full or part time work and the wages they receive just don’t make ends meet. Sometimes this is due to zero hours contracts and it’s extremely hard to budget and manage when your income fluctuates month by month. Sometimes it’s simply low wages and the outgoings have been reduced as much as possible but there’s still not enough. Sometimes it’s when someone has started a new job and extra expenses (travel and uniform for example) are incurred before the first pay-check is received.

As Angie’s partner found, living on a reduced income often means reduced calorie intake and this can make a physical job tough, if not impossible. We have met people at foodbank who have lost their job because they can’t afford to get there or because of ill health and missing too many shifts – a vicious cycle, resulting in a visit to the foodbank which is absolutely not what we want to see happening.

As part of the Trussell Trust, all our foodbank parcels are nutritionally balanced so if a client who receives our support has literally nothing else, the food parcel includes everything they need from a nutritional point of view for the 3 days the food covers.

Live on £1 a Day: Angie Day 2

Felt a bit woozy on my walk with the dogs first thing, I think it was likely because of the lack of sugar and salt as I was probably dehydrated after my run. Busied myself around the house changing the beds, ironing and doing a bit of tidying to try and keep my mind off the fact I had woken up hungry. Arrived at work and got myself a glass of water, was lucky enough to be made three cups of tea throughout the day, but that is way short of what I usually drink so did miss it.

Lunch was homemade broccoli and cheese soup today. This is actually my favourite and I often make this and take it to work. I did go easy on the cheese though as that little block has to last the whole week. It has made me realise just how much cheese I eat, we regularly go through 2–3 blocks of cheese a week! Again, I had two bits of bread and spread to try and bulk up my lunch.

I do appreciate the fact that I go out to work as it kept me busy so that I wasn’t constantly thinking of food, however I did find myself hungrier than usual today and would have loved to have grabbed an apple, a bag of crisps or a bar of chocolate to fill the gap in the afternoon.

When I got home from work we made a pizza base and, while the dough was proving, we took the dogs for a walk. My other half said he’d not been feeling well all day and while we were walking, he had to sit down as he was feeling so dizzy. All I could think about was getting home and making the pizza. This was where I said I was going to cheat: I had a pepper, a few tomatoes and mushrooms that were already out of date and needed to be used up and I couldn’t wait. When shopping they had sold out of tomato puree and I toyed with getting passata, but didn’t buy it as it would have meant I had to go without something else. Instead I pureed some of the tinned tomatoes to make the base layer to build everything on.

The pizza was amazing! I usually chop chillies and then dip it in mayonnaise so had to miss out on that, but it was still great. We just watched telly in the evening and would usually have had a bottle of beer, but stuck to water.

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Angie’s pizza reminded us of our FISH clubs (Food (and Fun) In School Holidays) for low income families and one of the children’s favourite activities, which is DIY pizzas with the Morrisons Community Champion. We have done this on several occasions, thanks to Geoff at Morrisons Riverside, and he brings all the foodstuffs needed and the children can add wahtever toppings they fancy. Something we’ve always noticed, and we have had shop-bought pizza for lunch on a few occasions – the meals the children make themselves (and we’ve done DIY wraps too!), always result in fewer leftovers.

We think this could be the same for the parents too as we trialled the Joy of Food cookery course alongside FISH last year and the adults who took part were so chuffed with the meals they created and enjoyed them for their tea each week.

We’re currently trialling recipe kits at the foodbank, giving clients the opportunity to take a bag of specific ingredients and a recipe home, alongside their food parcel to try.

Those of us who enjoy baking and cooking for ourselves and / or for friends may do so just for fun and if it goes wrong, it doesn’t really matter. But trying a new recipe while on a tight budget can be risky – what if it goes wrong – what will we eat instead and I’ve now wasted that meal’s money. If the children or family members don’t like it, what do we eat instead; there’s no backup. The recipes are going down well so far, watch this space for..!

Live on £1 a Day: Angie Day 1

Got up, walked the dogs and got ready for work. When I arrived, there was a cup of tea on my desk waiting for me – I have some lovely colleagues! I started to feel hungry around 11:30am, but as I said before I am trying not to eat until 12pm; I left my lunch where it was and sat it out.

Lunch was homemade tomato, onion and butterbean soup. I also added a handful of pasta to try and make sure that it was as filling as possible. I’d used potatoes to thicken it up and myself and my partner had two slices of bread and olive oil spread. I have to say that I didn’t notice the difference in the bread even though we had omitted the sugar from the dough. It was very nice and I am extremely glad that I had bought stock cubes in my shop as I think it would have been pretty bland without.

The afternoon went well and I had several cups of tea made for me and I drank plenty of water. I usually graze throughout the afternoon, even if it is healthy grazing that I do and I missed this a lot. I found an apple on my desk and gave it to a colleague although I would have loved to have eaten it myself. By about 4:30pm I was getting really hungry; I started thinking a lot about food and what I could make with all the potatoes we bought.

I didn’t leave work until 6pm as I was meeting some friends to go for a run. I am lucky that I have a hobby that, once you have the kit, it’s free, but it does make you think about what you would do if you needed new trainers and had to choose between new trainers to allow you to continue doing something that you enjoy and is good for your mental wellbeing, or having food to give you the fuel to do it.

I often find that running dulls my appetite and when I got home I wasn’t that hungry. At around 8pm, we had beans on toast as that was something simple and quick. I missed adding some chopped chilli to my beans – I grow my own and have a freezer with lots of varieties – but I was determined to stick to what I bought so they stayed in the freezer. I often grate some cheese on top as well, but left that off as I need enough for my pizza, broccoli and cheese soup and for any pasta I will be making later in the week. It does make you think about the things you take for granted…

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We’ve mentioned before during these blogs about the nutritionally balanced food parcels, as set out by the Trussell Trust, but it’s worth mentioning again! Today, we had a school visit from a year 5 class who came with a large donation of items and lots of well thought out questions. One student asked ‘how much money do you [the foodbank] spend on food each week?’ and the answer is not very much at all, thanks to our amazing supporters, listening to our needs and responding. We send out a monthly ‘most / least needed’ list to those who have requested it (around 80 recipients, several who represent groups), highlighting the items that we really need, but also the items we don’t need due to high stock levels.

If you’re local to Norwich and would like to support us, look at our website and social media pages to see updates on what we do and don’t currently need. If Norwich isn’t your local foodbank, get in touch with them as we know they would really appreciate giving you up to date info on how best you can help.