6 Weeks After Live Below The Line

My twitter feed reminded me that it has been 6 weeks since the Live Below The Line challenge, and I thought it was high time for a reflection post.

It’s very easy to fall back into your old habits after doing a challenge like Live Below The Line. There is a strong urge to begin to fall back into the same excessive behaviour – in some ways, to just become complacent again.

I’ll fully admit that I have had my excessive moments since finishing my Dozen Below The Line – I have enjoyed a couple of visits to Yo! Sushi, sharing Chinese food on a Friday night with my flatmates. I have happily bought ridiculous amounts of cheese from the supermarket because I could. But these brief excesses are very much seen as treats and something that I take extra pleasure in, rather than seeing it as run of the mill, everyday activity!

A significant difference I have seen is how I shop for food. I shop less often now due to buying more ‘pantry staples’ rather than the more expensive, easy-cook options that I would have picked up on my way home from work. I am cooking more inventively, trying out new ideas and recipes, and making what is in my cupboards stretch a little further before going to the supermarket. I recognise that the ‘easy option’ is sometimes the most expensive, and least satisfying meal. I have also become more aware of reading the labels, and what is actually IN the food I eat. I’ve migrated to more whole foods, or ‘real foods’ and, while still enjoying the occasional indulgence, I’m on the whole more careful of what I’m consuming.

At the time of writing this, the total raised in the UK for the charity partners was £361,369 – an incredible amount, all of which goes towards the many incredible agencies and charities working directly with the people most affected by extreme poverty.