In the Beginning...

We are an average family, but we used to be a lot more average. We bought the "norm" hook line and sinker. Christmas, Easter and birthdays used to have presents galore. The kids got new knapsacks each September. We would go to big box stores just to see what was on clearance. You get the idea. It's hard to believe that all of this changed from simply changing how much we spend on food, but it did.

Lent 2009 we decided that if more than half of the world lives on less than $2.00/day, then surely we could manage to eat for less than that. Lent means Spring (Anglo Saxon) and also means forty (Greek) and is typically a period of fasting before the Easter celebration. We did not exercise the right to reprieve the experiment on Sundays (makes the Lent period an even forty days), but did not count gifts of food (my Dad often drops off muffins on Sunday morning) or having a meal at someone else's house. "Yes, we'd love to come over for dinner - but would you mind keeping it under $2.00/per person?"

So, what's the point? What does eating for less have to do with people who don't have a choice of how much they spend on groceries? During Lent, (or year round), cut your budget to what most of the world has to live on and give the remainder away. Yep, give it away. I trust World Vision but you may have a trusted charity that you could make a donation to. If you give this an earnest effort, you will be amazed not only at how much food you can eat for less than $2.00/day, but how much fun you (and your family) will have.