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Kid Survives for 20 Days with $20: Could You Do It?
I’m always amazed at the crazy things people do to prove a point and this story is no different. I happen to be a huge fan of UFCU (University Federal Credit Union), and I recently came across a special contest they’re doing for college students. It’s called, ‘What Can You Do With $20.09?‘ and the premise is what can you do with $20? In this economy, how creative can folks get when it comes to pinching pennies? Creative, indeed.
One student in particular, David Lee, a senior at the University of Texas, has decided to see if he can exist for 20 days with only $20. David is originally from Houston and he’s an advertising major working at FG SQUARED in Austin, Texas. His trick is trying to survive for 20 days on $20 worth of food. (Does this tug at your mommy heart strings or what?) He’s doing it to prove $20.09 is nothing to scoff at!
He’s keeping the world apprised of his hunger-riddled journey on his blog, which he update regularly. He even lists the stringent rules he will be following like not accepting free food from people, although he is allowed to munch on sample foods that may be available at the grocery store. Refer to pic of waffles above for visual! He said he won’t steal and he won’t go dumpster driving. What a sweetheart.
The best tip he has received thus far is someone told him he could buy a jar of peanut butter at Kroger’s for $1.75. Another tip he was banking on to emerge thin, yet victorious, was he could buy 10 pounds of chicken legs for $4. Unfortunately that tip feel through because it was a special at Albertson’s and Albertson’s grocery stores aren’t in Austin.
Parents, this is your opportunity to share your thrifty two cents with someone who desperately needs it! Remember when you were a broke college student? If you know any good recipes for eating cheap and I mean really cheap, drop David a comment on his blog. Let’s help this courageous college student dazzle the blogosphere with his uncanny ability to survive for 20 days on $20! Right now he has 8 days to go with only $5.15 left. Can he do it?
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[...] blogged about David’s quest to survive on $20 on Strollerderby and the responses were a bit more controversial than I anticipated. Obviously, in this economy [...]
MommyQ » Blog Archive » $20.09 for 20 Days Challenge: A Lesson in Food and Life commented on Mar 03 10 at 6:28 pmMistress_Scorpio commented on Aug 28 09 at 9:56 pmRamen Noodles.
cavale commented on Aug 29 09 at 11:04 pmnot even almost kind of difficult to achieve.
ri-chan commented on Aug 30 09 at 11:35 amI agree. This isn’t really hard at all, just eat ramen
dlee commented on Aug 30 09 at 10:16 pmeating ramen 20 days in a row for 3 meals a day is not hard at all?
Mistress_Scorpio commented on Aug 31 09 at 3:13 amThere are plenty of people who *don’t* have a choice. They have to eat really really cheap food just to get by. It really annoys me, people “playing poor” so they can show how much better they can can do poverty than people who actually live in poverty. Then they blog about it, get a book deal and pat themselves on the back for their job well done. When you don’t have a safety net and the consequences actually matter, then get back to me. Until then? Pfft to you and your cute little project.
(Can you tell I am up too early and cranky as hell?)
dlee commented on Aug 31 09 at 9:37 amScorpio. I hear you. But could we see this issue from this perspective? Great actors / actresses often put themselves in the roles in real life before they begin to shoot the movie to understand the culture and people around the role. What started as a “cute little project” could become a life lesson for me, which I am learning quite a lot from this experience. Book deal and the self recognition were far from the reasons why I started the project. My intention was to show the value of money by stretching out $20 as far as I could. If I was mocking poors by “playing poor” I apologize deeply.
Hope you understand my intention and the goal of the project as much as I understand your concern.
Courtney commented on Aug 31 09 at 10:50 amOf course it’s easy to not starve on $20 for 20 days. But your recommendation of eating ramen is completely unhealthy. Looking through David’s site, he has made an effort to include some healthy items with his meals (eggs, spinach, etc.) and that can start getting tough on about $1/day.
Knitty commented on Aug 31 09 at 4:19 pmI’m with you, Mistress_Scorpio. This was done very recently by a couple who did a cutsey blog chronicling the whopping thirty days during which they spent a dollar a day on food. I was astounded by how much media attention they got for doing something that billions of people do without any choice and without a deadline allowing them to return to spending $30 a day.
Talia commented on Sep 02 09 at 5:25 pmAnyone who thinks Ramen noodles are the solution to this has obviously never had to rely on Ramen noodles for 20 days.
dlee commented on Sep 03 09 at 12:09 pma good discussion regarding this campaign is happening here.
http://twentydays.wordpress.com/2009/08/31/day-15-bit-discouraged/
Lance commented on Sep 03 09 at 8:30 pmPeople who rip on this might be a little jealous they didn’t think of it first. And who cares if he’s trying the challenge? How does it affect you or your life? Move on with your unhappy self!
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