So you're on benefits in the uk...

So you're on benefits in the uk. You get your money weekly, no more, no less. A good friend of mine explained today how she and her family lived on £80 per week during lent a few years ago. A tyre went on their car in the first week, costing £80. If they had really lived on benefits, the options would be don't eat/pay rent/have electricity or go into debt.

This morning, I dropped my boiled egg as it was on its way from the pan to my egg cup. That is 10% of all the money I have today. Luckily, eggs were one of the things that I bought a lot of, so I could have another one. But I genuinely considered scraping up the egg and eating it. And I would definitely have done that if I was living like this, 24/7.

This week is making me want to give more, to people who need it more than me. If I drop my branflakes on the floor in the morning, I can put them in the bin and have my pick of branflakes, cornflakes, ready brek, toast... you name it, I can have it. I really do live 'in plenty'. There are people within a 2 mile radius of my house who really do live 'in need'.

Somebody posted on facebook this morning on the 'Live below the line' page that she didn't see the point in all this, but was doing it to save herself money.

 " it's not like we're actually doing anything to help people out of poverty" she said.

I disagree . By doing this, we make ourselves able to empathise with people in need,  we raise awareness among our community, and therefore we can change our own lifestyles and the lifestyle of our community to make theirs slightly better.

I did say today was farms and sewing machines - but there's a lot more I need to explain before we get to that.... google 'Shane Claibourne' to see where I'm coming from.

Onwards and upwards - pate butty and a banana for lunch. See you tomorrow.