YOU SHOULD NEVER COMPLAIN

Each day an estimated sixteen-thousand children die of malnutrition. Four-thousand-five-hundred die each day from drinking unclean water. Eighty-Five percent of all workers bring home less than six dollars a day. Many feed and clothe their families on less than two.

If you live in a developed country and work for minimum wage, or are on welfare, you are still in the top ten percent of the richest people in the world. You waste enough energy, clean water and food each day to sustain two families in a developing country.

Last year, I almost made it the whole month of March with a daily allowance of $3. My rent and bills were not included as they cost me nearly $20 a day. The $3 was for everything else; food, transportation and entertainment.

For one week sometime soon I will shut off the power in my apartment and turn off the water taps. I will live out of a bag with only the following items.

1 Change of clothes
1 Work uniform
1 Clothes hanger
1 Disposable razor
1 Toothbrush
1 Terry-cloth towel
1 Kitchen knife
1 Plastic bowl
1 Coffee mug
1 Empty 2L water bottle
1 Book
1 Notebook
1 Pencil
$7.00

I will eat only what I can buy with $7.00, beg or barter for. I will drink, cook and wash only with the water I bring home in my 2L bottle. Since I can't build a fire or an out-house in my apartment I will be using the microwave oven and toilet. My goal is to be industrious enough to not only live the week on $7.00 and the items in my bag, but to live well. I will not use electricity other than the microwave oven and will not use water that I don't bring home other than flushing the toilet. I will not use any object in the apartment other than what is in my bag. (I have a cat, she is not included in the experiment. She will get good food, clean water and plenty of snuggles each day.) Since I can't use my bed I will be sleeping on an "improvised" one, my love-seat cushion on the floor.

I will walk everywhere I need to go without using taxis or public transportation. I will be keeping a journal that I'll copy over to my blog when the experiment is over because, for that week, I will be completely unplugged and offline.

I have a few goals for the week as well:

1. Make my own entertainment. An improvised musical instrument made from refuse.
2. Buy one luxury item; A box of salt, toilet paper or bar of soap.
3. Let nobody suspect the experiment is happening.
4. To document the extravagant waste I see.
5. To make and sell a piece of folk-art made from refuse.
6. To use everything, producing virtually no waste.
7. To end the experiment with at least a dollar left.

When I began my frugal blog last year I had an idea in my mind. To that end I am continuing to research and experiment. Please be patient with me as this project has been underway for nearly four years now and is ongoing.

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