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Feature: Life on a fiver

Friday 01.02.08 www.artslondonnews.co.uk

Friday 01.02.08 www.artslondonnews.co.uk

Feature: Life on a fiver

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A week in the life of a cashstrapped student

Januarys loan instalment may have you feeling pretty flushed, but come the end of the term, your cash flow begins to run dry. Rent, travel expenses and food costs becomes a struggle. Kin Ly takes drastic action and seeks to find out if living on 5 per week is possible. And if it is, can it be healthy?
ccording to statistics released by the Royal Bank of Scotland, British students will collectively spend over 10.3 billion in housing and living costs during the 2007/08 academic year. As we study and live in one of the most expensive cities in the world, I wanted to have a shot at living on the bare minimum and possibly learn how to save cash in the long run. So I slash my food and grocery budget and begin my week living on a shoestring.. 5 to be exact. After two days of baked beans, I am in desperate need of a greasy takeaway. But with 2.74 of my budget left, I head to Asdas reduced price shelf instead. The best time to go is after 9pm, when everything is hugely reduced to try and clear out ready for the next days delivery. I managed to bag a pack of mini chicken satay sticks reduced from 1 to 46p and a large chicken spring roll down to 15p. Total spends for the day was 61p, leaving 2.13 for the rest of the week. I rustled up some fried rice using the chicken satay sticks, tinned carrots and peas. I was pleasantly surprised and it goes to show that experimenting means it doesnt always have to be beans on toast. Photo: Satomi Yamada

Photo: Satomi Yamada

Spike Blake, 19, CSM, Fine Art

All the food Kin could afford in a week were vegtables and tinned food

Tips for budgeting

l Stick to supermarket own brandstheyre much cheaper. l Switch to filtered tap water and you could save an estimated 147.42 a year. l Get buy-one-get-one-free items but keep an eye on the sell by date. You dont want to stock up on items thatll waste before you use them. l Invest in a thermo-flask and fill it with coffee each day youll save around 6 a week.

I save money by shopping in charity and vintage shops like Wow in Covent Garden and Beyond Retro in Brick Lane.

A
DAY ONE

Luckily the supermarket is within walking distance from home so I wont incur any travel costs. It costs me 3 a day to travel to and from university on the tube and would take 45 minutes to walk. I wrap up warm and prepare myself for a 90-minute walk each day.

DAY THREE

Jennifer Harvey, 22, LCC, Magazine Publishing

DAY TWO
I havent touched a penny today I deliberately left my money at home so I wont be tempted to buy snacks. I made a packed lunch of ham sandwiches and a bottle of tap water. I even packed my own tea bags. A cup of tea in the college canteen is a pricey 65p - hot water is 5p and I can help myself to milk and sugar! My evening meal was beans on toast, not very appetising as I usually look forward to a hearty, and more varied, meal each night. My fridge is pretty empty, when usually its crammed with fresh food. My cupboards on the other hand are full with cans of processed food. Ive still got 2.74 and the majority of my shopping from yesterday. My boring meals are depressing though toast for breakfast, ham sandwich for lunch and beans for dinner, with no snacks in between! The walk to and from uni tired me out so I had an early night which was good for the purse.

Beef is too expensive! It costs over 5 in the supemarket or not at all. I shivered my way to the club without a coat and saved myself 1.50 by not having to pay my coat into the cloakroom. Todays meals were terrible. I fried rice with the left over sliced ham and ate this with my last tin of tomato soup. Breakfast has been reduced to just one piece of toast, and lunch was a ham sandwich. Im dreading the last couple of days. the road is cheaper a job well done. I got a small bag of mushrooms down from 1 to 45p and a small onion for 15p. I have enough change to buy a tin of tomatoes at 15p. Tonight I got creative. Dinner was the tomatoes mixed with mushrooms and onions, served with rice. I had two slices of toast for breakfast, but nothing for lunch. Starting to feel very tired and I havent been to the loo properly in days. I invited some friends round this evening and we just chilled out in front of the TV. Everyone that came kindly brought a bottle of something or some nibbles and we had a great night.

I make my own lunch and bring that in that saves me money on food.

DAY SEVEN
I have no money and no food. I could stay in, starve and wait to begin a new 5 budget tomorrow, or dip in to my savings and blow it at McDonalds. I go for the latter. Super-sized.

I head to my local Asda and as I browse the fruit and veg section, I can tell this is going to be tough. Apples are 29p each and a bunch of bananas is around 85p! Canned fruit and vegetables are the closest Ill get to the recommended five- a-day. I cant afford fresh protein foods such as chicken and fish so it seems the majority of my meals are going to be tinned and heavy on carbs. After visiting Tesco and Sainsburys in the same day, I returned to Asda as it was the cheapest for tinned food. I picked up three cans of soup, three own-brand tins of baked beans and a loaf of bread. My bill is 2.26.

IN CONCLUSION...
To say my week was tough is an understatement. I expected a struggle but it got harder with each day. My body suffered my skin was bad, my hair flat and greasy and I became constipated. I know I cant live on 5 a week and enjoy life, but I have learnt how to eke out my cash.

DAY FOUR
Im feeling pretty down today. I missed out on a night at the pub with friends last night as I have no cash and Ive really got no energy as my meals are far from nutritious. Im also out of milk, sugar and toothpaste. The cheapest toothpaste I can find is Tesco Value, at 21p. But even if I buy the cheapest milk and sugar I would be left with just 94p for the remaining three days. Then I remember that McDonalds leave a selection of milk and sugar for customers. I headed there and grabbed a handful, also stocking up on napkins, which can double up as toilet tissue if needed. Dinner tonight was once again pretty dull. With 1.92 left I had a bowl of tomato soup and a slice of bread, followed by rice topped with baked beans. Breakfast and lunch has been the same for the past four days: toast in the morning and ham sandwiches in the afternoon. Ive run out of cigarettes now and obviously cant afford another pack, so Ive been scrounging from mates. Its tough, but Im managing on four a day if anything good is to come out of my experiment its a good way to attempt quitting.

DAY SIX
I only have 1.92 to get me through the next two days. I take my last pennies to the local market and haggle by telling the stall keeper that down

Looking back I have learnt a lot, and have kicked my 15-a-day cigarette habit down to three-a-day. I didnt go clothes shopping at all and have discovered it IS possible, and definitely not necessary, to buy a new outfit every week. Walking to university every day was tough, but it would do me good to alternate the tube with walking each day, getting some exercise and saving a few pounds too. I found I can have a lot of fun with my friends without spending a fortune in a restaurant, club or bar and just chilling in each others flats. Its certainly an experience I wont forget in a hurry.

Amirta Singh, 20, LCF, Fashion Photography

THE WINNERS AND LOSERS IN KINS LIFE ON A FIVER DIET EXPERIMENT

THE EXPERT VERDICT

On this diet, youre not getting enough energy to support your daily activity. There are too few calories in your diet. If you havent got enough stored energy for your body to use, it will start eating muscle. There isnt enough protein either, which you need for all the enzymes in your body, for your muscles and body structure. The diet lacks fruit and vegetables, so youre missing a lot of vitamins and minerals. Vitamin C in the winter is important for the immune system and lack of it could lead to scurvy where the corners of your mouth start to rip open. A 5 budget is not a longterm option. Its hard to have a healthy lifestyle on just 5, but a 10 or 15 budget could work, by alternating proteins on a weekly basis. One week you can have cheese, next week an extra pint of milk, and the following week extra ham. Photo: Tomer Ben Ibqhei

By Conrad Odendaal, sports scientist and personal trainer

No
Photos: Brendan Leak

Way to expensive for the budget, and unhealthy too. A 15-a-day habit dropped to three a day, and even those had to be donated by friends.

Yes

Tinned food can help to keep costs down, but watch out for added salt and sugar

I make my own cosmetics sometimes. You can make you own lip gloss by using a tiny bit of lipstick and mixing it up with Vaseline.

Oli McDonough, 18, Camberwell, Foundation in Art and Design

Today I managed to go to a mates birthday party spending only 99p. I made my own card by sticking a photograph of myself, and my friend on coloured card and wrote a birthday poem. I saved money on drinks by inviting the crowd to my house for a drink before the club. Everyone had to bring one bottle of alcohol and we shared. This way, you can drink less at the bar

Yes

Beans, beans and more beans...great for protein and fibre, and good for the budget, but pretty boring and not very sociable

No

Photos: Satomi Yamada

For a healthy lifestyle you need a balanced diet. Eat low-GI carbohydrates like wholewheat bread and basmati rice. Have different sources of protein, not just baked beans and plenty of fruit and vegetables.

DAY FIVE

Apples were out of the price range at 29p each, but remember that fresh fruit and vegetables should be the basis for a healthy and varied diet

I smoke roll-ups instead of regular cigarettes because it saves me a lot of money.