MR 30531: What Does It Mean To Live On Less Than $5 A Day?

Living in under $5 dollar a day
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Living in under $5 a day
Income inequality has continually widened in the 20th century and we now live in a world where the top 1% control more than half of world’s wealth CITATION Jil15 \l 1033 (Treanor, 2015). It is unfortunate that over half the world’s population lives on under $5 dollars a day and more than a third live on under $2. Living under 5 dollars is nearly impossible in my community because of the high cost of living but it was a challenge that I vowed to take to experience first hand the reality of struggling to live. In some areas around the world it is possible to meet your daily expenses with this budget. Life is relatively expensive in these places and probably living on a $5 a day may seem extravagant whilst in other parts, the same amount is not even enough for public means of transport per kilometer. I attempted this experience for two days and though it was hard, it had important lessons.
Typically, I spend $100 a day and bringing this expenditure down by twenty times is unimaginable. You realize almost all your expenses are justified and you cannot live without them but I vowed to try it to see if I can relate the plight of those people who do not have the choice but to live on less that $5 a day. In the morning I usually wake up and head straight to a coffee shop to grab some coffee. Well, with a $5 budget, coffee is more than a luxury. If you decide to have it then you forego meals for the rest of the day. Thus, in my case, I had to replace that coffee with something else cheaper. A boiled egg and a cup of strong tea. The trick is to give your body an illusion of breakfast and not to eat to your fill. Tea has low caffeine levels so during the day I felt sluggish and not motivated to do anything. The egg is to serve as a reasonable replacement to milk as and cereals that give you slightly higher calorie value to get through your day. The good thing with this challenge is I was forced to take a lot of water in the house to fill my stomach.
It is almost impossible to have a balanced diet whilst surviving on $5. It is possible to eat though meeting your calorific requirements might be unattainable. Having three well balanced meals in a day is impossible. You have to figure out on how to save on food. To accomplish this, you must prepare your own meals. Buying ready-cooked food is expensive and unsustainable whilst surviving on this budget. Dunkin or any other fast food product is completely out of reach. Each eating decision is preceded by a tradeoff between eating to your fill and eating a balanced diet. Mostly, eating to your fill takes precedence though it is still unsustainable for a longer period of time. You can lose weight very fast. Passing near any eatery provokes your hunger and it zeroes in on you to reconsider the reasons you took up the challenge.
Each day I have to travel usually by public means. If you think public transport is challenging, then you have not tried walking. The distance I have to cover daily is almost impossible if you are famished. It may be healthy to walk but if done in a bid to save on your expenses it turns sore. I got creative and decided to cycle to my reachable destinations. It is rel...