How far can a PhP200 go?[day 3] game over

It's sad to say that my 200 pesos only lasts for 3 days. Today, I ate 2 budgeted meals, brunch and dinner, for 15 pesos each. At the start of day 4, my rumbling stomach defeated my will. I ate a 31-peso worth of bread from the bakery. That makes my money down to 17 pesos from yesterday's balance of 78 pesos.

Seventeen pesos, I know, would still reach until day 4 but only for one meal with 1 cup of rice. I won't be able to do that because I have to go to my university tomorrow and would have to take an exam.

I hope the point of this challenge is now clear to you. A 200 pesos, which I value as gold in my childhood, is now only a 3-day budgeted meal. True that not everyone is struggling, but it's also true that most of us experiences the worsts cases. I can't do what these people can do. They it the deadliest food in the world--nothing.

How far can a PhP200 go?[day 2]

Whew! This is not as easy as I thought. Making a 200 pesos last for a quick is very impossible. This only shows that the economy is really at it's worst not only in the Philippines as well as in other countries.

Why do I want to do this? I want experience for my self and at the same time tell my my readers how most of the poor people live with just a dollar in a month. Yes! You read it right. It's really possible to live with just a single dollar. And worse, in some cases, they don't have any money at all.

I'm not saying that I am rich or something. Actually, there were also downturns in my life when I'm also like these people I mentioned. For them, 200 pesos is already good for a week and for a whole family of at least 3-4 children.

I also experienced not having anything to eat and not having any money at all but this is not my story. We have a larger picture to consider. As of day 1, 165 pesos was left from the original 200 pesos. I'm ashamed to say that it's worse in day 2. After making the report for day 1, I wasn't able to prevent my self from eating. Having 1 cup of rice in a meal doesn't satisfy me. That meal, in addition to my day 2's brunch and dinner, costs a total of 72 pesos. Before writing this entry, I also spent 15 pesos for a bread snack. That would be a total of 87 pesos for day 2. It's almost half my budget for this challenge.

Subtracting 87 pesos from yesterdays balance of 165, I now only have 78 pesos to spend. *sigh* I think tomorrow will be the last day. How far can my 78 pesos go?

How far can a PhP200 go?[day 1]

**PLEASE READ DAY 0 FIRST**

It's the start of day 2 now and I feel a little hungry. Wondering why? In order to make my 200 pesos reach 5-7 days, I need to be thrifty. Base on day 1's expenses, I think the maximum number of days my 200 pesos would reach is 5 days. This is not yet sure because on the next few days I need to go somewhere.

Today's expenses sum up to 35 pesos. I had two meals with one cup of rice each that costs 5 pesos per cup. My first meal, my brunch(combination of breakfast and lunch), was around 4pm and I ordered a small chicken adobo that is worth 15 pesos. Plus 1 cup of rice, so that would be 20 pesos all in all. I had a free Pop Cola from the eatery because the owner is my schoolmate's mother. That's not counted.

In my second meal, at around 7pm, I ordered something I don't know. I think it's called paklay. It's hard to describe but all i know is that it's cheaper than chicken adobo. It costs 10 pesos plus 1 cup of rice, that would be 15 pesos.

At the end of day 1, I spent only 35 pesos. Today is the start of a new day. I'm already hungry. I want to eat something. How far my 165 pesos can go?

How far can a PhP200 go?[day 0]

Money is very hard to earn but very easy to spend. In the present situation, a single dollar(PhP 48.54) is not enough to support one person in one day. In food alone, an individual would likely spend around PhP30 for one meal. If the person will eat 3 times a day, then a hundred pesos will be fair enough.

Daily expenditures would depend on the persons situation. A student will most likely spend more on transportation and academic things. A responsible father will like spend a huge percentage of his salary for his family's food. A worker would spend a lot for food since he has no choice but to eat in the expensive eatery near his workplace because prices in the downtown area is doubled or tripled.

Riding a jeepney will cost an individual a minimum of PhP14 back and forth. If you want to be more comfortable, you can have a taxi and prepare to pay a minimum of PhP25(non-air conditioned) or PhP35(air conditioned).

Staying at home is not also a bright idea. At home, you will use a lot of electricity when you try to turn on the lights, the T.V.,the electric fan and the computer. If you got hungry you're opt to cook or to buy food. If you cook, you will use LPG, which is also expensive. If you buy, it's more expensive. Whatever you want to do, you need money.

All because of these, I decided to challenge myself. Starting today, I will try to maximize the use of PhP200, which is around $4. How far can it go? Can I make it for a week? Let's see. Now, the challenge is on.