30 on $30 Days 13 & 14

As I'm writing this blog I'm feeling both discouraged and optimistic. Optimistic that I've made it almost halfway through the challenge physically and mentally with time left to raise more sponsors. However, discouraged that I'm not closer to my goal of 6 more sponsors.

I'm not sure if I'm doing this right with Facebook, blogging, and talking to people around me. Yes, I'm grateful for the one time donations, don't get me wrong. But I suppose this is the same frustration that all non-profits face - the lack of ongoing givers that can sustain a program and a goal. It's easy to judge one another that can live in such abundance, yet not be able to sacrifice some of that abundance for a whole 'nother child that really needs the help. Trust me, I understand. There's no judgement. I just want this challenge to shed light on the need of these children enough to move us to think differently and act differently. All in all, if that's accomplished then a goal has been met.

Meet Titus. He's 14 years old from Myanmar. He enjoys playing group games and football. He's in 5th grade and likes to study English and Myanmar. Your sponsorship will provide for him nutritious meals, an education, medical and dental needs, all in a loving family environment. Will you be his sponsor? http://www.peacegospel.org/detail/519/

DAY 13

Not a lot of photos for the next couple days. My regular bean and potato tostadas (.30 cents) for lunch at work with this for dinner. Steamed rice with over easy eggs and carrot cabbage duo. Total .30 cents

My son loves rice and asked for some after he ate his dinner. Parents will always give up their share of food when they are living on $1/day in an impoverished country for their children. Here's his extra bowl made from my stash that I gave him. 

Typically I don't stay at work for lunch. Today I would have went out with my husband for lunch ($10). Dinner was at home with the family was salad with tuna ($3). Late night popcorn snack with asiago, parm mix tossed in truffle oil ($3). Add my daily coffee of .55, today's total is $16.55. New donation total: $257.7

Day 14

Not getting tired of these just yet. Potato and bean tostada. Total .30 cents

No photos of my dinner since I ate during my daughter's softball game. Rice and beans on the go! About .25 cents for the meal filled me up really well. 

Today would have been out with my friend at Barnaby's again ($16.45). Dinner were Banh Mi sandwiches at the field ($3.50). Add .55 for my daily coffee, and today's total is $20.5. New donation total: $278.2

30 on $30 Days 11 & 12

Not only has my body gotten use to the new fast, I'm feeling amazing these days. Usually, I wake up to hit the snooze button 3x before I crawl out of bed. Each morning now I wake up with energy, and feel ready for the day. The facts that I have not had any deep fried foods, processed sugars, or junk food plays a huge role on how I've increased energy by just resting through the night.

On another note, I've been able to raise more 1x donations through friends and family. The support has been great. I'm still looking for 6 more sponsors, and I hope to reach my goal by the end of this challenge.

Meet Mahima! She's 8 years old and lives in India. She enjoys group games and painting. As a 1st grader she's loves learning about Telegu and Art. Your sponsorship will cover all her expenses including medical and dental needs, as well as nutritious meals, an education, and a place to live. Can you be her sponsor? Do it here: http://www.peacegospel.org/detail/658/

DAY 11

Breakfast: One of my faves, hard shell bean and potato taco. Costs <.20 cents

 Lunch: I was quite proud of this concoction. Potato and bean pasta topped with cinnamon carrot ribbons. The cinnamon carrots tasted like sweet peas and completely elevated the dish. Cost .30 cents

Dinner: Stir fry noodles with egg, carrots, and beans. Not as good as I hoped, but still filling. I think the beans threw it off.

Cost .30 cents 

We had some running around to do today, so it was easier to stop by somewhere to grab a bite to eat for my family. We went to one of their favorites (and mine as well), Smashburger. Yes, I was very hungry, but no I did not eat anything there. They ordered and I waited to get home to make my lunch. Because of this small change I was able to save $7 to donate. That's close to a quarters worth of a whole months sponsorship! If this blog does nothing else, I hope it helps you see that as individuals, we can all make a difference with even small changes in our lives. 

With the daily coffee, lunch, Starbucks, and dinner it would have been $17.30 spent today. Total saved to donate: $221.60

DAY 12

Each communion I'm reminded by the blood and body that was sacrificed for me. Today was no different. This great sacrifice is more than what we can fathom, yet, it happened...for me. 

Thank you Jesus. A million times and beyond, thank you.

Lunch: I have so much rice left! Made my comfort food fried rice. Cost .25 cents 

 Dinner: Recreated lunch from yesterday. Still delicious! Cost .30 cents.

 Made more baguettes from my dough on Day 8. Keeping 1 to freeze. Cost .14 cents each and is a ready to go snack to curb any hunger. I usually make boule with this recipe. Baguettes are definitely not an easy shape to form. Nonetheless, fresh bread still tastes great!

Seriously craving steak and cake today. I would have spent an extra $15.00 on just the ingredients overall. Add lunch and daily coffee today's total would be $19.55. New donation total: $241.15

I've gotten the prepping down, and I'm ready for the new week! I'm almost halfway there! Spread the word, and ask everyone you know if they'd like to become a sponsor to one of the children. We can change lives y'all!

30 on $30 Day 9 & 10

Sacrifice. It's what my parents did for us to come here to the United States. They sailed off into the darkness with a 2 month old baby, my oldest brother, not knowing what the future held for them - just hope was what they had. Without their sacrifice, I can't imagine how my life would have turned out. Impoverished in Vietnam? Uneducated girl? Endless thoughts run through my mind of what life could have been like post-war in Vietnam. However, I'm here typing on a laptop in a 2 story house with 3 bathrooms, college educated with a great job, and found my amazing supportive husband who I love so much.

My parents' sacrifice gave me and made me who I am and have now. Only my imagination can bear what they felt and went through during the escape. They spent a year in a refugee camp and with the help of others were able to come to the United States with a permanent green card. They became successful entrepreneurs within a few short years of landing here, and I couldn't be more proud to be their daughter. If that's not the American dream, I don't know what could be.

You see, along the entire way others came to help them. They helped each other. My parents sacrificed for me, and I can't imagine not passing it along and help others as well. Because I have received and been forgiven much, it overjoys my heart to be able to give as well. I pray the same with you. To be able to sacrifice and give because you too have been given much with the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus.

Meet Sei. He's 14 years old, lives in Myanmar and needs your support to sponsor him. Your sponsorship will take care of medical/dental needs, give him an education, a loving place to live, and nutritional meals. He enjoys singing and football. He's in 8th grade and enjoys History and Math. 

Sponsor him here: http://www.peacegospel.org/detail/427/

DAY 9

Breakfast was some toast from the baguette I made so I can run out the door to drop off kids at school.

Lunch: It's really easy just to pack up tortillas, beans and potatoes for work. I'm not use to bringing food to work, so this simple lunch works. It's tastes great, and only cost about .30 cents. 

Dinner: My staple so far. It's tasty, easy to make, and reminds me of my moms cooking. 

Cost .25 cents.

Late Snack: Potato chips! I didn't fry them in a ton of oil since I can't afford that much. Drizzled some on the pan and laid the potato slices down. It took longer than frying, but so worth it! Cost <.10 cents.

I met with my friend who I usually have lunch with at Barnaby's. I ate my lunch first, then met with her. My usual meal with a drink $16.45. Dinner with family at home $4. Add .55 daily coffee would be $21. New donation total: $184.00. 

Day 10

Not much to write about today. Just a quick update so I can go play some games with the kiddos - it's Friday!! I'm feeling better and better each day. My body has really turned itself around but getting use to the routine of prepping has been great! It's definitely gotten easier. 

Lunch was the usual bean and potato tostada (.30 cents). No photo, I forgot to take it.

Dinner: My fried rice staple. Yum! .25 cents.  

I ate about 2 hours ago and I'm still full, so will probably skip my late snack today... or maybe not. Skies the limit with my portions! 

Would have definitely stopped by Starbucks for the usual venti Americano $4.75 after work, lunch with my husband $12, dinner at home $3, and .55 for my daily coffee; today's total: $20.30. New donation total: $204.30 in just 10 days! 

Ways to support: Donate to Peace Gospel. Sponsor an orphan. Share the news. 

30 on $30 Day 7 & 8

DAY 7

The challenge has definitely settled in, and my body has started to acclimate. Though I still feel hungry most of the time, my headache is almost gone and I know that there is a next meal coming, unlike most of the children who live in extreme poverty.

When I first started the challenge, I didn't know how much support I would receive. So far, it's been amazing. I keep the children's photos on my desk at work who need a sponsor. As I was checking out one of my clients she asked about Helen, our 5 year old from Myamar who needs a sponsor. I was able to to talk about what Peace Gospel does, and how much they help poor countries along with my challenge. She was touched by the conversation and decided to donate. The photo of Helen was a conversation starter. Sometimes that's all we need is to start a conversation. Within that, you can literally change the world 1 person and 1 heart at a time. So when you feel that you can't make a difference, you really can.

Bean tostada with carrot potato and cabbage soup for lunch. Costs .30 cents. 

This felt like a feast! My bowl is heftier than most of the other meals. 

I was able to eat 2 eggs today so I made fried rice. It was great! 

Costs .35 cents

Another busy day at work would have result in a quick sandwich in the downstairs cafe $7, dinner at home $3. I was really craving cake today too $3. Add .55c daily coffee, new donation total: $139.25

DAY 8

Today was something to look forward to. I started making bread from scratch which costs .64 cents that will yield about 4 baguettes. This will really help with my in-between meal snacks. 

Breakfast: Hard shell potato, bean. and egg taco. I'm really loving the toasted corn tortillas. 

Cost . 25 cents

I had lunch with my kids at school today which I made rice and beans. Forgot to take a photo. 

 Dinner: Stir fry noodles with cabbage, carrots and an egg. Costs .25 cents

I got to make bread!

 2 finished baguettes with more dough left over.

Late night snack: Baguette with bananas and cinnamon. The frozen bananas give off a delicious syrup through the bread as it thaws. It is so delicious! 

I had the day off and got to spend time with my husband. We would have went to our favorite restaurant, the Lemon Tree and ordered the Lomo Saltado ($16). After running 'round town together, we would have went through the drive through for a venti Americano from Starbucks ($4.75). Dinner was home with the kiddos ($3). New donation total: $163.00

My favorite part of blogging is introducing you to one of the children that need a sponsor. I love their smiles. Even in the midst of chaos, they still smile. Praise God!

Meet Charon from India. He is 8 years old, enjoys group games and painting. He's in 2nd grade and likes to learn Art and Telegu. Have you seen the Telegu alphabet before? If not...here's a picture when I was in India at the orphanage in their classroom: 

Our alphabet compared to the Telegu alphabet. The kids have lots of fun learning to do!

Charon

Help me raise 6 more sponsors. You can sponsor him here: http://www.peacegospel.org/detail/685/ . Love his smile and bright eyes!

30 on $30 Day 5 & 6

DAY 5

This was my first full weekend on the challenge, and I'll have to admit I was a little apprehensive about how it was going to go. There's a lot of planning and thinking about the ration involved - making sure I don't eat too much, when to eat, and what to cook all juggled with weekend life events. So when the weekend arrived, the cooked meals and snacks had to be timed just right. To add to it all, Lunar New Years came with lots of great home cooked food around me. Still, my mission remains to get more sponsors for the orphans. Even with all the great food around me, the thoughts still remain with the children. When committing to this challenge, I was aware that I did not pray for them as much as I should. Now, I cannot help but continually think about them and pray for them more the past 5 days. 

After eating such a small dinner, my body was ready for breakfast. Toasting the corn tortillas make such a big difference! Here we have a potato bean hard shell taco. Total about .15 cents

 Fried rice with cabbage and an over easy egg. I was raised on rice, so this would be my comfort food. Total about . 30 cents.

 My friend who inspired me to do this, Kirby Trapolino with Peace Gospel, had eaten rotten cabbage one night during his 30 days on $30 challenge. He didn't realize it had gone bad and got sick for a couple days. Proactively, I shredded the rest of my cabbage and put it in the freezer. 

4 bags for 4 more weeks. 

After all the shredding, dinner was ramen soup with potatoes, carrots, and cabbage. 

Total about .25 cents

The headache remains but has definitely subsided along with my appetite. These small meals are getting more and more filling. Each that I'm so grateful for. I'm 20% of the way there, have raised $150 in individual donations, and have faith we will get more monthly sponsors as well. 

I would have spent about $28.55 dollars today in food (breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner and daily coffee), added to my new donation total to be $115.15.

DAY 6 

My breakfast was a quick re-heat of some refried beans I had left over. No picture provided.

With no stove at work, a potato bean and carrot taco it is. About .30 cents.

Dinner: stir fry veggies with steamed rice and over easy egg. About .30 cents. 

Late night snack. Frozen bananas with cinnamon. About .10c or less. 

At work I was not able to eat lunch until 2PM, which would usually result in a sandwich in the cafe downstairs $7. Dinner was made at home $3, add .55 for my daily coffee: $10.55. New donation total $125.70.

Meet Manaiya from Myanmar. She's 15 years old and enjoys reading and singing. Her favorite subjects in school are English and Myanmar. She's in a loving environment and your sponsorship will take care of her medical, dental, nutritious meals, and education. 

Help me reach my goal of 6 more sponsors!

Sponsor her here: http://www.peacegospel.org/detail/580/

30 on $30 Day 3 & 4

DAY 3

It was an eventful day with kids being dismissed early, in addition to an impromptu trip to the beach. Overall beautiful, but prepping was a bit harder with all the moving around. 

Lunch was steamed rice with cabbage, potatoes and 2 eggs. About .35 cents total.

 Dinner was fried rice with carrots, potatoes, and 1 egg. About .25 cents total.

Today my family had spaghetti for lunch, and pizza for dinner which equals $4.00. Add snacks at the beach for $3.00. Husband stopped at Starbucks before heading to the beach, I would have ordered my usual venti Americano at $4.75. With my usual .55c morning cup of coffee, totaling $12.30. With just 3 days my new donate total is $60.30.

My headache remains from the caffeine withdrawal. I'm staying hydrated, but got snappy and irritable too. It's not usual that I'm uncomfortable - hungry, headache, fuzzy mind. I would have to say it's not usual for a lot of us Americans to be uncomfortable either. We have warm water to shower in, always eat until we're full, and have daily luxuries like coffee, pastries, and air conditioning. It's easy to forget that even with these simple things how much better our daily lives are. I can't help but think about how small sacrifices can equate to making a huge difference in a child's life.

DAY 4

This morning started early with both my daughter and I volunteering at a food bank starting at 7AM. I ate 1/3 of a banana, and out the door we went. We pushed full carts of groceries to the working poor in SE Houston. The actual task was taxing on my hungry body. Pushing heavy carts to cars, unloading food, going up ramps, and around to get more food in the humidity. Here's a picture of the carts lined up ready to be unloaded:

We ended at 11AM and boy did my body feel it. Sweaty, hot, and of course...hungry. I couldn't help but stop to think during this how much events, parties, volunteering, and life in general revolves around food. In order to live, we must eat. There's fancy eating, quick eating, impulse eating and then there's eating to survive. With so much revolved around food, couldn't we help each other in this world at least a little bit? 

Once I got home I made taquitos with extra beans sprinkled with some tomato sauce. It was fantastic!

Total .25 cents

 We ate real quick then headed up to Spring (50 miles north) for my nephews basketball game. He had a 3 hour gap in-between his 2 games, so what did we do? Go to a restaurant. It's a thing y'all. Even though no one was actually hungry, this is how we killed time in-between. I had water.

Once we got home I was able to prep some more for my future meals. Here's the potatoes that I'll be eating off of the next 3-4 days.

Making my dinner

Stir fry noodles with cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. It was delish. Total .30 cents

Because of the busy day, I would have easily stopped somewhere quick to eat lunch after the long volunteer morning ($7). Grabbed a Starbucks ($4.75). Had a snack with drinks in-between my nephews game at the restaurant ($11). I made my family a chicken salad for dinner ($3). Add my daily coffee .55 cents today's total in food would have been $26.30. New donation total $86.60.

Meet Sharisha. She's 6 years old from India. She enjoys group games and dancing. Her favorite subjects are Telegu and numbers. Each time I look at her photo, I think of my own son who's also 6 years old. I watched him as he ate his dinner tonight and thought, "He has never gone hungry." And every child should never go hungry either. Yet, the reality is that a lot actually do. This basic human need can be provided if we can put their needs before ours. Even just a little.

Sponsor her here: http://www.peacegospel.org/detail/659/

30 on $30 Day 1 & 2

DAY 1

It was definitely an interesting day. I prepped beans and potatoes last night for lunch today and for the rest of the week. Here's what I had today for lunch (about .30 cents) 2 corn tortillas, refried beans and potatoes:

 and dinner (about .25 cents) half brick of ramen, 1 egg, potatoes, carrots:

2 meals today totaled .55 cents. 

I usually don't eat breakfast, so I skipped that along with my usual morning coffee which is .55 cents for a K-cup. My headache from the caffeine withdrawal has definitely kicked in early morning and stayed. I'm feeling a little fuzzy as I'm typing this. 

Typically, I would have called my friend to go out to have lunch today. We usually go to Barnaby's where today I would have ordered the all beef Hot Dog ($10.95) with waffle fries, an Arnold Palmer ($2.50) and added a 20% tip ($3). $16.45 for lunch. On my way home from work I wanted to stop by Starbucks for an Americano ($4.75). We had a softball game tonight that wasn't at the home field, so my family stopped by Wendy's for dinner ($7). Plus .55 cents for daily morning coffee. Total saved to donate today: $24.00

DAY 2

I woke up during the night feeling hungry, so I drank some water. Headache remains throughout the day and still now. I had the same thing for lunch today, and this for 

snack (.10c) beans and tortilla chips:

Noodle stir fry 1/2 brick of ramen with egg and cabbage = .25c

 I had a few slices of bananas for snack as well after lunch. Here I'm prepping to freeze the slices so they don't go bad. 

Am I hungry? Yes. But so are many children around the world that didn't have a choice to eat or not today like I did. We can help these children. Today I would have probably spent another $24 in just food and drinks alone. That's $48 in two days...which is the total of a full month sponsorship for one child. This $48 will help educate, provide medical and dental care, housing, and 3 nutritious meals a day for a whole month y'all!

Good news: I got one sponsor already! A friend that I work with has agreed to sponsor a child through Peace Gospel. I as so elated I was jumping up and down in the clinic today. That's 1 child that doesn't have to worry about getting to eat or not. That can receive medical care if sick. That will be in a loving environment where they can grow and be educated. It's just a beautiful thing. 

Meet Yawhlu. She lives in Myanmar and is our oldest child that needs a sponsor. She enjoys group games and singing. Her favorite subjects are English and History. 

Will you be her sponsor? 

http://www.peacegospel.org/detail/570/

I hope some of my words here have inspired you to just even pray for our children whom are hungry, poor, and have no place to go. And if that inspiration moves you further, then to become a sponsor and to make some sacrifices to save a little one. Pray for this journey with me. 

The Challenge: 30 on $30

Hey y'all! These upcoming blogs will be about my journey living 30 days on $30. My friend Kirby Trapolino has done this multiple times, and each time he does it it has inspired me to be just as brave. So here I go! 

The challenge: To only spend $30 on food for 30 days. This is how much a lot of our extreme impoverished countries can only live on for food. The World Bank defines extreme poverty as those living on less than $1.9/day using 2011 PPP conversion rates (don't ask me what that means). These countries include: South Asia, West Indies, East Asia and the Pacific; nearly half live in India and China alone. As much as we also try to help our local community here, it's unimaginable to not try to gain awareness and have deep sympathy for those in our extreme impoverished countries. This world was given to us to care for, not just our own country.

The rules: I will only be eating the food that I purchased, and cannot take free or subsidized (I think that's the right word) food from anyone. When I started talking about wanting to do this, one of the first questions was, "But you can take free food if it's given to you, right?" Technically yes, I would still be living on ~$1/day because I myself did not buy it, but that's not the point. I want to really experience what it's like to not be able to have the luxuries of free food, or feeling full at each meal, and perhaps having to give up some of my meal because my kids want a bite of my rationed food I've saved for the month. Raising awareness on how a lot of the world lives to gain understanding and transform how I use my money daily in my super blessed life here is what I'm trying to personally achieve.

The cost: Y'all...I don't even want to tell you how much I spend on food. It's quite embarrassing...so here it goes. I buy truffle oil (roughly $40 for 8oz), fresh Madagascar vanilla beans (about $8 for like 3 beans), Land o' Lakes cream ($7/qt), Nolan Ryan rib-eyes ($7/lb, which is like $13 for each steak). So that's just a glimpse of what I spend on the regular. Yes...regularly we eat steak about once sometimes twice a week. I love to bake, so I only buy top quality ingredients like fresh vanilla beans and top shelf cream. I drizzle that truffle oil on most of my cooking, and (almost) nightly popcorn at night. Whew...deep breath. No judgement please. 

Fast forward, fast forward. Here is the picture I took of the groceries I bought that equals $28.82.

Subtract the $1.19 because cashier accidentally charged me for an extra dozen eggs, which I normally would have not even caught. Because I have to now watch each penny, I got my $1.19 refund - the cost of a whole day worth of food. Here's the picture of what all I bought:

Not sure how I'm going to ration everything, but I've read a lot on how Kirby did it and will be mirroring a lot of what he made and how much he ate per day. In addition to these groceries, I'm able to make about 3 fresh loaves of baguettes for .64 cents total (flour, yeast, salt). The dough can be refrigerated for up to 14 days. After .64 cents I'm up to $29.46 with money left over to buy seasonings from my pantry which includes: salt, pepper, and cinnamon. I don't have enough to buy sugar.

The purpose: Paul and I have been ongoing sponsors for orphans at Peace Gospel, an organization that we have been a part of for quite some time. Why it's different? Rather than going into the impoverished countries and propping up programs with direct-aid, we work to empower the local people by teaching and creating jobs through the development of small business enterprise. Like teaching a widow how to sew, so she can have a job for herself. Or creating farms that feed our children, so they don't have to rely on outside sources. Or teaching women how to make candles, so they can start a business for themselves.

Currently we have 165 sponsors and are in need of 45 sponsors. The cost is $48/month or $11/week which includes all their meals per day, medical and dental care, place to live, and education all in a loving family environment. That's forty eight dollars y'all. This can easily be the cost of 1 luxury purchase (clothing, make-up, skincare, jewelry, etc.), 2 dinners with tip, or even just 2 drinks a week (coffee or cosmo :). My purpose is to gain awareness of our needs and inspire someone, ANY ONE to become a sponsor. In addition, I will be donating what I would normally spend on food to Peace Gospel at the end of my journey.

The goal: 7 sponsors. The number seven because it's connected to sacrifices and completeness in scripture. When reading animal sacrifices, it's usually always in the groups of 7: 7 bulls, 7 donkeys, 7 lambs...etc. Except Noah..wait, that wasn't sacrificing it was saving. Anyway, I'm sure you biblical theologians have more insight to this number, but I'm not a theologian ;), I just read it.

Here's a picture of one orphan that needs to be sponsored. She's the youngest and her name is Helen. Helen is 5 years old and is in Pre-K. She loves to sing and play football. Her favorite subjects in school are English and Myanmar - where she's from. Look at that smile y'all! And the life in her eyes and her small little hands...I just want to squeeze her, she's so beautiful! You can sponsor her here: http://www.peacegospel.org/detail/705/

So that's it folks. I will be blogging here and there - not sure if I'll be doing it daily since I seriously live one day at a time. So wherever it takes me, you will see!

"If you can't feed 100 people, feed just one." Mother Theresa