Poignant.

I came across this guy's blog who tried an experiment only surviving on $30 one month, for food. It got me to thinking: I never really had to go to such extremes.

I do remember, as a kid, there were times when things were lean, but not so much that we had to eat rice, ramen, and beans. [Thanks Mom!]. His site brings up some interesting thoughts.

There was a time when I was living on $20 a week, but that was in NYC, and fortunately enough, I was on the meal plan at NYU.

[Note: I am reading his site while eating citrus and garlic rubbed salmon skewer]

'Day 19 - Revelations

A few days back, I noted that this experiment was turning out to be a pretty spectacular conversation starter. And that has continued, but recently with a twist.

I've now had several conversations where, once I'm done explaining what I'm doing, the person gets a very somber look and their face and says something like, 'Yeah, I remember that time in my life.' Then they go on to explain some time in their life when things just weren't going the way they should and they were forced to live on a dollar a day.

What surprises me about conversations like this is that for the most part, these are people who are quite financially successful now. They own nice homes full of nice things, drive nice cars, wear nice clothes - but somewhere in their past, whether it be just a week or sometimes months, they were forced into the experiment I've chosen.