Living within a fixed budget was quite challenging for me since I had to account for every penny I used on buying my daily needs and other requirements. Trying to make sure that all my daily expenses were catered for the 16.60 USD was very difficult since there are petty expenses such as buying my friends lunch which meant I had to forego buying something else to replace the shortage that might arise from such expenses.
Also, fuel expenses is quite high and since I am used to driving to school it quite challenging for me to live within the 16.60 USD budget per day. Also, to be consistent, I had to maintain the same menu for the whole week since changing it would prompt extra expenses which was not possible in regards to my financial status.
There are a lot of changes that took place over the week in order to fit the budget with my daily expenses. For instance, during my normal life I used to drive daily to school but due to the financial constraint based on the fixed budget, I had to schedule myself to use the train like three days of the week to save enough money to fuel the car for the other 2 days. Also, I had to only take three meals a day which is quite different from my normal lifestyle where I had to avoid laxities to cut cost.
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It is quite challenging to freely associate with my usual friends since their way of living was normal and I could not cope as they could go to places that necessitated payment but I couldn’t afford to that due to my limited expenses. My friends on learning that, they could go on their own without informing me since they knew I couldn’t afford.
However, I had a friend who was in a situation like mine and we could spend most of our time together reading and since we couldn’t attending charged places. My new lifestyle changed the way the people I associate with treated me since I could afford to spend an extra penny on unnecessary expenses such as buying beverages and snacks apart from lunch. During this period I made a lot of sacrifices, however, this period of time had some similarities with my normal life since despite the financial inadequacy I had to go to school, attend lectures and ear as well. Though, eating was basically lunch, no other luxuries such as mid-morning and evening snacks.
The most difficult challenge was having to wait for six hours to take lunch since I could afford mid-morning snacks and beverages. This is because during my normal life I could eat in bits without a specific time thus waiting for such a longer duration was very challenging. I felt the strain in that people living in poverty go through to make it despite their financial constraints which can even prompt one to lose hope in live. I felt very humbled where I thought I could make no impact in the society. Also, eating the same meal daily was very challenging due to the monotony it creates but I had no otherwise.
During this period I was able to comprehend on the issues and feelings people living in poverty go through in their lives. For instance, the struggle having to only spend on specific needs without enjoying luxuries is traumatizing since the people surrounding them are enjoying such laxities. Also, the feeling of seclusion due to the inability to live like other people is quite hard to embrace as it brings a feeling of stigmatization. People tend to look down upon you when you are living under limited funds. This kind of live is quite difficult and the society should support this people through financial and moral support.
