Friday, March 8, 2019

Day 7: 50,000 visits, Frugal Seekers, Average Americans

So as I have already shared, this is my 6th time to do this challenge, and my 5th time to blog about it.

Tonight I was curious to see the stats on my current blog, which has received about 50 visits a day so far, not so bad as the climb to awareness is gradual and spreads over time.

While I was poking around, I was curious to see what my old blogs were up to in number of visits. 

I was amazed to see that, collectively, my 30 day challenge blogs have received over 50,000 visits! One of my biggest referrers is from Reddit on a subreddit called /r/Frugal where people are trying to learn how to live more frugally. 

This got me to thinking. 

There are a lot of people out there seeking ways to live more simply because something deep inside us tells us we are happier with less. 


Over half of all American households (averaged as 2.6 people including children) spend an average of $12,350 on food annually. [1][2] And 49% of this figure is spent on eating out. 

This means most American households spend an average of over $1,000 on food each month, and about $500 of that is spent on eating out. 


I don't think I even need to make any commentary on this. 

I think we all instinctively know it's too much. 

Especially in light of the extreme poverty our global society faces. 

Nearly 1/2 of the world's population — more than 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day. More than 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty — less than $1.25 a day. [3] This is not just for their food, this is for everything, to live on, period. 




It's too much in light of the fact that many charities providing critical services and empowerment programs to these living in extreme poverty, including the one I lead, are struggling to find funding each month. [4]

What if we all just did a little bit more? I don't think it will take much to change these stats if we all just did our little part. 

I know the common temptation is to look at these huge numbers and think, "There's no way my little contribution could make a difference!" But if we all think that way, guess what? I can guarantee you nothing will change. 

On tomorrow's blog I will write a little more about why it matters. About how we are all more connected than we realize, no matter if the extreme poverty were in the Himalayas or in Houston. 

For now, I'm happy to tell you about how one person decided to make their small difference in the form of sponsoring one of the hearts on the heart chart of this challenge today! 

Now we are up to 13 hearts filled, only on Day 7 of the challenge! See? We are doing this, we are pooling our resources in a collective effort to demonstrate an example of exponential impact over time! 


With the addition of a $49 heart sponsored today, the total value of the monthly hearts now comes to a nice even $400 monthly! Annualized this means $4,800 our programs can count on over the next year! 

See? My pocket change of $30 spent on food coupled with some awareness and your generosity over time is making big change! If I can make "big change" from "spare change" just think of what we can all do together taking little steps?

If we can fill the whole chart, such an impact would completely fund 10 spaces at our Kathmandu rehabilitation home for trafficking survivors, or 24 spaces at our India girls home, for example!

Ready to join in? Here's how:


Just tap on this chart and then on the next page choose the amount of the heart you want to sponsor, choose the day of the month you want your donation to be charged each month, enter your details, and you're done!

Then tomorrow I will fill in your heart to represent the progress we're making!



I'm dedicating Day 7 of my challenge to the child labor victims of the world. These are some of my photos from Manila, Philippines, and Hyderabad, India. 

My intention is to give you perspective, to foster more gratitude for the blessings we enjoy but overlook every day, and to help us to see there's still so much more work to be done. With a reminder that if we all work together to do our little part, we can change things. 










Day 7 Meals. Here's what I ate on Day 7 from about $1 worth of ingredients made from items on this shopping list






Take Action!

1) Please consider helping me reach my goal to find 50 new "Sustainers"— donors willing to give a small amount each month toward our work helping vulnerable children and trafficking survivors. Go here and enter the amount you would like to give monthly!

2) Please visit my unofficial sponsor, Amazon.com through this link. 7% of your purchases made through the link are given to the work of Peace Gospel's programs helping orphans, at-risk children of the slums, and human trafficking survivors.



3) If you're compelled by my effort here, please share it with friends. One of the main goals is awareness. So if you can help with that, huge.

4) Leave me feedback. Please comment on this post, especially if you have any ideas about what I should try to cook with these ingredients I have available. I love hearing from you! It really helps!



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