Healthy vs Wealthy

I'm sure many of you are aware of a recent news story regarding a British family who are all claiming disability allowance on the grounds that they are all incapacitated by obesity. The family claims that none of them are able to work due to their weight problem and as such require benefits.

Now many could use/have used this to whinge about tax payers' money and idle layabouts etc in a very Daily Mail-esque manner, however none of those things concern me. What I am interested in is their budget. The family supposedly receives the equivalent of a £30k a year salary between the four of them; from this they say they have a food budget of £50 a week to feed four of them. They have claimed that this an insufficient amount to feed a family of four and they are therefore unable to eat healthy foods (such as fruit and vegetables) due to the aforementioned budget constrictions. As such they are forced to always opt for unhealthy options (ready meals etc) as these are cheaper.

It is this that has particularly intrigued me and lead me to my next personal challenge. Next week - commencing from Monday 23rd - I am going to try and survive for the week on a budget of £12.50 (1/4 of their £50 weekly budget) for all my food and drink requirements. I'm not trying to prove a point or be clever; I am just interested to see how difficult it is to have a healthy balanced diet (which is what I'm all about these days) on such a meager budget. Will see how it goes anyway - stay tuned.