Seed a Need

Have you ever done a good deed for someone and wondered if it ever impacted their life or if they paid it forward? Wouldn't it be cool to track the influence you have by being kind and doing things for others.

Now you can!

Here's a great idea... Go to the Seed a Need web site and register to receive a free good deed card. It's a plastic card with a number on it. You write the number down in a safe place where you won't lose it. Then you watch for the opportunity to do a good deed.

When you do your good deed you leave your card or give it to the good deed recipient. On the card are the instructions for the Seed a Need project and how to register good deeds. Eventually if things work out the way they are intended you will be able to go to the site, type in the number of the card you were sent and you'll be able to see the chain of good deeds as your card travels around the countryside or maybe even the world!

Rush over there now and request your card. Celebrate this terrific idea!

U Made My Day

We all know how addictive it is to do good deeds and random acts of kindness for strangers. A coffee customer and the owner of a coffee shop where frequent RAKs occur have teamed up to trying to get 1,000 acts of kindness done in 30 days.

They're hoping it will catch on and spread like wildfire. And, as you know, spreading change is what we're all about here!

Check out the news story and also the web site that evolved from this idea. Now go out and do something nice for someone!

The $1.39 Meal Challenge

Even before the economy began to get bad, there has been a significant poverty problem in America. Last year, 10% of Americans were considered below the poverty line (defined by the Census Bureau as making under $9,393 for an individual or $14,680 for a family of three). What would your life be like if you lived on less than $10,000 per year?

The USDA has put out their cost of food report for 2008. The foodstamp allotment for a family of four (the Thrifty Plan) is $500. This is what they say a family of four could expect to pay for food and actually live to tell about it. That's about $1.39 per meal for each person.

Have you every tried eating for $1.39? With the belt-tightening we've been doing around our house, we decided to try this as an experiment with some interesting results.

But I'd like to see what YOU manage to come up with. So, here is my challenge... try for a week or two to put your food budget at the amount allowable according to the USDA Cost of Food Chart on the Thrifty Plan. It goes by age and gender. Try it for your household and see what kind of experiences you have. It's a really fascinating change in perspective and gives you an entirely new way of looking at the world around you -- for better or for worse.

The only rules are that whatever menu plans you come up with MUST be nutritionally balanced and you have to do at least three meals per day.

Here is an added challenge if you can work this into your budget... whatever the difference is that you save while you're doing this challenge -- donate it to a local food bank. You'll feel great about the good you've done with your donation and the perspective you've gained from this experience will be priceless!

And don't forget to let me know how it goes!

[photo credit: TowerGirl]