Day 2: Challenge Card - "Valentine's Day"

Today's Challenge Card:

"Prepare a Valentine's Day gift for your sweetie".

I kind of assumed this would come up at some point since the Poverty Challenge this year runs from February 10th to 15th.  In fact, some of the people I told about the Challenge immediately pointed out that I'd be missing out on Valentine's Day dinner.

After reading the Challenge Card this morning I contemplated my possible options - head back to the bulk section for a few grams of candy, look for off-brand seasonal items at Walmart, or try to cobble together the craft supplies to make a card.

Seeing as today is February 11th, I had actually already purchased a gift for my husband a few days ago.  So, rather than scraping together some change from my already shrinking five-day budget, this seemed like a good opportunity to put things in perspective.

The token items I did buy last week, a card and a box of chocolate, would have cost me almost a third of my budget during the Challenge.

If we assume instead that Morgen and I are operating on an Ontario Works budget for a couple with no children, we would be allowed $476 for the month for basic needs; the equivalent of about $15 per day.

This year will be our 7th Valentine's Day together.  For the first five years of our relationship, Morgen and I lived in different cities, so he would send flowers.  Last year, he kept the tradition going and sent flowers to my office.

Needless to say, on an OW budget, $50 for a flower delivery (over 3 days' worth of our allowance) would be out of the question.  In fact, sparing even a few dollars for a special occasion would most likely mean going without later on in the month.

To learn more about the Basic Needs amounts and look at the standard tables, you can click here to read Ontario Work's Directive 6.2.