A Beijing office worker, Wang Hao, became an online sensation in 2008 when he called on people to live on just 100 yuan (HK$120) a week to encourage them to embrace a simpler way of life. Wang launched the experiment after home loan payments on his new flat took up half his salary, and after realising he was frittering his money away on empty spending.
He set himself the challenge of living off 100 yuan a week - 10 per cent of his previous expenditure. He set up a blog, which gained about 100,000 followers.
In the run-up to Christmas, I forsook my usual consumption frenzy to see if his call for low-expenditure simplicity did in fact improve life, or was just the path to misery. I established a few simple rules for myself: rent and regular bills were exempt, but the money - a little over HK$17 a day - must cover all food, travel and entertainment.
Monday
I normally have a latte to kick-start the week, but this would use up all today's money and half of tomorrow's as well.
I have to make do with instant black coffee. I let myself use staples from the cupboard, such as flour, oil and salt, but fresh food comes out of my allowance, so milk is out of the question. Breakfast is a slice of dry toast. I found a bakery that sells four slices of bread for HK$4.50, but can't afford butter or jam.
