Ben Affleck Pledges to Live On $1.50 a Day For ‘Live Below the Line’

Images via erin_lassahn/Flickr & Live Below the Line

According to The Gist, it looks like post-Argo Ben Affleck is going to start living like pre-Good Will Hunting Ben Affleck.

The multi-millionaire and recent Oscar winner recently tweeted his pledge to “Live Below the Line,” a campaign fighting against extreme poverty. Affleck, along with actor Hugh Jackman, One Tree Hill actress Sophia Bush, and singer Josh Groban, have all pledged to spend just $1.50 per day on food and drink for five days to raise awareness for the Global Poverty Project’s campaign.

1.4 billion people live on less than $1.50/day. I’m joining Live #BelowTheLine on behalf of @easterncongo. Will you? http://t.co/JBrrBuIbVT

— Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) April 22, 2013

According to Live Below the Line’s challenge, between the dates of April 29 and May 3, participants can spend no more than $1.50 a day on food and drink—which means they’ll have a total of $7.50 to buy all the ingredients for five days worth of meals. The rest of the guidelines are really strict (you can eat from your garden as long as you count the cost of production!), so participants clearly aren’t messing around when they pledge.

While Avengers actor and fellow Live Below the Line participant Tom Hiddleston tweeted some of his minimalist meals last week, most of us are asking, What can $1.50 even buy these days?

Looks like most pledgers are running off white rice, beans, and tap water.

Affleck (or should we refer to his coffee cup alias ‘Spencer’?) is notorious for his more-than-frequent family Starbucks runs. So $1.50 a day? Pretty sure the production cost of a single green straw costs more than that. Can the multi-millionaire and Oscar winner handle his pledge?

Looks like that’s what the challenge is all about; 1.4 billion people around the world live on $1.50 per day, which is the U.S. equivalent of the extreme poverty line. That’s about four times the population of the United States.

No word yet from Affleck’s wife, actress Jennifer Garner, about her husband’s pledge—perhaps she’ll join him with her own? Affleck himself has established his credibility in nonprofit organizations. In 2010, Affleck established Eastern Congo Initiative, “the first U.S.-based advocacy and grant-making initiative wholly focused on working with and for the people of eastern Congo.” ECI provides developmental aid for community-building in the African country.

For more information about Live Below the Line, and its $1.50 Challenge, visit livebelowtheline.com.