UK pub landlord lives off £1 a day for food to raise awareness for rising living costs

A pub landlord lives off £1 a day for food for a week in a bid to raise awareness on how rising costs show people are "not living - but surviving".

Craig Harker, 35, decided to take on the challenge that thousands are currently facing with the cost of living crisis and bought all his food shopping for less than the cost of a Big Mac Meal.

The landlord from Stockton on Tees, Midd, is used to spending £200 a week on food - but this week has been feeding himself a fraction of that for £1 a day - £5 a week.

The father-of-three admits his experiment "has not been a case of living - but surviving" and he "feels so bad for families that have to budget like I have this week".

However, with the ongoing surge in costs from food to fuel, Craig's experiment is the reality of thousands of people in the UK.

Craig was inspired to start this challenge following Tory MP Lee Anderson's controversial comments a few weeks ago that people can make meals costing 30 pence.

Craig, who runs his chain of George Pub & Grill venues across Teeside, Yorks, said: "The rising costs of everything has been popping up on social media and on the news everywhere. 

He has also lost a significant amount of weight in his brief budgeting journey - at the beginning of the week Craig was 15 stone eight pounds - on his final day (Friday 20 May) he weighed 15 stone - losing a staggering eight pounds.

Craig has used his experience to share his top tips for successful budgeting and says preparation is key.

He hopes to use his large following to "raise awareness" of the rising cost of prices and help families adopt the best methods possible to keep their costs low and not going hungry.