I can't do that Fuel alone to and from work is impossible, other than that and food, I Do live on pretty much less than that most days. I try not to spend money.

Unless you're homeless, own your house free and clear, or are living with mom & dad, how can you even take this challenge? A thirtieth of your monthly rent or mortgage is going to be more than $1.50.

The additional parcel tax is even more than that, not to mention the other assessments. Just because there's no mortgage doesn't mean there's no outlay.

ETA: the original article linked to just talks about food. I suppose it's possible if you can get a group of people and pool resources so you can buy in bulk and have the facilities to prepare meals and store leftovers for reuse, and maybe have access to some no-cost garden space. But it's still a very thin budget, and allows for little to no slack - make sure you don't burn those beans if you want dinner tonight!

land.

and in some way these campaigns may be dedicated to bringing such people into the cash economy and taking their land and livelihood through use of charity.

$1.50 per day * 365 = $547.50 per year. That may be the Global Poverty line but doesn't translate to developed countries. Comparing daily poverty level income from Congo or Malawi to daily expenses to the USA or Switzerland or Japan makes no sense. The article is stupid. That makes about as much sense as challenging someone to find a 2 bedroom apartment in NYC for $400/month. $400 is reasonable for Lincoln NE but not NYC.

A better challenge would be to make the challenge country specific where the poverty line/income reflects the country the challenge is made.