The Eat Cheap Challenge has been over for more than a week, and all the math I had to do to figure out how much soup I actually ate seems like a distant memory.
In Thursday's Commercial Appeal (go to commercialappeal.com/wendi), I summarize what the challenge taught me - but there's so much more that I learned that there's no room in the paper for.
Like, when you have little money to spend on food, all you think about is how you're going to get the cheapest food you can. Seriously - I wonder how much productivity nationally is lost because of hungry employees and stressed-out working parents worried about what they can possibly put on the table for dinner. My friends and family were soooo tired of me talking about how much I could spend and how much I'd spent and what deal I'd found, etc.
When you don't have money to spend on food, you eat like a pig when someone else is paying. Never again will I be an elitist snob when a homeless person or person at a soup kitchen asks for extra food. Of course they want extra food - if you don't know where your next meal is coming from, you gorge when you can.
My brother and I had a luxury that truly poor people do not: We could comparison shop in our nice cars all over town, with no thought to the gas we were spending. Poor people shop at their neighborhood grocery stores, and if even most of them are like the few I visited before and during the challenge - they suck. The produce selection and quality is absymal and you can find bologna but no low-fat sliced turkey for sandwiches. And we wonder why poor people are disproportionally overweight and in poor health. You would be too if your grocery store sold pickled pig's feet but no fresh brocoli.
If I can eat for $5 a week, and could eat really well, actually, for probably $15 a week, then there is no reason why anyone in this land should go hungry. Jesus said that when you do this for the least of these, you've done it unto me. And by this - he meant feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, caring for the poor, etc. I take my faith seriously, and it is immoral that anyone in America go hungry. Absolutely immoral and unconscionable.
I think as the economy continues to decline, more people will embark on their own Eat Cheap Challenge - maybe they won't call it that, but they'll be watching every dime they spend.
And now, I'm off to eat some lentil soup that I still have left, with some cornbread I made this week, with some turkey polish sausage added - meat I couldn't afford during the challenge, but an addition that makes it a really tasty meal.
And for dinner, I've got some chicken I couldn't afford to cook during the challenge - marinated in jerk marinade (hey, I'm half-Jamaican - the jerk must be done) and half a baked potato.
Not sure how much that will cost, but it'll be good. And my conscience will be clear, knowing that at least today, I'm being a wise steward of all the blessings I enjoy.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Lesson Learned
To invoke a bit of Alicia Keys/John Mayer… “Yes, my rice burned, but I called it a lesson lear-ear-earned…”
I have to say – no exaggeration – that this week-long Eat Cheap Challenge has changed me, for good.
First, the obvious. I had no idea how little one could eat on. It’s good that this was a competition and not just “let’s eat cheap for a week,” because I wouldn’t have stretched my dollar nearly as far. I recall talking to Wendi on the phone a few nights before we started this thing, and saying “I imagine we will be hard pressed to eat even somewhat healthy for less than $25 next week.” Wendi, who had already been to the grocery store responded, “If you spend $25 next week, you’ve already lost.” Nothing gets the competitive juices flowing like a rivalry-raising statement like that. But it was true. I grossly overestimated how much money it would take to survive for a week. Even after having gone to the grocery store, I thought I’d be doing well to come in under 10 dollars. A few days in, 7 dollars (a dollar per day) looked doable. By day 5, I was determined not to break 5 dollars. And seeing as how both Wendi and I broke that magic plane, I’m pretty certain we pushed it quite close to the limit, given our rules. You can eat quite cheaply when you’re really trying.
The second light-bulb that went off was how much money I’ve been wasting (yes, wasting) on food. In today’s America, it’s a struggle to eat healthily. I had convinced myself that as long as I was buying relatively healthy food, no expense was too great. You can’t put a price tag on your health, right? So I allowed myself to go out to eat and buy 10 dollar brown rice sushi rolls from Whole Foods whenever I felt like it, all in the name of promoting my health. What I realized this past week, is if you are spending more than 50 dollars per week on food, you have no excuse not to be eating healthy. Although my meals this past week were not absolutely ideal in terms of health benefits, it wouldn’t take drastic tweaks to at least get to a reasonable standard. A few more fruits and vegetables, change the bread to whole grain, add some lean meat, and no one could realistically criticize your diet as leading you to an early grave.
So given that second realization, I see some permanent changes in my future. When I visited the grocery store on Sunday to pick up food for this week, I did it with a much more discerning eye. I upgraded the quality of the bread, of course, and purchased some fruit and other side items too expensive for challenge meals, sure, but I also realized that I can’t go back to eating out for lunch every day or dropping $30 for a "healthy" meal. Before, I was proud that my average lunch at work was a Subway meal deal that cost about 8 bucks – less than what most of my co-workers spent on lunch. Now I realize that I can make almost the same exact lunch for under 2 dollars. 6 dollars saved per day, multiplied by 250 work days per year is $1500. If someone offered you a brand new flat screen TV to start bringing your lunch to work, would you do it? I am.
Also, you won’t see me on Iron Chef any time soon, but I’m also realizing the benefits of preparing more of my dinners at home as well. I’m convinced that with a little effort, I’ll be able to make twice the amount of brown rice sushi at home, for half the price.
Of course, probably the most sobering, recurring thought of this past week, and probably what helped get me through the past 7 days, is that many people eat on very little money, not by choice or for a competition, but out of necessity. One of our readers posted that her sister literally makes a choice between food and medicine each week. I’ve never had to make a choice like that. Even during the last week, I could have stopped and bought a $25 meal at any time if I really wanted too, and that knowledge also made it easier to live like this for a week. However, I’m not leaving this challenge without a heightened awareness of how fortunate most of us are, and the knowledge that it would take very little for me to make a difference in how much someone else has to eat on per week.
It’s for this reason that I’ve decided to take some of the money I’ll be saving from the lessons I learned this week and putting it towards helping someone else.
The picture above is of Leonel – he’s 4 years old and lives in Haiti. I know that there are many different programs and ways you can sponsor kids – I got to sponsor Leonel here.
http://www.planusa.org/
I liked Plan USA because they let you choose the country of your recipient. It’s $24 a month, a fraction of what I can save if I just put a few of the lessons I’ve learned this past week to work. If you’ve learned anything from following along with this challenge, maybe you’d like to help someone else out too. I don’t ask that you choose the same program I did – just offering one option – just that you help someone. Thanks for reading!
I have to say – no exaggeration – that this week-long Eat Cheap Challenge has changed me, for good.
First, the obvious. I had no idea how little one could eat on. It’s good that this was a competition and not just “let’s eat cheap for a week,” because I wouldn’t have stretched my dollar nearly as far. I recall talking to Wendi on the phone a few nights before we started this thing, and saying “I imagine we will be hard pressed to eat even somewhat healthy for less than $25 next week.” Wendi, who had already been to the grocery store responded, “If you spend $25 next week, you’ve already lost.” Nothing gets the competitive juices flowing like a rivalry-raising statement like that. But it was true. I grossly overestimated how much money it would take to survive for a week. Even after having gone to the grocery store, I thought I’d be doing well to come in under 10 dollars. A few days in, 7 dollars (a dollar per day) looked doable. By day 5, I was determined not to break 5 dollars. And seeing as how both Wendi and I broke that magic plane, I’m pretty certain we pushed it quite close to the limit, given our rules. You can eat quite cheaply when you’re really trying.
The second light-bulb that went off was how much money I’ve been wasting (yes, wasting) on food. In today’s America, it’s a struggle to eat healthily. I had convinced myself that as long as I was buying relatively healthy food, no expense was too great. You can’t put a price tag on your health, right? So I allowed myself to go out to eat and buy 10 dollar brown rice sushi rolls from Whole Foods whenever I felt like it, all in the name of promoting my health. What I realized this past week, is if you are spending more than 50 dollars per week on food, you have no excuse not to be eating healthy. Although my meals this past week were not absolutely ideal in terms of health benefits, it wouldn’t take drastic tweaks to at least get to a reasonable standard. A few more fruits and vegetables, change the bread to whole grain, add some lean meat, and no one could realistically criticize your diet as leading you to an early grave.
So given that second realization, I see some permanent changes in my future. When I visited the grocery store on Sunday to pick up food for this week, I did it with a much more discerning eye. I upgraded the quality of the bread, of course, and purchased some fruit and other side items too expensive for challenge meals, sure, but I also realized that I can’t go back to eating out for lunch every day or dropping $30 for a "healthy" meal. Before, I was proud that my average lunch at work was a Subway meal deal that cost about 8 bucks – less than what most of my co-workers spent on lunch. Now I realize that I can make almost the same exact lunch for under 2 dollars. 6 dollars saved per day, multiplied by 250 work days per year is $1500. If someone offered you a brand new flat screen TV to start bringing your lunch to work, would you do it? I am.
Also, you won’t see me on Iron Chef any time soon, but I’m also realizing the benefits of preparing more of my dinners at home as well. I’m convinced that with a little effort, I’ll be able to make twice the amount of brown rice sushi at home, for half the price.
Of course, probably the most sobering, recurring thought of this past week, and probably what helped get me through the past 7 days, is that many people eat on very little money, not by choice or for a competition, but out of necessity. One of our readers posted that her sister literally makes a choice between food and medicine each week. I’ve never had to make a choice like that. Even during the last week, I could have stopped and bought a $25 meal at any time if I really wanted too, and that knowledge also made it easier to live like this for a week. However, I’m not leaving this challenge without a heightened awareness of how fortunate most of us are, and the knowledge that it would take very little for me to make a difference in how much someone else has to eat on per week.
It’s for this reason that I’ve decided to take some of the money I’ll be saving from the lessons I learned this week and putting it towards helping someone else.
The picture above is of Leonel – he’s 4 years old and lives in Haiti. I know that there are many different programs and ways you can sponsor kids – I got to sponsor Leonel here.
http://www.planusa.org/
I liked Plan USA because they let you choose the country of your recipient. It’s $24 a month, a fraction of what I can save if I just put a few of the lessons I’ve learned this past week to work. If you’ve learned anything from following along with this challenge, maybe you’d like to help someone else out too. I don’t ask that you choose the same program I did – just offering one option – just that you help someone. Thanks for reading!
Monday, February 9, 2009
It's OVAH. And my total was...
Well, let's reveal what I had for a last supper. I had two slices of toast (with jelly) and a hard-boiled egg. Toast: 6 cents each, and egg, 11 cents. Was my only real protein of the day.
Dinner on Day 7: 23 cents
Which means my grand total for the entire week was: $4.85 cents.
Only a few times during the week was I TRULY hungry, and I can honestly say I ate more veggies and fruit than I do usually.
I don't normally eat breakfast ever, so while I know Aaron doesn't think much of my 1/2 a banana and a shot of generic soda for breakfast, that's more than I'd normally eat for breakfast. And yes, there aren't a lot of calories in salads or green peppers or sauteed spinach, it does fill you up, at least for an hour or so. And then, you just wait and drink water until you can eat again.
I've learned a lot - about how wondering what your next meal will be and how cheap you can make it can become an all-consuming obsession (and how that must affect the work performance and general attitude of those who have to live like this) and how much I've taken for granted. Like affording milk to put on cold cereal. Or affording meat that isn't processed.
I'd like to try this again - with no free meals, no dumpster diving or freegan methods and following the USDA guidelines on how much protein, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, etc. you're supposed to get each day. How cheaply could you get and follow government guidelines?
And I'd like to see if I could eat for a week on the meals served at soup kitchens around town. And I'd like to see if I could eat for a week on what I could "earn" by asking strangers for money.
Could I eat healthy on what I'd get on food stamps?
I have lots of questions about how people for whom this isn't a weeklong sibling-rivalry motivated challenge actually live.
But first, I want to cook the chicken I couldn't afford to cook last week - that's been marinating in jerk marinade for several days. That with some rice and a can of green beans I picked up last week are going to be delish. Never thought I'd get excited over a crockpot meal, but I am.
Like Aaron- more later on where this goes next, what this means for my future eating plans, etc.
Look for a column at commercialappeal.com/wendi soon (Sunday?) on the outcome of the challenge - and most importantly, lessons learned. And what happens to the money we saved.
Dinner on Day 7: 23 cents
Which means my grand total for the entire week was: $4.85 cents.
Only a few times during the week was I TRULY hungry, and I can honestly say I ate more veggies and fruit than I do usually.
I don't normally eat breakfast ever, so while I know Aaron doesn't think much of my 1/2 a banana and a shot of generic soda for breakfast, that's more than I'd normally eat for breakfast. And yes, there aren't a lot of calories in salads or green peppers or sauteed spinach, it does fill you up, at least for an hour or so. And then, you just wait and drink water until you can eat again.
I've learned a lot - about how wondering what your next meal will be and how cheap you can make it can become an all-consuming obsession (and how that must affect the work performance and general attitude of those who have to live like this) and how much I've taken for granted. Like affording milk to put on cold cereal. Or affording meat that isn't processed.
I'd like to try this again - with no free meals, no dumpster diving or freegan methods and following the USDA guidelines on how much protein, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, etc. you're supposed to get each day. How cheaply could you get and follow government guidelines?
And I'd like to see if I could eat for a week on the meals served at soup kitchens around town. And I'd like to see if I could eat for a week on what I could "earn" by asking strangers for money.
Could I eat healthy on what I'd get on food stamps?
I have lots of questions about how people for whom this isn't a weeklong sibling-rivalry motivated challenge actually live.
But first, I want to cook the chicken I couldn't afford to cook last week - that's been marinating in jerk marinade for several days. That with some rice and a can of green beans I picked up last week are going to be delish. Never thought I'd get excited over a crockpot meal, but I am.
Like Aaron- more later on where this goes next, what this means for my future eating plans, etc.
Look for a column at commercialappeal.com/wendi soon (Sunday?) on the outcome of the challenge - and most importantly, lessons learned. And what happens to the money we saved.
AARON'S END OF CHALLENGE TOTAL!
So, the last and final meal. Kind of wish I had some less anticlimactic to offer besides a bootleg version of pork and beans, but… it is what it is. I imagine there are people out there who live on $5 of food per week out of necessity, every week – and excitement is not what they feel when they are preparing and eating their meals.
For my last supper, no blasphemy intended, I cut up another one of my 11 cent hot dogs, but this time I mixed it in with a 1/3 of a can of blackeyed peas. The can of blackeyed peas was 25 cents, so that portion was 8 and 1/3 cents. How do I know it was actually a 1/3 of a can? I poured all the beans out on a plate, split it in three, took a picture, and then showed the picture to a few people and chose the consensus smallest pile of beans. Yeah, it’s that deep.
Then I threw in some hot sauce and spices (would have put in BBQ sauce if I had some, but I didn’t – I’m a bad, bad Memphian). Heated it all up, and voila! Pork and beans. Well, pork and peas, technically, but you get the point.
Total through Day 6: $4.35 and 2/3 cents.
Day 7
Breakfast – 8.5 cents
Lunch – 33 cents
Dinner – 19 and 1/3 cents
AARON’S TOTAL COST OF FOOD FOR THE EAT CHEAP CHALLENGE: $4.96 and ½ cent.
That’s right. Give me a 5 dollar bill on Monday morning, tell me to eat for the week, and I’ll bring you back change on Sunday night. What. And I actually had 21 full meals. I didn't have to resort to 25 calorie "meals" like, oh I don't know, half of a banana and two fingers of diet soda, or a green pepper and some wilted lettuce (ahem- still love you Wendi). One could realistically sustain themselves for a week on a 5-spot - which I would have thought was totally impossible 7 days ago.
After Wendi posts her total, I’ll come back and post again about what I feel I’ve learned from doing this challenge, and my thoughts for the future.
For my last supper, no blasphemy intended, I cut up another one of my 11 cent hot dogs, but this time I mixed it in with a 1/3 of a can of blackeyed peas. The can of blackeyed peas was 25 cents, so that portion was 8 and 1/3 cents. How do I know it was actually a 1/3 of a can? I poured all the beans out on a plate, split it in three, took a picture, and then showed the picture to a few people and chose the consensus smallest pile of beans. Yeah, it’s that deep.
Then I threw in some hot sauce and spices (would have put in BBQ sauce if I had some, but I didn’t – I’m a bad, bad Memphian). Heated it all up, and voila! Pork and beans. Well, pork and peas, technically, but you get the point.
Total through Day 6: $4.35 and 2/3 cents.
Day 7
Breakfast – 8.5 cents
Lunch – 33 cents
Dinner – 19 and 1/3 cents
AARON’S TOTAL COST OF FOOD FOR THE EAT CHEAP CHALLENGE: $4.96 and ½ cent.
That’s right. Give me a 5 dollar bill on Monday morning, tell me to eat for the week, and I’ll bring you back change on Sunday night. What. And I actually had 21 full meals. I didn't have to resort to 25 calorie "meals" like, oh I don't know, half of a banana and two fingers of diet soda, or a green pepper and some wilted lettuce (ahem- still love you Wendi). One could realistically sustain themselves for a week on a 5-spot - which I would have thought was totally impossible 7 days ago.
After Wendi posts her total, I’ll come back and post again about what I feel I’ve learned from doing this challenge, and my thoughts for the future.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Lunch, Day 7
Note to self: if you do an eat cheap challenge again, eat the produce early in the week.
Otherwise, you'll be doing what I had to do with half my "lunch" today - which is pick out the pieces of lettuce that had started to rot. Now, I got this bag of salad mix for 50 cents, but I measured the bits that were edible and less than a cup qualified. So I chopped up my last freegan find - a green pepper that I truly did take out of a garbage can (5-second rule) last week at my cooking/knife skills class.
2nd note to self: Find a way to work potatoes into your budget, because that 1/2 a potato I had really held me for more than 5 hours. And if I'd gotten one that wasn't green, I could have eaten the skin.
Cost of lunch: 5 cents for salad, 3.5 cents for 4 oz. soda (really, it's only a shot glass' worth, just to have SOMETHING semi-sweet.): 8.5 cents total
Total spent on Day 7, not including dinner: 28.25 cents.
Running total so far: $4.62.
Less than the Big Mac Meal I'm eating Monday when this daggum thing is over.
Dinner TBA. There's always potatoes or lentil soup. Or both.
*Original post edited to add photo.
Otherwise, you'll be doing what I had to do with half my "lunch" today - which is pick out the pieces of lettuce that had started to rot. Now, I got this bag of salad mix for 50 cents, but I measured the bits that were edible and less than a cup qualified. So I chopped up my last freegan find - a green pepper that I truly did take out of a garbage can (5-second rule) last week at my cooking/knife skills class.
2nd note to self: Find a way to work potatoes into your budget, because that 1/2 a potato I had really held me for more than 5 hours. And if I'd gotten one that wasn't green, I could have eaten the skin.
Cost of lunch: 5 cents for salad, 3.5 cents for 4 oz. soda (really, it's only a shot glass' worth, just to have SOMETHING semi-sweet.): 8.5 cents total
Total spent on Day 7, not including dinner: 28.25 cents.
Running total so far: $4.62.
Less than the Big Mac Meal I'm eating Monday when this daggum thing is over.
Dinner TBA. There's always potatoes or lentil soup. Or both.
*Original post edited to add photo.
Day 7 - Final Meals of Cheapness
Breakfast and Lunch are done for me. I just have 1 meal left.
Breakfast I had oatmeal, no banana. I bought 7 at the beginning of the week, but I think my friend ate one earlier in the week because I ran out yesterday. So just plain oatmeal, which was nowhere near as tasty as it was with the banana. But it was cheap. 8.5 cents.
For lunch I tried a new concoction recommended by a friend. I picked up some cheapo eggs from Kroger - 11 cents each. Cut up one of my hot dogs and browned them in a skillet first. Then I beat two eggs and poured them over the hot dog pieces. Hot dog omelet! Threw in some pepper and spices, and it was actually really good. 33 cents for that.
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Planning out my last meal now...
Breakfast I had oatmeal, no banana. I bought 7 at the beginning of the week, but I think my friend ate one earlier in the week because I ran out yesterday. So just plain oatmeal, which was nowhere near as tasty as it was with the banana. But it was cheap. 8.5 cents.
For lunch I tried a new concoction recommended by a friend. I picked up some cheapo eggs from Kroger - 11 cents each. Cut up one of my hot dogs and browned them in a skillet first. Then I beat two eggs and poured them over the hot dog pieces. Hot dog omelet! Threw in some pepper and spices, and it was actually really good. 33 cents for that.
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Planning out my last meal now...
The Final Day....
First, a wrap-up of Day 6. After some, um, discussion over whether the sandwich I got from a coupon my sister was going to trash counted as "dumpster diving" (which had been defined and accepted earlier in the week not as putting your feet in a dumpster - hello, I'm too prissy for that - but rescuing food that was headed directly FOR the trash), I decided that to keep the peace, I would count the sandwich as my third and final free meal.
So today, it's spending $ for food...
Had a half-banana last night for dinner after drinking enough water to float a ship, so grand total for day 6 was: 49.9 cents.
Grand running total through Day 6 was: 4.339. (would probably be like two cents lower if I went back and counted minute fraction of cents all the way through).
Breakfast this early afternoon was probably the healthiest I've had this week: sauteed baby spinach (rescued from the trash, freegan fashion, a week ago at a cooking class) and 1/2 of a green-tinged potato bought on the Easy Way cheapo table. When I was pondering why the potato was green, another shopper told me that the green part is not good for you, but just eat the inside, and I'd be fine.
Except when you microwave it and start mashing up the inside, some of the green gets in there. So I ate green. Hope I live. But the 2 potatoes were 79 cents, and I just had half of one, so breakfast on the final day is: 19.75 cents. I don't feel FULL, but filled, and the spinach - Popeye would be proud.
Just two meals to go...
So today, it's spending $ for food...
Had a half-banana last night for dinner after drinking enough water to float a ship, so grand total for day 6 was: 49.9 cents.
Grand running total through Day 6 was: 4.339. (would probably be like two cents lower if I went back and counted minute fraction of cents all the way through).
Breakfast this early afternoon was probably the healthiest I've had this week: sauteed baby spinach (rescued from the trash, freegan fashion, a week ago at a cooking class) and 1/2 of a green-tinged potato bought on the Easy Way cheapo table. When I was pondering why the potato was green, another shopper told me that the green part is not good for you, but just eat the inside, and I'd be fine.
Except when you microwave it and start mashing up the inside, some of the green gets in there. So I ate green. Hope I live. But the 2 potatoes were 79 cents, and I just had half of one, so breakfast on the final day is: 19.75 cents. I don't feel FULL, but filled, and the spinach - Popeye would be proud.
Just two meals to go...
Day 6 - Saturday of Substinence
Another day, another less than a dollar.
After another morning of oatmeal and early afternoon of PB and bread, I hit up the mexican flea market here in Atlanta to see if I could get some super cheap fruit/vegetables/foodstuff to make a meal out of... nope. I can't afford to eat swap meet produce. That was something. Did you know you can buy clothes by the pound? Also something.
I ended up visiting Kroger and was able to score some really cheap hot dogs to quell the vegetarian-induced hallucinations I was having yesterday. So that made for a little bit cheaper dinner than the rice and peas (and broke the monotony as well). I found one mustard packet from Panda express - probably not intended for hotdogs, but it went well. I only found enough ketchup for one dog, so I put a packet of hot sauce I scored from Taco Bell on the other hot dog. Not too bad. And I found a perfect use for the ends of the loaf of bread I purchased - they don't break like regular slices when you fold them, and thus make good hot dog buns.
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Bread slices: 5 cents each. Hot dogs: $1.09 for a packet of 10 - or 11 cents per dog. So 2 hot dogs with "buns" for 32 cents.
Combined with my 21.5 cent oatmeal and 27 and 1/3 cent peanut butter sandwiches, my day of food cost me 80 and 5/6 cents.
Total after 6 days: $4.35 and 2/3 cents.
That's less than a footlong at subway. And it's fed me for 6 days. Not too shabby.
After another morning of oatmeal and early afternoon of PB and bread, I hit up the mexican flea market here in Atlanta to see if I could get some super cheap fruit/vegetables/foodstuff to make a meal out of... nope. I can't afford to eat swap meet produce. That was something. Did you know you can buy clothes by the pound? Also something.
I ended up visiting Kroger and was able to score some really cheap hot dogs to quell the vegetarian-induced hallucinations I was having yesterday. So that made for a little bit cheaper dinner than the rice and peas (and broke the monotony as well). I found one mustard packet from Panda express - probably not intended for hotdogs, but it went well. I only found enough ketchup for one dog, so I put a packet of hot sauce I scored from Taco Bell on the other hot dog. Not too bad. And I found a perfect use for the ends of the loaf of bread I purchased - they don't break like regular slices when you fold them, and thus make good hot dog buns.
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Bread slices: 5 cents each. Hot dogs: $1.09 for a packet of 10 - or 11 cents per dog. So 2 hot dogs with "buns" for 32 cents.
Combined with my 21.5 cent oatmeal and 27 and 1/3 cent peanut butter sandwiches, my day of food cost me 80 and 5/6 cents.
Total after 6 days: $4.35 and 2/3 cents.
That's less than a footlong at subway. And it's fed me for 6 days. Not too shabby.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Breakfast and a Surprise Blessing for lunch...
Day 6. One stinking day left.
Breakfast: Two scrambled eggs, 1/3 slice of cheese (yes, we are getting that specific with it) with two slices of toast: 22 cents for eggs, 3.6 cents for cheese, 6 cents each for slice of bread and 4 oz. of soda at 3.5 cents = 41.1 cents. Pretty filling, actually.
My sister came over this morning (OK, so it was afternoon by the time I got up) so we could run some errands. Earlier this week, I had a banana, I ate while I was working in my home office - and I discovered last night I didn't eat the whole thing. Left at least a third - which means I can subtract 5.3 cents from my running total. Here's a picture of said banana:
My sister didn't want to eat anything I had to eat, so she went to Chick-Fil-A and brought her lunch over to my place to eat while I was getting ready. When she was done, I asked her - is there anything you didn't eat that you were going to throw away (planning to dumpster dive in my own trash!) and she was about to... oh Lord, help me... throw away... Jesus, I can't believe what she was going to do... a coupon for... a free chicken sandwich.
OK, let the record reflect that the only meat I've have this week has come from meals someone has bought for me (and I still have one freel meal left) AND turkey hot dogs. That's it, and I have been craving animal flesh (sorry, vegeterians).
So for lunch, I had a chicken sandwich free from Chick-Fil-A. I can't believe my good fortune. Would have been delightful with the shake my sister got when we went through the drive-through, and yeah, I wish I'd had some fries, but that big ole piece of chicken was... a gift from God himself sent straight to my belly. Thank you, baby Jesus, for that chicken!
Dinner, TBA, but today, I've eaten 41.1 cents so far.
Grand total, minus the 5.3 cents for the banana I didn't eat, not including Day 6's dinner: $3.848.
Breakfast: Two scrambled eggs, 1/3 slice of cheese (yes, we are getting that specific with it) with two slices of toast: 22 cents for eggs, 3.6 cents for cheese, 6 cents each for slice of bread and 4 oz. of soda at 3.5 cents = 41.1 cents. Pretty filling, actually.
My sister came over this morning (OK, so it was afternoon by the time I got up) so we could run some errands. Earlier this week, I had a banana, I ate while I was working in my home office - and I discovered last night I didn't eat the whole thing. Left at least a third - which means I can subtract 5.3 cents from my running total. Here's a picture of said banana:
My sister didn't want to eat anything I had to eat, so she went to Chick-Fil-A and brought her lunch over to my place to eat while I was getting ready. When she was done, I asked her - is there anything you didn't eat that you were going to throw away (planning to dumpster dive in my own trash!) and she was about to... oh Lord, help me... throw away... Jesus, I can't believe what she was going to do... a coupon for... a free chicken sandwich.
OK, let the record reflect that the only meat I've have this week has come from meals someone has bought for me (and I still have one freel meal left) AND turkey hot dogs. That's it, and I have been craving animal flesh (sorry, vegeterians).
So for lunch, I had a chicken sandwich free from Chick-Fil-A. I can't believe my good fortune. Would have been delightful with the shake my sister got when we went through the drive-through, and yeah, I wish I'd had some fries, but that big ole piece of chicken was... a gift from God himself sent straight to my belly. Thank you, baby Jesus, for that chicken!
Dinner, TBA, but today, I've eaten 41.1 cents so far.
Grand total, minus the 5.3 cents for the banana I didn't eat, not including Day 6's dinner: $3.848.
Need... More... Food.
No, I didn't eat a Gollum yesterday, but I feel as though I might. Yesterday I had the exact same 3 meals as the day before: oatmeal, pb sandwiches, and rice and peas. It's not that I'm hungry. I feel as though I've actually been getting plenty food, probably helped in no small part by me eating breakfast each day when I would normally have coffee. It's not even the oatmeal, or the peanut butter sandwiches. It's the fact that when I go home there is no slaughtered animal waiting for me. With apologies to the vegetarian readers out there, I'm what one could call a meatatarian. I am seriously used to having meat with every meal. But when figuring out how to survive on less than a dollar a day, meat is pretty much the first thing to go. I can't afford to pay for the food the animal has to eat, AND the animal. I feel as though I'm starting to look at the small animals outside my window differently. Maybe I can use the money I save on therapy .
Anyway, here's what I spent yesterday, day 5. (cuts and pastes from day before)
Oatmeal and banana - 21.5 cents
Peanut butter sandwiches - 27 and 1/3 centsRice and blackeyed peas - 43 cents
Day 5 total: 91 and 5/6 centsChallenge total: $3.54 and 5/6 cents (and seeing as how Wendi and I are now separated by less than a nickel, yes, I am counting minute fractions of pennies).
Problem is, unless I happen upon a coop-escaped chicken wandering around Midtown Atlanta, I don't know that I can follow Wendi's current 70 cent clip. A man has limits. I might hit the grocery store later to see if a great sale can pull me out of the hole. Suggestions welcome. (and please, no more "I have a great recipe for ONLY 8 dollars" emails - seriously yall)
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