If all the days in this challenge are anything like yesterday, I'm putting up my white flag and surrendering.
Work was harsh, and all I wanted to do was grab a big fat latte, a veggie soup and some mac 'n cheese from Whole Foods. But nope. I get bean salad. Damn good bean salad, but bean salad all the same.
Week 1 verdict: Ok. But no more bean salad.
Day 8's total expenditure: $15.48 on groceries I hope will carry me most of the way through the week. Rice crackers, Soy milk, broccoli, carrots, cucumber, a bag of mandarin oranges, an apple and a pound of strawberries. Really...that's not a lot of groceries for $15. The oranges and milk made up half of the bill on their own.
Day 2 of Week 2 (Day 9 overall). Super late night...2 hours of sleep. Late start...grabbed some toast on the way out the door and ate it on my walk to work. I am COMPLETELY out of coffee...and yes caps were necessary there...this is coffee we're talking about. So I spent a precious $2.18 on a Starbucks coffee...they gave me a Venti instead of a Grande, so I got my money's worth, and it kept me going for the rest of the day.
Yesterday a super awesome co-worker and friend of mine phoned me from Costco to see if there was anything I needed while she was there. Almonds! Got 1.36 kg for $10! Great deal...but also, most of the remaining money for the week. They're great snacks and super healthy, and I always like to have some around. Will have to seriously plan out my meals now...like...more than I am already.
Basically for the rest of the week, I have $4.05 (if I find any money, it's a total bonus...but I might have to start taking the recycling back to the depot for the extra change). That's Tuesday - Saturday. Somewhere in there, I have to spend an additional $4 because a friend and I are going out for burritos. They are only $8 and fill me up for at least 2 meals - but still...it's $4 over what I've got to spend.
Now, if I was living here longer, I could totally plan out a little garden and grow some veggies and herbs. It would be so much cheaper and healthier. It's so difficult to do that when you don't own a piece of land to use for sustenance...even a small one, due to landlords' restrictions, the fact that you don't live there long enough to plan out a garden and tend to it year after year, etc. Also access to land is so restricted! I know they are coming up with little community gardens all over, and that's an awesome step in the right direction. What's the long-term plan for us being reliant on ourselves for food, rather than the international marketplace, oil prices, shortages, natural disasters, etc.? To tell you the truth, I wouldn't sit around waiting for someone to figure it out for you. It's almost spring - start growing your own food. Compost. Hang dry your clothes. Take control of your needs so that you don't get "stuck".
My almond provider, from above, also took a book out of the library for me:
Sucking Eggs: What Your Wartime Granny Could Teach You About Diet, Thrift and Going Green.
I have just started it, but I'm sure it'll teach me a thing or two...Hell, I'm already re-using my teabags.
Showing posts with label starbucks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label starbucks. Show all posts
Monday, March 7, 2011
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Day 7: Day of Rest?
Isn't the 7th day suppose to be a day of rest? Or does that only apply to certain really religious folk? I guess my 7th day is on a Saturday too. No idea. Too bad. I could sure use a rest.
Ended up spending $12.29 more than I was suppose to this week. Though I only spent $0.25 today on a cup of hot water from Starbucks (in which I put my own green tea bag). If I had taken my own mug, it would've been free.
That leaves me in a tough position. In danger of falling so far behind that I will not be able to catch up. Only a week ago, I thought I was in a good position to get ahead. How quickly things go sideways.
I'm left with $4.53 a day for the rest of the month. Basically my $35 a week is down to $31.71. Awesome.
Looking around today revealed a few things:
Enough instant coffee for one cup.
Enough soy milk for one cup of coffee.
Exactly 6 1/2 rice crackers - not rice cakes...rice crackers...the little ones.
1/2 box of regular cereal.
Hot cereal for at least 3 - 4 days.
Tin of beans for bean salad.
Tin of tomatoes for pasta.
1/2 package of pasta.
3/4 bag of quinoa.
Veggies for about 3 more meals.
Tea - should be plenty for the month. This will most likely replace my coffee. Pass the IBUProfen....luckily, I have enough of that to last me 2 months. Go figure.
Emergen-c for the month.
1/2 jar of almond butter - OH! I'm gonna grab a spoon of it to snack on while I finish my assessment. Big spoon + little jar = 1/4 jar of almond butter left.
I've started rationing my Shampoo and Conditioner - I have about 2 weeks left (I'm being generous here) of both. It's not like I buy the $2 bottle of cheap stuff either. I am pretty picky about what I put on my body and hair, and also what I wash down the drain, just like I'm picky about what goes into my body. Each bottle costs around $8 each. That's about 4 days of living.
Toothpaste should last at least another couple weeks.
Right....here we go...Week 2. Lemme have it!
Ended up spending $12.29 more than I was suppose to this week. Though I only spent $0.25 today on a cup of hot water from Starbucks (in which I put my own green tea bag). If I had taken my own mug, it would've been free.
That leaves me in a tough position. In danger of falling so far behind that I will not be able to catch up. Only a week ago, I thought I was in a good position to get ahead. How quickly things go sideways.
I'm left with $4.53 a day for the rest of the month. Basically my $35 a week is down to $31.71. Awesome.
Looking around today revealed a few things:
Enough instant coffee for one cup.
Enough soy milk for one cup of coffee.
Exactly 6 1/2 rice crackers - not rice cakes...rice crackers...the little ones.
1/2 box of regular cereal.
Hot cereal for at least 3 - 4 days.
Tin of beans for bean salad.
Tin of tomatoes for pasta.
1/2 package of pasta.
3/4 bag of quinoa.
Veggies for about 3 more meals.
Tea - should be plenty for the month. This will most likely replace my coffee. Pass the IBUProfen....luckily, I have enough of that to last me 2 months. Go figure.
Emergen-c for the month.
1/2 jar of almond butter - OH! I'm gonna grab a spoon of it to snack on while I finish my assessment. Big spoon + little jar = 1/4 jar of almond butter left.
I've started rationing my Shampoo and Conditioner - I have about 2 weeks left (I'm being generous here) of both. It's not like I buy the $2 bottle of cheap stuff either. I am pretty picky about what I put on my body and hair, and also what I wash down the drain, just like I'm picky about what goes into my body. Each bottle costs around $8 each. That's about 4 days of living.
Toothpaste should last at least another couple weeks.
Right....here we go...Week 2. Lemme have it!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Day 4: Is it Really Only Day 4?
Today was a bit more interesting..a bit more like what I was expecting really.
I slept in, didn't have time to prep my lunch or grab something that fit in my budget on the way to work...so....the middle of the day was pretty food-less. I had a handful of cashews and a few animal crackers...and I was downing lots of water. But still didn't quite cut it. I will not do that again. I repeat: I will NOT do that again.
Fortunately I had a good breakie: bowl of cereal with soy milk and 2 pieces of toast with almond butter. Free McDick's coffee on the way and that did me pretty good...then a quick jaunt over to Starbucks for some lemon loaf, and another free coffee about half way through the day. Hit up the No Frills for some half priced blueberries and an apple, and that, my friends, was $6.33 for the day.
Free pizza for dinner - Thanks Icebreaker product knowledge sessions! (I lost count after 4 pieces...but I'm pretty sure I had no more than 5) and pizza leftovers means I get two free meals which eases the stress off me a whole lot more than you know.
$16.70 left for 3 days.
Tomorrow I'm eating like a queen...
On another note...I started thinking today about what would happen if something "happened" to me while I was doing this. Like, if I got injured and couldn't work. Or, got sick and needed some medication. Or if a friend or family member needed help. Or if I had to support someone - even a little bit. I would be royally screwed. It would be totally impossible to not go into serious debt. I can't work anymore than full-time. I've done the 2 jobs, 6 days a week thing, and it honestly almost destroyed me (that story, another time). There are so many people out there, making next to nothing, compared with what it costs to live a half-decent existence. Having to do the slog every day, week in, week out, year after year. And what are their lives like? Just surviving. What kind of life is that? Not the kind that I want to have any part in. Forget vacations. Forget buying a house (without going into further debt....and forget buying anything in Vancouver). Even renting is difficult on the wages around here. But with no down-payment saved up (because saving also then becomes almost impossible), what other choice is there, but to rent!? Stuck is the only way to describe it. See what I'm trying to say here?
I slept in, didn't have time to prep my lunch or grab something that fit in my budget on the way to work...so....the middle of the day was pretty food-less. I had a handful of cashews and a few animal crackers...and I was downing lots of water. But still didn't quite cut it. I will not do that again. I repeat: I will NOT do that again.
Fortunately I had a good breakie: bowl of cereal with soy milk and 2 pieces of toast with almond butter. Free McDick's coffee on the way and that did me pretty good...then a quick jaunt over to Starbucks for some lemon loaf, and another free coffee about half way through the day. Hit up the No Frills for some half priced blueberries and an apple, and that, my friends, was $6.33 for the day.
Free pizza for dinner - Thanks Icebreaker product knowledge sessions! (I lost count after 4 pieces...but I'm pretty sure I had no more than 5) and pizza leftovers means I get two free meals which eases the stress off me a whole lot more than you know.
$16.70 left for 3 days.
Tomorrow I'm eating like a queen...
On another note...I started thinking today about what would happen if something "happened" to me while I was doing this. Like, if I got injured and couldn't work. Or, got sick and needed some medication. Or if a friend or family member needed help. Or if I had to support someone - even a little bit. I would be royally screwed. It would be totally impossible to not go into serious debt. I can't work anymore than full-time. I've done the 2 jobs, 6 days a week thing, and it honestly almost destroyed me (that story, another time). There are so many people out there, making next to nothing, compared with what it costs to live a half-decent existence. Having to do the slog every day, week in, week out, year after year. And what are their lives like? Just surviving. What kind of life is that? Not the kind that I want to have any part in. Forget vacations. Forget buying a house (without going into further debt....and forget buying anything in Vancouver). Even renting is difficult on the wages around here. But with no down-payment saved up (because saving also then becomes almost impossible), what other choice is there, but to rent!? Stuck is the only way to describe it. See what I'm trying to say here?
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