$30/week Challenge - Day 1

The first day seemed pretty daunting. Eating on less than $5 a day hardly seemed possible. I was nervous.

I wasn't the only one who was skeptical. One person in a meeting told me flat out, "You won't last a day." Thanks for the vote of confidence, guy!

Nevertheless, I wasn't off to a bad start.

Instead of getting ready and then grabbing a latte on the way to work, coffee was brewed at home for about 20 cents a cup.

mmm...home brewed!

It was actually quite nice to drink coffee at home. It made me feel like that time in the morning where I sit in bed and hit refresh on Facebook for 10 minutes straight ("Hello?? Where is everybody?!") wasn't wasted.

For breakfast, I ate some of the corn flakes I bought for only $2.70 for a 1 pound box! In fact, it was sooo good, I had it for lunch. (Either that or I didn't get my shit together to pack a lunch the night before.)

seriously - this box is HUGE!

When I went for seconds during lunch, I began to gaze longingly at the sliced nectarines in the picture on the corn flake box. Man, I really wanted one. (I kind of still do, actually.)

By the time the end of the day rolled around, I was so hungry. I probably need to plan better, as corn flakes don't really stave off hunger.

For dinner that night, Extraface and I cooked up some beans and rice. I was so hungry at this point, I was hovering over the stove, stealing beans from the hot pan and burning my mouth.

don't worry - I didn't let that dog get any of MY dinner!

By the time I ate the beans and rice, it felt close to the best meal I'd ever had. I was that hungry. (I'd like to point out that my hungry probably had more to do with poor food choices on my part than the amount of money spent. In fact, I'm sure Tami - who made a mushroom and spinach burrito for dinner on her Day 1 - did not experience the hunger pangs that I had. I didn't get too creative with my food.)

mmm...gotta love the beans!

Day 1 Totals

Breakfast: Coffee & corn flakes at $1.30

Lunch: Corn flakes and diet cokes at $1.32

Dinner: Beans & rice at $1.03

TOTAL: $3.65

Full disclosure: I did have some Starbursts from a coworkers candy stash and a homemade cookie for dessert that was given to me as a gift. I feel that these shouldn't count towards the total but feel free to debate within the comment section!

$30 a week Challenge

When Tami of Running with Tweezers asked if anyone was interested in participating in a challenge to only spend $30 on food for a week, I was totally on board. The $30 is a small bump up from the $23 national average per person that those receiving federal assistance receive for food per week.

doesn't seem like much, does it?

This couldn't come at a better time for me as, lately, I've been spending money on food with wild abandon. A not out of the ordinary day for me can look like this:

Breakfast: Latte & oatmeal from Starbucks at about $7

Lunch: Soup and fruit from Metro Fresh at about $13

Snacks: Diet cokes and/or some cereal from the work cafeteria at about $3

Dinner: Delivery ordered from Zifty.com at about $20

TOTAL: $43

Spending like this puts me at almost 10 times my budget this week - and that doesn't even include what I would spend to eat out on the weekends. Oy.

Yesterday, Extraface (who is also participating) and I went to the grocery store for some cheap eats for this week. We got some bread, peanut butter, beans, and corn flakes.

I'll document my participation on the challenge here. Anyone have any ideas on how to keep my spending on food down this week? How about any ideas on how to get fruit and veggies in?