March 8...$5 Spent...$.96 consumed

$5 worth of produce

So, I had depleted my fruit stash (with the exception of a couple mandarins and oranges still in the fridge), so I decided to hit up Haymarket for my weekly produce.  For those not in Boston, Haymarket is like a farmers market, except it's like about-to-spoil or spoiling produce that can't be sold in the supermarkets.  So it is super cheap compared to the items sold in grocery stores, but you have to be careful what you pick or are given because some items are bad.  This is what $5 bought me.

$1- 2lbs of strawberries  (This would cost be $5 or $4 on a good sales week for the same amount, HOWEVER, I ended up tossing about 1 container worth of Strawberries when I got home b/c they were too ripe or bad to consume).  Cost per strawberry = $.04

$1- 1 pint of blueberries, totally good all the way through and will last me probably a little over a week.  Again, this would cost close to $4 in the grocery store.  I usually eat about 25 blueberries as a serving, so I'm going to guesstimate the cost of the servings as roughly $.13 a serving.

$2- 7 apples, I would pay more than double the price if I bought them at the store.  These are all bruise-free and I got to select them myself.  Cost per apple $.29

$1 for the garlic as I was completely out and it's cheaper than the grocery store.  Do I use all that garlic, yes, I'm pretty good at adding pressed garlic to dishes. Cost per head $.20

I had a late breakfast of oatmeal and coffee before heading out to Haymarket.  I then had a late lunch of leftover spaghetti with veggies and sauce, brown bread and the rest of the spinach and arugula mix ($.63) w/ honey goat cheese and strawberries ($.20) and blueberries ($.13) I just bought.  I then made popcorn from kernels I had for an evening snack since I didn't have dinner due to the late lunch.

Lunch

March 6 & 7... $0 Spent, $.63 Consumed

March 6th: Breakfast [not shown] was left over coffee cake and coffee.  Only the spinach & arugula mix was consumed that came from items purchased this month, everything else was leftover or stuff I had on hand prior to March 1st.

Lunch [above] was leftover brown rice, steamed frozen broccoli and tofu with a mandarin orange and lemon lime seltzer from work. ($0- all leftover items I had on hand before March 1st)

Dinner [above] was leftover veggie, lentil, barley soup ($0), spinach and arugula salad ($.63) w/ dried Craisins, mandarin orange and honey goat cheese ($0).

Friday, March 7th: Breakfast [not shown] was Grape Nuts cereal with milk thawed from freezer, last of my coffee cake and coffee ($0).  Lunch [not shown] was leftover homemade chili, Trader Joe's Greek Nonfat Plain Yogurt w/ fresh fruit from work, a mandarin orange and countless items sitting out from meeting breakfasts ($0). Nothing consumed came from items purchased this month.

Dinner: [below] pasta with frozen vegetables and sauce, brown bread with butter and leftover glass of wine from Sunday. ($0)

March 5th...$0 spent, $.75 consumed

Back to work today.  Of the money spent yesterday at the grocery store, I consumed about $.75 worth of food bought, everything else was leftover or food I had on hand.

Breakfast: leftover coffee cake, scone at work and tea [no photo]

Lunch: leftover homemade veggie, lentil, barely soup with a mandarin orange and a lemon lime can of seltzer. [looked very similar to yesterday's lunch]

Chocolate was consumed this afternoon- I can't wait for all the chocolate to be gone from the office!

Dinner: spinach and arugula ($.627)  w/ honey goat cheese (given to me by a friend who doesn't like it), Craisins, small red beans (from dried bag I cooked over the weekend) and a microwaved potato ($.125) and a leftover homemade honey cornbread muffin.

Dessert: I opened a box/bag of mint Oreos that have been sitting on my bar for a few weeks now.

March 4th: $4.38 Spent

I stayed home today with a chest cold but did go to the store b/c I was craving potatoes.  I bought:

• 1 5lb bag of russet potatoes for $2.50.  With 20 potatoes in the bag, each potato costs $.125
• 1 6oz bag of baby spinach and arugula for $1.88.  The bag says 2 servings, but I turn that into 3 servings so about $.63 a serving.

Total dollars spent: $4.38
Cost of purchased food that was consumed: just under $.13


Breakfast: tea and oatmeal made with old fashion oats and Craisins [no photo]

Lunch: leftover homemade vegetable, barley, lentil soup; microwaved potato ($.125) and a mandarin orange with tea.

Dinner: I had some homemade popcorn and two slices of homemade sourdough bread thawed from the freezer. [no picture]

March 2nd and 3rd.... $0 spent

Sundays are my "shopping" days.  I get my delivered Sunday paper, I sit with my cup of coffee and breakfast and sort the paper making sure I look at the ads first.  Then I plot what I want to buy from Target, Michaels, AC Moore and others.  Not being able to spend money on items at these stores took away some enjoyment from my Sunday morning ritual and I was forced to actually read the contents of the paper and drool over the items I want (don't need) from the ads. I decided to put a hold on my paper until March 30th so I don't run into the weekly temptations to spend money.

I stayed in on day 2, so no money spent.  Breakfast (or rather brunch since I didn't eat until noon) was homemade coffee cake w/ coffee and a mimosa using week old champagne and OJ.

Dinner: brown rice, corn (from the freezer) and I found a box of the veggie buffalo chicken nuggets buried in the freezer that I cooked. 

Not pictured were items consumed during the Oscars: homemade popped corn, melted chocolate and strawberries (friend brought those over) and wine.

~~~

Monday- First day of the month at work and I usually bring my lunch, so nothing was different.

Breakfast: leftover coffee cake, tea & scone from work [no picture]

Lunch: leftover Thai coconut noodles w/ tofu and broccoli, mandarin orange, Greek yogurt and frozen mixed berries both items I had on hand. [no picture- looked much like Saturday's lunch]

(Chocolates sitting around the office were consumed in the afternoon along with a never ending cup of tea thanks to a sore throat)

Dinner: after coming home feeling crappy with a sore throat, dinner was ramen noodles and some homemade sourdough bread (from the freezer and toasted) with butter and more tea.

March 1, 2014 - $0 spent

First day of the month and I spent $0.

Breakfast: Old Fashioned Quaker Oats w/ Craisins, latte, mandarin orange

Lunch: leftover coconut Thai noodles w/ tofu and broccoli

Dinner: homemade lentil, barley, mixed vegetable soup and homemade honey corn muffins

March 2014 Resolution- No spending except $45 for food.

I’ve debated about my March resolution for about two weeks.  I wanted to do something challenging, but still something I could succeed in keeping.   I knew I wanted to give up spending money, but with exceptions.  First, my monthly bills (rent, utilities, auto payments for cellphone, insurance, etc.) would not count.  Second, medical co-pays for office visits or medication would also be excluded.  At first I thought I would not spend money on anything other than food and beverages.  Then, the more I thought about it, the more I thought it would be an interesting month if I could limit the amount of money I could spend on food and beverages.  I was thinking about spending no more than $40 in cash or credit on food and beverages for the entire month.  Then I researched the poverty line and saw it was $1.50 a day and decided to increase my allowance a bit.  So, for the month of March, I will not spend cash or use my credit card on anything but $45 worth of food and beverages.  Yes, that is $45 for the entire month, not week.  (And for those wondering, it's not unusual for me to spend $20 a week on groceries.)

No, I did not hit up Costco or do a huge grocery run on February 28^th (or the last week of February for that matter). In fact, here is what my cupboards and fridge look like:

 

No, I will not count the food that currently resides in my cabinets, fridge, freezer, bar or counter top- these items I have already paid for and really don’t want to try calculating how much they cost to factor into the $45

What about St. Patty’s day?  I have some Guinness in my fridge and I have a reception that evening, so I’ll be eating and drinking well on someone else’s dime.

What about my Starbucks habit?  Since I pay with my Starbucks gift cards (which were given to me as gifts), I’m allowing myself to exclude what I spend using gift cards (of any kind) from the $45 as it is not cash, nor credit.  Look at it as my government assistance for the month.

What do I hope to gain from this experience?  A credit card bill that is significantly smaller (hopefully well below my monthly 4 digit average). AND a cleaner cabinet, fridge & freezer (look at it as a spring cleaning of sorts). 

What about my health?  Yes, I'm a vegetarian so I already have a limited diet.  I don't go to fast food joints (partially bc I can only eat their fries and also my town doesn't have a McDonald's or Burger King).  I hope to do this the healthy way and show that it is possible (maybe cheaper??)  to live off nutritious "healthy" items rather than the processed stuff.  While I know Ramen will be a dish I eat a couple times over the 30 days, it won't be a staple.  In the end I do hope that I lose some weight too.

How will I do it?

I plan to spend most of my money on fruits and veggies which will take some planning especially since here in Boston apples go for $1.99  a pound ($1.49 when on sale!) or about $.69 each at Trader Joe's.  (Yes, something I still cringe at after growing up on SoCal where the produce was WAY cheaper.)  If you do the math, I wouldn't be able to afford much after buying an apple for the day at those prices.  I'll use coupons whenever possible (which is a habit I've had for years now) and take advantage of the weekend produce market downtown where they sell spoiling or soon to spoil produce taken off grocery shelves to you at a fraction of the cost.  AND, best of all, I'll blog with photos and calculate the costs of my meals made with any of the items purchased with that $45 so you all can see what I am eating.

So here it goes my friends... 30 days +  $45 = March Resolution.