day 5 lunch: enchiladas with cheese, potato, green pepper, chicken breast, homemade sauce – cost: $2.08
breakfast day 6/7: Spanish omelet – cost: $0.81
My last two meals of my “week” were the enchiladas I had for lunch on Friday and the breakfast I had on Saturday and Sunday. The rest of my meals were provided for me due to a wedding, which I’ve mentioned many times in my posts in this series, as if that’s a good excuse.
Honestly, I think my Eat on $30 week was a bit of a failure. I managed to eat 16 meals using $15.61 worth of food, with $20 layout in cash. I have a bunch of eggs, chicken, scallions, celery, carrot, tortillas, and cheese left, but getting through week days is no problem. Being creative, frugal, healthy, and sober is relatively easy during the week. Making it through the weekend, when you want to cut loose, is another story. I can’t say that I feel like I challenged myself like the other participants did, but I did learn a lot and hope that some of these learned values will rub off on me. I think they will.
I am not actually sure how to summarize my thoughts on Eat on 30, especially after reading such great wrap-up posts from Tami, Use Real Butter, and Trouble with Toast. So here are some random thoughts on what I did to Eat on < $30, challenges, and takeaways.
Eat on $30 Stuff
- The Sunday paper has lots of coupons, but you can find just as many great manufacturer coupons on coupons.com and via slickdeals.net.
- My key ingredients for inexpensive meals: legumes, rice, whole chicken, pasta, eggs, and potato.
- I became much more cognizant about not wasting food – all leftovers not immediately eaten went into the freezer. Bones and celery/carrots ends became stock. Livers became pate.
- Planning and cooking healthy meals took more time than I had available . Now think about people who are working double shifts.
- Without a strong desire to cook, and/or a solid set of culinary skills, coming up with intriguing and tasty meals can be tough. I was “up to the challenge” so to speak, as I knew it was a short period of time and thought it was fun. I bet after only two weeks this novelty would wear off. And I love to cook.
- Dining out isn’t possible without severely cutting into the grocery budget. Most people have to dine out sometime, at the least pickup fast food, due to various circumstances in their lives. For example, many of the people I work with have thirty minutes to eat their lunch. If they forget to bring their lunch from home, then they have to pickup something quick, and now they have less money for groceries. Every instance of this scenario, which can realistically happen multiple times in a week, impacts the person’s ability to buy fresh food to cook/eat.
- This challenge saved me a ton of money during the week, and when I bought my first meal out (Indian food in Little 5 Points), I felt great.
- The ability to stretch food and save in creative ways is an art form. I enjoyed talking with friends and reading blog posts about all of the various meals and savings that are out there within the Eat on $30 constraints
- Tami from Running with Tweezers is awesome. She cares so much about these issues, and she has successfully created a platform that has reached a lot of people. I know I probably disappointed her with my inability to fully meet this challenge, but her message has not fallen on deaf ears. I hope I can follow through and continue to be a more responsible eater, but most importantly, I need to give my time to this cause. My girlfriend’s family once invited me to help them serve food at a shelter on Ponce, and it was very rewarding. The people there were amazing. I think the reason I haven’t donated my time at this shelter since my last visit is because I haven’t thought about it. And now because of Eat on $30, I’m thinking about it. Hopefully you are too.
