Monday:
A repeat breakfast of Cheerios with a banana. Wish I had bought oatmeal or eggs. Excited to be up and about so early on my first day of spring break, I figured I’d easily be able to skip my morning coffee habit. Out in the chilly March sunshine, I walked to the closest vegetable market in the area, McPherson’s Produce, a 2.5 mile jaunt roundtrip. Because they buy overstock produce from wholesalers, the prices are far lower than at grocery stores, though it's always a gamble if they will have what you need. With my dwindling envelope of cash in hand, I scored a cucumber ($0.50), 3 Braeburn apples ($2.20), one bunch of spinach ($1.49), 1 large yam ($0.86), grapes ($1.99), and one bunch of fresh basil to spice up my pasta ($0.49). Yes, this was going well.
In the interest of time, I drove to my nearest two grocery stores, Red Apple and Safeway. Comparing prices on basic items, I noticed that Red Apple often charged a dollar or two more on simple items such as pasta, canned soups, dairy products, and frozen items. Though I often shop at Red Apple because it’s on my bus line to Seattle U, I was shocked at how much more I had been paying for quick items. Located at the main Beacon Hill intersection, it services a diverse, international population, many of them low-income, and both customers in front of me brandished EBT cards. Nearby, there were also a handful of mini-marts (Mexican, Vietnamese, Chinese, to name only a few) that I would sample later in the week. I decided to do my shopping at the next closest store, Safeway, where the prices were far lower, with more clearance items. Driving back, I accidentally cheated by mindlessly eating from a box of Fig Newmans bought in the stressful days of finals week.
We continued working on the construction project, rushing back and forth to the garage and basement with drills and saws. Sliced up an apple for a snack, but found it mushy and completely unappealing. Wish I had shelled out for the Honeycrisp. By noon the paint fumes had given me a headache. Tried to have a sandwich (whole wheat bread, $1.99) for lunch, but the dry tuna ($0.79/can) (no mayo) combo did not sound appealing, either. Ate grapes and cubes of tofu ($0.99) and some lowfat colby cheese ($0.99 on manager's special). All the exciting vegetables I had purchased were useless, with no time to prepare them. Wish I had some peanut butter.
By 1pm I was ready to sell my firstborn for a latte or Coke or anything with caffeine.
2pm: Firstborn sold for the price of one bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper ($1.69). Promised I would quit caffeine, starting next week. I try to avoid soda because I think it is evil and addicting and can see myself inadvertently becoming a dentist's worst nightmare without a little self-control. But desperate times...
3pm: Project finished, headache gone, now starving, nothing I purchased looked appetizing. Can't believe I wasted almost 2 bucks on soda.
3:15pm: Prepared my emergency box of mac and cheese ($0.79) with spinach.
4pm: Hungry again. Found myself wandering the kitchen looking at food I can’t eat and thinking about snacks I want to buy. Chopped up basil and added with salt to plain yogurt ($1.50 on 50% manager’s special) as a dip for cucumbers and baby carrots ($1.79). My housemate was making pizza and cookies. Took ultimate willpower not to indulge in a taste of batter.
5pm: Had to run out on errands with the boyfriend. The night got later and I realized we wouldn’t be able to hop out for food on my stamp money. Even when I think I am eating for cheap at Ethiopian, sushi, or pho restaurants, I’m still paying in cash—something I wouldn’t be able to do on public assistance. Lounging in Home Depot while he found an exponentially increasing number of treasures for his house (note: actual need for items purchased at home stores inversely related to amount of time spent in store), I looked through my own blog entries on my phone. Realized I’ve been doing physical labor for 2 days and eating little besides cereal and simple carbs. Aha. The nurse in me is seeing a connection to my grumpy mood. Snacked on store-brand tortilla chips ($1.99) to stave off hunger until we actually had food to cook.
Dinner: Made some turkey burgers (extra lean, 50% off manager’s special, $3.50)—no seasoning or eggs to spice them up, but still alright. Cucumbers and carrots on the side and baked sweet potato fries (okay, okay, I cheated and drizzled on olive oil so I wouldn’t ruin them for everyone else.)
Dessert: Blueberry organic greek nonfat yogurt ($0.40, 50% on manager’s special).
Distance commuted: 2 miles on foot, 10+ miles in car
Today’s purchases: $18.40 + evil Dr. Pepper = $20.10
Running total: 18.10 + 12.00 = $32.10
Nutrition evaluation: Poor
Hope I am stocked up with leftovers and food I will want to eat for 3 more days. Besides one lonely Fig Newman and a splash of oil, I barely cheated today—but where did all the money go? I stashed away my soda for another emergency and hid my leftovers in the back of the fridge where no one could touch it. Huddled my precious produce on a corner of the counter and thought about what I would be able to eat tomorrow.
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