Day 7: Liberty Science Center

Money Spent: $20.93
Total amount on food: $3.93

This turned out to be a really bad day for my mission and a really good day for me.  I hope this correlation is a coincidence.

Breakfast was potatoes sliced as thinly as I possibly could, seasoned with garlic Season All, and cooked on a frying pan with a little olive oil.  I also had some of those delicious crackers with almond butter and jelly. We woke up a little late, so this tied us over.  I also got a coffee for $1.50 (I’d been craving it harddd). 

I really need to buy a coffee maker for Mike’s – I think it will be a worthy investment so my coffee cravings don’t take over.  I have, as you may have noticed, cut coffee out of my diet during the week.

Since it’s Mike’s birthday weekend, I decided I’d splurge a little to make sure he had the best weekend possible.  Our friend Caryn told us about the Hubble movie playing at the Liberty Science Center IMAX Dome, so we went to Jersey.  Transportation was about $3.00, admission to the museum was free (Caryn had passes), and the movie and simulation we did was $14.00.  WORTH IT. 

Yup, we're dorks

When we got home, we made couscous with my pasta sauce (I smothered mine in cheese, Mike had his plain).  I was VERY unhappy to find that the chicken breast in the fridge went bad (I had one in the freezer, too).  I’ll have to remember to keep my chicken in the freezer and just thaw it in the morning when we’re going to eat it at night.

Mike made some more smoothies for dessert (or “poop shakes” as I like to call them, thanks to the fiber powder)

It was one of the best days I’ve had in a LONG time, so I’m feeling like the cost was worth it.  Hopefully I’ll be able to find better ways of entertaining myself for cheaper.

Day 6: Smoothies Are My Downfall

Money spent: $4.65
Total amount in food: $5.25

TGIF. 

We ran out of bananas, so for breakfast I had oatmeal bread with peanut butter. (.$15)

I was hungry for lunch pretty early, so I made myself an awesome open-faced sandwich.  I had organic pepperoni in the work fridge from about 3 weeks ago that seems to never go bad (the sell by date is sometime in late fall... which kind of freaks me out but it tasted GREAT).  My co-worker had some tomatoes in the fridge that were a little soft, so she said she didn’t want them.  I cut them into thin slices, put some olive oil and garlic powder on the English muffins I brought, topped them with some cheese from a week or two ago, and sliced pepperoni to put on top.  I then popped it in the microwave (our oven in busted).  MMM it hit the spot. ($.41 – I’m only counting the muffin since I would have thrown everything else out!)

I walked from work to meet Mike in the park on 59th Street, which was great except that I was really hungry by the time I got there.  There’s a Whole Foods in the Columbus Circle mall, so I went in there to see if I could find any free samples.  No such luck. 

I was so hungry that I caved when I saw Jamba Juice, I bought a Peanut Butter Moo’d for $4.65.  I felt pretty guilty, but I kind of justified it because it’s Friday and it was seriously the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted.

Mike is making me some of my dough pockets from the other night (flour, water, and salt for the dough shaped into thin disks and filled with chopped onions, tomatoes, shredded mozzarella, mushrooms, and a little garlic)  You can fill these delicious little suckers with whatever you have in the fridge (my favorite is spinach, feta, and onion).  It’s a lovely little package of flavor and they fill you up nicely. They also freeze well, though you should wrap them individually since the dough gets sticky when frozen.  If you make extra dough, you can throw it in the fridge, too, and fill it with anything new you acquire. ($.04)

It’s Mike’s birthday weekend, so tomorrow we’re going with some friends to the Liberty Science Center in Jersey.  We’re getting in to the museum for free (our friend Caryn has free passes), but we pay to see the movie and for the train ticket.  It will probably be about $17.  I’m going to make it my goal next week to make up for the extra $$$. I also need to find a good birthday present for Mike!!!  Yeep.

I realized I’d totally forgotten about the crackers I got, and I was feeling kinda munchy so I checked them out.  It turns out they’re these like airy little breadcrackers (Wasa Crisp 'n Light).  They were the cheapest crackers at Whole Foods, and they’re kinda crazy amazing.  I ate one plain, and then covered one with some preserves from Mike’s fridge.  I then tried one with almond butter and honey.  Our honey is starting to crystallize, so I spread some of that on the almond butter.  Holy shit.  Just get these crackers and take my word for it.  I also feel like I just ate a mini-sandwich, so I’m a lot more full than I expected to be from eating some crackers!!

Day 5: Hired!

Money spent: $0
Total amount in food eaten: $1.01

Breakfast – banana and oatmeal bread w/ peanut butter (banana = $.25, though Mike bought it; peanut butter = $.15)  I snacked on oatmeal bread and peanut butter throughout the day. 

Three meals a day are seriously not enough for me – I need to snack or I simply can’t function.  I need to keep this in mind for future grocery trips and think about how to get the best bang for my buck in healthy snacks – any ideas?

For lunch, I ate my leftovers from dinner last night  – ooh they were so good. ($0)

I don’t think I’ve mentioned before that my job does business with Honest Tea, so we get free iced tea (I’m taking PALATES of the stuff)!  I usually drink at least one, if not two a day.  They’re super low in sugar (some of the ones I drink don’t have any), organic, and the bottles are recyclable.   Did I mention anti-oxidants?

I went to visit the kids I used to nanny for after work – it was amazing to see them (it’s been like 7 or 8 months so I was missing them a lot).  Wendy, their mom, gave me an amazing homemade organic chocolate chip/banana/carrot muffin along with organic cranberry juice.  I’ll have to get the recipe since it seemed super easy and was DELICIOUS (plus, I’ve been severely lacking in chocolate this week so it was a welcome treat)

Wendy mentioned that they were looking for a weekend sitter, so I told her I’d be happy to take on a few hours!  I was a little hesitant at first because I sort of see it as a step backwards (I’d thought about mentioning to her that I might be interested in working if she needed help before I arrived), but upon seeing the kids I realized this is not only a good financial opportunity, but will also help me with my blog at work since just being with kids makes writing for them a hell of a lot easier and more fun.

The visit was nothing short of lovely and I came home with a happy, comforted feeling after a nice cuddle and a lot of good conversation.  My mom figured out that in order to pay my taxes, I could simply take on about 8 hours of extra work per week until it’s paid off.  Works for me!

I was feeling a little lightheaded and nauseous when I got back to Mike’s (combination of my lunch being kinda… gassy, and a little PMS, I think), so he made me another yummy cucumber sandwich ($.61)

I’ve so far heard from 6 or 7 of the organic companies I wrote to asking for coupons.  They all said something to the effect of “they’re in the mail!”  WOOT!

Lastly, I remembered the other day that my old Powerbook is still around.  I thought it might be the right time to wipe it and try to get a little money for it.  I doubt I’ll get much – it’s pretty old and I dropped it more than once, but who knows?  I thought I’d check out what they’re going for on ebay, and if it seems like a bad idea, I’ll take it down to Tekserv and see if they’ll buy it from me for parts.  Everything helps right now.

I’m gonna go ahead and second yesterday’s mention that my body and mind feel REALLY good right now, even with the short spell of nausea before dinner.

Day 4: Free Latte!!!

Money spent: $0
Total amount in food eaten: $.50 (or $1.50 including cereal)

Breakfast: Cereal with raisins and bananas

I’ve been kind of lamenting the fact that I have to give up my hot morning drinks (David Bach calls this the “Latte Factor” – giving up expensive specialty drinks in order to save a LOT of money) – I love coffee but I’ve found that brewing it in the mornings isn’t usually in the cards for me since I like to wake up late and I start working right away when I arrive at my office.

I guess I must have been putting this out into the universe, because I woke up this morning to find an e-mail from Crossroads NYC (which is part of an organization called Times Square Alliance that give you a card with deals in the neighborhood if you live in Times Square).  It said Jamba Juice is giving away FREE chai tea lattes at the 47th St. location.

Hell yeah!

Mike lives on 44th St, so I worked from home until 11 (when the latte promo started) and we made our way over there.  The catch was that you had to ride on an exercise bike that is hooked up to a blender attachment and mix your own drink by pedaling.  Well AW-right.  We both grabbed a bike, mixed our drinks, and earned free delicious chai teas.  I went to work feeling good.

mmmm... chai

I had leftover bean salad mixed with rice for lunch. I also snacked on some of my oatmeal bread from last night with peanut butter since I’ve been finding I do better with 2 small meals about 2 hours apart for lunch.

We went out to dinner with Mike’s family for his birthday.  Mike chose Gobo a vegan place downtown. 

I got green tea noodle stir-fry along with a lot of delicious appetizers.  Mike’s family wasn’t thrilled by the restaurant choice at first, but everyone wound up REALLY enjoying their meals. 

It’s been really fun cooking/baking these past few days, but it was also really nice to be cooked for (AND served). 

Best part?  I’ve got leftovers for lunch tomorrow!!!!

On a side note, I’ve noticed that my mood, interest in life, and general happiness level is much higher than it’s been in months.  I expected to be fully depressed during this, the brokest of times.  Not so. 

Things to do: grow my own food – research indoor gardens

Day 3: Baking Bread

Money spent: $3.48

  (Olive oil spread - $2.49
  Cucumber - .$99)

Total amount in food eaten: $3.63 ($4.63 including cereal!)

For breakfast, I ate some delicious organic cereal (Mesa Sunrise).  Mike purchases this in the bulk bags rather than boxes and stores it in plastic cereal containers.  He mixes it with raisins and we eat it with banana slices and almond milk.  (>$1, not my $$$!)

Lunch: I brought leftover fajita salad to work today and ate it cold with some fresh tortilla chips.  MMMM it was so good cold – I kinda mixed everything together into a chicken/sour cream/mushroom/onion glop and ate it like dip. ($0)

Mike met me at work and I was feeling pretty hungry.  I’d tried a free sample at WF the day before, which was just butter/olive oil spread on some whole grain bread with cucumbers.  I couldn’t get it out of my head, so we stopped by WF (Mike needed to pick some stuff up anyway) and I got the spread and some cukes for $3. 

I also dropped by my place and picked up some packets of yeast I had along with some other random foods I wouldn’t touch for the last few months – lentils, plain oatmeal packets, some canned white beans, and sugar (he won’t keep any in his place and I’m not thrilled by white sugar, but it’s pretty necessary for baking and I figured if I had it I might as well use it).

I made the following when we landed at Mike’s place:

1)    Cucumber sandwich.  You cannot imagine how good this is!! I just covered one side of an English muffin with the olive oil/butter spread (I don’t usually eat butter but I made an exception since it’s so tasty on this sandwich), sliced about 1/6th of a cucumber into small disks, and put it all together.  Great snack to tie me over since I was cranky. ($.16 + $.40 + $.05) =  $0.61

2)    Quinoa Chicken

It looks a little gruel-y, but it was amazing...

This was dinner.  Last night I chopped some organic chicken into chunks and put them in a ziplock with chopped onions, garlic, and cumin.  I cooked about a cup of quinoa and added a little salt and garlic all-spice to the water (it takes around 20 minutes).  At the 7 minute mark, I threw the chicken into a heated saucepan with some Braggs Liquid Amino Acids (basically soy sauce, but better for you) and cooked it ‘til it was JUUUUST undercooked – about 4 minutes.   I then removed it from the heat For some reason, the quinoa was a little soggier than I’m used to, but when I tasted it, it was SO yummy that I didn’t care – Mike and I actually preferred it.  I love pasta, and it kind of had that doughy semolina-like consistency.  I chopped 3 mushrooms and threw them into the chicken pan with ALL the quinoa, and cooked this mixture for about 2 minutes.  Totally filling and so delicious.  ($2.79 + $.43 + $.20) = $3.42

3)    Oatmeal bread.

Yup.  I made bread.  It’s such an easy recipe and SO cheap.  I used almond milk instead of regular milk (last time I made this I used soy milk and the bread was VERY dense but amazingly delicious).  The only reason people probably don’t do this all the time is because you need to give it about 2 and a half hours of time to rise (one hour in a bowl and another hour and a half in log-form in the bread pan)– but I just prepped the dough (10 minutes and 7 cheap and easy to find ingredients) and let it rise while I went about the rest of my night.

I didn’t have bread pans at Mikes, so we walked to the housewares store on 42nd St and I got 2 aluminum pans for $1 (which was the only thing I had to buy to make this bread!!!).  This bread is also vegan if you sub olive oil/butter spread for straight olive oil!  ($.50 for me, about $2.00 for you!)

Oh my god, it smelled amazing...

I’m noticing, with all the attention I’m paying to how much I eat, that I’m hungry a LOT more than I thought.  I’d been snacking on sunflower seeds I got for free from a gig a few weeks ago to get me through these hunger-spells, but I don’t love them and I found out tonight that each serving is a whopping 64 grams of fat (and 33% of the DV for saturated fat).  Yick.  I’m very sensitive to hunger – when my blood sugar crashes, I tend to get uncontrollably cranky and irrational.  I know when it’s happening and I’m able to tell the people around me that they shouldn’t take me seriously.  It still sucks, though.  I think that’s why I’ve spent so much money on food in the past.  I need to be rational to function, and I need food to be rational, so I just buy whatever is closest to me and sounds good in the moment.  One of the perks and drawbacks to NYC living – you can get ANYTHING on a whim.

Mike’s making me an awesome smoothie right now.  Mmmmm…. Dessert.

Frozen raspberries, almond milk, Young Living power fiber (vanilla flavored), and flax seed oil. Tastes very yogurty and no need to add ice since the raspberries are frozen! (and cost me NOTHING ‘cause Mike bought/had all the ingredients)

Day 2: Getting Started

Money spent: $46.91

Grocery Bill: $46.91

Total amount in food eaten: $3.04

How to get started on your new lifestyle:

I started by spending an hour after work at my computer searching for coupons. I was surprised to find that there are TONS of organic coupons available for a lot of the organic staples I usually get. I printed 'em, categorized 'em, and searched for budget-friendly recipe ideas. Then I headed for Whole Foods.

I spent about twice as much time as I usually do at Whole Foods planning meals and searching for all the stuff I had coupons for. I'm not a big couponer, but I do know the tricks they can pull - so I only clipped stuff I eat on a regular basis and could incorporate into several different meals.

At Whole Foods they have a bulk section. I've been really into quinoa because you can make it into a dinner (there's a million ways to make it, I like it with pasta sauce and cheese), breakfast (oatmeal or fruit and yogurt parfaits - delicious!), or even cornbread. I got a pound of it for $3.32, which will equal about 5-6 meals. Hell yeah.

Everything I bought was on sale or I had a coupon for. It wound up being $46, which is about 1/2 of what Mike and I usually spend on groceries (Crazy, right??? This city is sooo expensive...)

My shopping list:
Onions (8) = 2.99
Chicken (3lb) = 9.38
Tomato Sauce/can = 1.49 (I got 3)
Garlic (14 cloves/head) = .60, .04/clove
Mushrooms (15) = 2.19
Tortilla Chips (15 servings) = 2.49
Mozzarella (On sale at 2 for $6 - 12 servings) = 6.00
Plum tomatoes (3) = 1.15
Sour Cream (8 servings) = 1.39
Kidney beans = .89/can
Black beans = .89/can
English Muffins (6)= 2.49/pack
Fajita Mix = 1.49 (since buying this, I realized I can probably make it at home for free/cheap with cumin, garlic, onions, and some other stuff. Not sure about the consistency, but it’s worth a shot)
Red potatoes (sack) = 2.62
Almond Milk (w/ coupon for $1 off) = 1.69
Crackers = 1.67 Quinoa (bulk – 1lb) = 3.32
English muffins (6) = 2.49
Peanut butter (coupon for $1 off!) = 1.19
Total grocery bill: $46.91

I got back to Mike's and made the following in order to make the most of all the groceries I bought and have food for the rest of the week:

 Bean salad, rice, fajita salad, tomato sauce, and chicken!

1) Pasta sauce ($3.62)
2) Fajitas - chicken w/ fajita spice, mushrooms, and onions cooked together served over organic tortilla chips topped with cheese, sour cream, and tomatoes. (This was dinner) ($6.08, serves 2)
3) Brown rice – This has been sitting in Mike’s cupboard for like 10 months ‘cause it says it takes 40 minutes to make and I’m WAY too impatient for that.
4) Chicken for tomorrow - onions, garlic, cumin, salt, pepper, blackened seasoning in a ziplock. We’ll probably serve it with rice ($2.79)
5) Bean salad - garbanzo, black, and kidney beans mixed with onions, balsamic vinaigrette dressing, lemonade (we make this fresh every week with agave nectar and lemons), and Coleman's mustard powder. This is gonna be served over the brown rice. I made a TON of this so hopefully we like it and it will last a while. ($2.87 – makes about 6-8 servings depending on how much rice you eat with it)

I'm planning on making:
1) Tomato, mozzarella, and onions in a flour dough pouch - I'm going to freeze these and we'll just throw them on the stove and cook them up when we're hungry.
2) Pasta salad - just macaroni, tomato, and garlic in balsamic dressing w/ some spices
3) Chicken salad (w/ wasabi mayo, raisins, onions, and mustard)
4) Potato pancakes (I might as well be the Jew in our relationship 'cause my potato pancakes are bangin')
5) Home fries
6) Potato gnocchi (w/ sage butter sauce)

...and I'm sure a lot more.

I've also been looking into "freeganism", which is basically a lifestyle where people go to bakeries and farm markets where foods that are slightly damaged or day-old are left for people to take. There are a bunch of hot spots, and my friend Derrick and I have been wanting to do this for a while now. I can cook pretty much anything (I've gained this confidence because I hate to clean the fridge and can therefore make the most bruised-and-battered veggie into something delicious.

I e-mailed a bunch of my favorite organic food brands and told them my current situation. I asked if there are any extra coupons/promotions/free samples possible beyond those on their websites. I heard back from Amy’s Organic right away (mmmm macaroni and cheeeese) saying they’d be glad to send me coupons in the mail.

Places to e-mail:
Amy's Organic
Horizon
Organic Valley (and Organic Prairie)
Eden Foods
Wise Organics
Kashi

I signed up for a bunch of free samples, too. You can find free sample sites by doing a quick Google search, and they usually only require that you enter your contact info and/or that you take a quick survey. I hope I don’t get a bazillion spam e-mails and bullshit in the mail because of this, but I’m really interested in seeing where it goes.

Day 1: Hitting a Wall

Yesterday I hit a wall.

Today, true to Stage-Manager-Straight-A-Student-(well, sort of)-Idealistic-Go-Getter -style, I’m embarking on a journey to start over.

I’m a bit of an enigma, sometimes. A recent graduate of a humanities-heavy college with a degree in technical theater, I’m a perfectionist and a hippie. I like to organize things and I like to party, go out, explore, and sit on my computer and Stumble. I’m worried about consumerism, mercury in fish, big business, empty calories, and ever-growing trash heaps. I eat as sustainably as I can. I make spreadsheets. I live for the moment. I work by day in the children’s music industry, and I love it and am good at it.

Yesterday, I realized that in all my planning and dreaming and “being aware” of my environment, I’d missed out on a few very basic pieces of information regarding paying taxes. I realized that on my already-meager budget, I need to now come up with $3500 with which to pay the government so I can keep enjoying my civil liberties.

I cried for an hour, and then spent the last 35 hours brainstorming.

“How am I going to eat?” “What am I going to need to give up?” “Where am I going to find another job?” “Will I be able to be happy?” “How can I make passive income?” “Can I still be creative?” “Will I drive my boyfriend nuts?” “Is it even possible to pay my bills and student loans and pay rent and eat?????”

I will surely go farther into the trepidation, fear, and strangeness that suddenly finding myself in debt (beyond my student loans) conjured, but for now, I’m going to focus on an idea that struck me around hour 27.

I realized that a LOT of people are probably finding themselves in the same boat right now. And a LOT of people, being raised in consumerism America, will turn to a McDiet to get through the tough times. We’re raised to believe that only the fortunate can afford to choose an all-organic, healthy, sustainable diet. I decided to embark on a journey to show that this simply isn’t true.

How this blog functions:

The goal is to both eat and be entertained for $5 a day or less on average. This does not include rent and bills (though I DO hope to get to that point someday – ha!) .

Each day, I will break down how much money I spent (including groceries and other items), what meals I ate, what I did for entertainment, and how much money was spent on my meals and entertainment CONSUMED that day (i.e- If I buy groceries but only eat a sandwich, I will list the groceries under “$$$ spent” and the sandwich under “total amount in food eaten”. Hopefully, the total of the latter number each day will be equal to or less than the former by the time I need more groceries!

I will also post RECIPES, shopping tips, money-saving ideas, entertainment ideas, and lots of other goodies to get you through being broke in style.

I will tally my weekly expenses at the end of the week to be sure that the average comes out to less than $5 a day. I don’t know if I can do it – but it’s definitely worth a try.