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.