I was already planning on writing about this today when I saw that one of my new favorite blogs just wrote about it too! http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/2010/04/guest-blogger-meatless-monday.html
It's really cool what NYC is doing, especially the entire notion of giving parents this kind of voice in a public school. Basically, NYC public schools are giving parents an option to create a wellness team and request to meet with their SchoolFood manager from the Department of Education's Office of SchoolFood. This Wellness team in particular was concerned with the heavy amount of fat from meat and cheese in their children's school lunches. One of the changes they made was incorporating "Meatless Mondays" into the menu. And I'm not talking about grilled cheese and fried fish like Siena used to serve during Fridays of Lent. The NYC school's meatless Mondays consist of healthy vegetarian food such as Vegetarian Chili with rice and African Gumbo. Ummm if my school served this for lunch I would actually buy the school lunch at my school!
But I've been hearing a lot about the Meatless Monday Movement. San Francisco's Board of Supervisors approved a resolution pushing for more vegetarian offerings on Mondays, without requiring them.http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/homestyle/04/26/meatless.mondays.green.healthy/index.html?hpt=Sbin
So I've been thinking it's a good idea for a number of reasons. I'm not doing it because of animal rights or anything like that. For me, it's more of a money issue and just the challenge to see if I can do it. I think it will help me be a more creative chef as well. Is anyone else up for the challenge? I would love a buddy to do this with - (Michelle, you are my #1 buddy as a vegetarian every day)
This is what I ate today for my first Meatless Monday:
Breakfast- Oatmeal (quaker quick oats) with Almonds and Splenda and Green Tea
Snack- Pistachios
Lunch- Corn and Potato chowder I made yesterday, an orange, and a chocolate chip cookie
Snack- Grapes and 100 calorie bag of popcorn., I also had another cookie, whoops.
Dinner- I made a black bean quesadilla. I sauteed onions and spinach with taco seasoning then put it in one whole wheat, high fiber wrap (only 100 calories and it's huge!) then I smothered it with black beans and canned corn. Then, since I stopped buying shredded or block cheese (it always got moldy before I could finish it)I shredded and cut up a light string cheese and topped it all with hot sauce. Grilled that on the George Forman for about 10-15 mins then I was done! I ate it with salsa and it was awesome and filling.
Meatless Monday= Success!
A huge shout out to my Grandma (who is very computer savvy) and my Aunt Jean (you are too!) for sending me the most amazing care package today!! This may be the best one to date! Peanut M&Ms are my favorite and with this cold I got the chicken noodle soup will be perfect tomorrow :) You two are the best, I love you!!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Food Budget Update
Part of the reason I wanted to keep up the blog about my food budget is so I would stick to it. Accountability will hopefully act as a motivator!
I worked more hours than usual this week so my eating has suffered. We had a lot of extra pizza at work so I ate Domino's like three days last week. Can't turn down free meals!
But I also made a huge portion of a pasta dish that lasted for about a week. All I did was make a box of penne whole wheat pasta and I added cooked broccoli, onions, zucchini, and squash. I melted some laughing cow cheese in there and then added pasta sauce. I used a ton of spices- basil, garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano.
So this weeks grocery shopping consisted of this-
Target- Salsa- $2.00 (don't take ebt cards)
Costco- 4 pack of Healthy Choice Frozen Meals - $6.02 after my coupons (also don't take ebt cards, so sad)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bi-Lo
Thomas multi grain, 2 for $5.00
Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream -$1.85- It was on sale, I couldn't say no
Spinach - $1.97
Total- $8.81 which leaves me with $6.44 till the end of the month.
I worked more hours than usual this week so my eating has suffered. We had a lot of extra pizza at work so I ate Domino's like three days last week. Can't turn down free meals!
But I also made a huge portion of a pasta dish that lasted for about a week. All I did was make a box of penne whole wheat pasta and I added cooked broccoli, onions, zucchini, and squash. I melted some laughing cow cheese in there and then added pasta sauce. I used a ton of spices- basil, garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano.
So this weeks grocery shopping consisted of this-
Target- Salsa- $2.00 (don't take ebt cards)
Costco- 4 pack of Healthy Choice Frozen Meals - $6.02 after my coupons (also don't take ebt cards, so sad)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bi-Lo
Thomas multi grain, 2 for $5.00
Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream -$1.85- It was on sale, I couldn't say no
Spinach - $1.97
Total- $8.81 which leaves me with $6.44 till the end of the month.
Here comes the sun
Well, it's been sort of a rough week. First I had to take my car in the shop, then my computer caught a nasty virus, my Youth Service Day didn't quite go as planned, and this morning I woke up with a sore throat. Oh, life. But, even though there's a thunderstorm outside right now, I feel like things are clearing up. My car was fixed in an hour and I successfully removed the virus from my computer! phew!
Yesterday I had a group of about 25 students sign up to do a neighborhood beautification project. Basically, I put the students in small groups and divided the students between ones that would pick up trash and ones that would collect recycling. We did this for three hours in the rain!! A HUGE shout out to my roommate Michelle and my friends Kelly and Joe for helping out, I could not have done it without them! In the end it was successful in that we collected a ton of garbage and that felt good because these kids don't deserve to live in a place that's completely trashed. I can't even tell you how many beer and liquor bottles we picked up from the play ground. Completely appalling.
The only real bad part came after at the "post event." The local High School hosted a bbq after that had local DJs, games, face painting and burgers/hot dogs. The Major spoke as well. There must have been something in the air. My kids were getting into fist fights everywhere I turned! I'll spare you the details because they are so mundane. It was just a huge damper on what could have been an otherwise great day. Anyway, here are some pictures-
A group picture of everyone
Michelle working hard
Eccence and Me
Yesterday I had a group of about 25 students sign up to do a neighborhood beautification project. Basically, I put the students in small groups and divided the students between ones that would pick up trash and ones that would collect recycling. We did this for three hours in the rain!! A HUGE shout out to my roommate Michelle and my friends Kelly and Joe for helping out, I could not have done it without them! In the end it was successful in that we collected a ton of garbage and that felt good because these kids don't deserve to live in a place that's completely trashed. I can't even tell you how many beer and liquor bottles we picked up from the play ground. Completely appalling.
The only real bad part came after at the "post event." The local High School hosted a bbq after that had local DJs, games, face painting and burgers/hot dogs. The Major spoke as well. There must have been something in the air. My kids were getting into fist fights everywhere I turned! I'll spare you the details because they are so mundane. It was just a huge damper on what could have been an otherwise great day. Anyway, here are some pictures-
A group picture of everyone
Michelle working hard
Eccence and Me
Sunday, April 18, 2010
No more Miss Nice girl
Most people would say that I am a really nice girl. And I am. But the other day I made my first student cry.
Now I am no expert, but I've come to learn that in general, children respond to being disciplined differently. There are some students who need to be yelled at, while if you try to yell at certain kids, it will have the opposite effects. I think this distinction is even more important for "at risk youth"
Luckily, with my role in the school, I can pretty much avoid being the disciplinary. Though I've had to discipline kids for the recycling team and also for acting out on their mentor, I mostly see them outside the classroom so it's never really my place to scold them. However, the times I have had to, I really try to be gentle with the kids. I almost always give them the benefit of the doubt and try to treat them with respect, and find that effective because many of them aren't treated with respect outside of the school.
Anyway, so this marking period I have front hall duty. Basically the staff in the school who don't have classes are in charge of greeting the students in the morning when they first arrive. My job is to stand at the top of the stairs and make sure the kids are walking on the right side of the hallway. Usually I spend this still half asleep trying to drink coffee as fast as I can. There's another woman who does this at the bottom of the stairs who I call Chief because she is an Ex Military woman who still thinks she is a colonel and the kids are cadets. I've seen Chief make at least 10 kids cry because she will SCREAM at them to get on the right side of the hallway and pretty much berate them. It usually ends in them coming to me all teary eyed and me hugging them telling them it's ok.
So this is a pretty average morning. I'm standing on top of the stairs and while my back is turned, one of my favorite 2nd graders, Zapporiah, sneaks past me in the hallway. So I call her
Me- "Zapporiah, come back sweetie, you went up the wrong way"
- she keeps walking-
Me- "ZAPPORIAH, you have to come back and walk back down the stairs and go up the right way please"
-Nothing-
So I walk down the hallway and tell her she has to come back and do it the right way. At this point I really don't care that much but I feel like out of principle, she just has to do it.
Zapporiah- "SHUT UP, NO"
Now I have had my full cup of coffee yet. I'm cranky and I don't like to be yelled at.
Me- "Zapporiah, please don't yell at me, you know the rules. You have to go back and walk up the right way"
Zapporiah- WAILS, Then like a flood she is hysterically crying so hard, "Miss Erin, wah wah wah, Miss Erin wah I- wah wah- I just DON'T WANT TO, MISS ERIN I JUST DONT WANT TO"
Me- "Sweetie, calm down, it's really not that big of a deal"
Zapporiah-"IT IS A BIG DEAL, IT'S THE BIGGEST DEAL"
This was like a dagger to my heart. This poor little girl is so upset about something I'm making her do and I really don't care about. It took everything in me to not just tell her not to worry about it because it really was not worth her starting her day so upset. In the end, I knew I couldn't back down after that and we basically sat there for ten minutes before she got up the strength to walk down the right side of the stairs and back up the right side.
Maybe I'm not as big of a softie as I thought.
Now I am no expert, but I've come to learn that in general, children respond to being disciplined differently. There are some students who need to be yelled at, while if you try to yell at certain kids, it will have the opposite effects. I think this distinction is even more important for "at risk youth"
Luckily, with my role in the school, I can pretty much avoid being the disciplinary. Though I've had to discipline kids for the recycling team and also for acting out on their mentor, I mostly see them outside the classroom so it's never really my place to scold them. However, the times I have had to, I really try to be gentle with the kids. I almost always give them the benefit of the doubt and try to treat them with respect, and find that effective because many of them aren't treated with respect outside of the school.
Anyway, so this marking period I have front hall duty. Basically the staff in the school who don't have classes are in charge of greeting the students in the morning when they first arrive. My job is to stand at the top of the stairs and make sure the kids are walking on the right side of the hallway. Usually I spend this still half asleep trying to drink coffee as fast as I can. There's another woman who does this at the bottom of the stairs who I call Chief because she is an Ex Military woman who still thinks she is a colonel and the kids are cadets. I've seen Chief make at least 10 kids cry because she will SCREAM at them to get on the right side of the hallway and pretty much berate them. It usually ends in them coming to me all teary eyed and me hugging them telling them it's ok.
So this is a pretty average morning. I'm standing on top of the stairs and while my back is turned, one of my favorite 2nd graders, Zapporiah, sneaks past me in the hallway. So I call her
Me- "Zapporiah, come back sweetie, you went up the wrong way"
- she keeps walking-
Me- "ZAPPORIAH, you have to come back and walk back down the stairs and go up the right way please"
-Nothing-
So I walk down the hallway and tell her she has to come back and do it the right way. At this point I really don't care that much but I feel like out of principle, she just has to do it.
Zapporiah- "SHUT UP, NO"
Now I have had my full cup of coffee yet. I'm cranky and I don't like to be yelled at.
Me- "Zapporiah, please don't yell at me, you know the rules. You have to go back and walk up the right way"
Zapporiah- WAILS, Then like a flood she is hysterically crying so hard, "Miss Erin, wah wah wah, Miss Erin wah I- wah wah- I just DON'T WANT TO, MISS ERIN I JUST DONT WANT TO"
Me- "Sweetie, calm down, it's really not that big of a deal"
Zapporiah-"IT IS A BIG DEAL, IT'S THE BIGGEST DEAL"
This was like a dagger to my heart. This poor little girl is so upset about something I'm making her do and I really don't care about. It took everything in me to not just tell her not to worry about it because it really was not worth her starting her day so upset. In the end, I knew I couldn't back down after that and we basically sat there for ten minutes before she got up the strength to walk down the right side of the stairs and back up the right side.
Maybe I'm not as big of a softie as I thought.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
93.3 JAMMZZZ
After being so stagnant in my writing, I'm really trying to update this more regularly.
Katy (the most awesome mentor in the entire world) and I have been trying to start a new mentor program at the school. We are a communications magnet, so it made sense to expand the relationships with our business partners in the communications field and to also gain new ones.
So we devised a program where professionals in the communications field (journalists, tv anchors, radio personalities, etc) could come in and work with a group of students to produce some kind of advertisement for a local non-profit, thus making it a service learning mentoring program (sounds fancy, huh?)
Well, like many projects, it hit a few bumps in the road. Even I was wondering who we could get to come into the school in the middle of the day to work with these students. Where would they find the time? Would they even care about a school with in a neighborhood like ours? The questions went on. But Katy sincerely has the most "we can do this" attitude of maybe anyone I know. While I sit there stressing about the big picture "where to begin? " "How will this ever get done?" She's already ten steps ahead of me taking care of the details and organizing a plan to execute this. It's very helpful to me working with someone who can focus on the step by step process of things because I tend to see the big picture without taking time to consider details. We make a good team.
So long story short, the program started on Tuesday and it went better than I could have imagined. We had someone from the local newspaper, someone in the advertising business, someone from the local news station, and two local DJs from the students favorite "hip hop" radio station 93.3.
That's right, Charleston's very own "Baby J and Tessa" from the 93.3 JAMZ morning show. You would have thought that we got Jay Z and Mary J Blige. The kids went nuts. They couldn't believe these celebrities that they listen to every day on the radio took time to come hang out with them. They had a group of three students and helped them produce a radio PSA for mentoring. The kids took turns saying what their mentors mean to them and then they Tessa and Baby J's voice saying how cool mentoring was. As mentor coordinator, I was so touched by the entire thing. It's so important for kids to have mentors, but these were real people that they look up to and think are really cool. I even heard "Ronald" a kid I had to kick out of the Recycling Team for bad behavior ask them how to be DJS and Baby J told him he was an English Major in College and Ronald was all wide eyed and like "YOU went to college?" And Baby J goes "Of course I did, and you can too"
You can't make this stuff up.
Katy (the most awesome mentor in the entire world) and I have been trying to start a new mentor program at the school. We are a communications magnet, so it made sense to expand the relationships with our business partners in the communications field and to also gain new ones.
So we devised a program where professionals in the communications field (journalists, tv anchors, radio personalities, etc) could come in and work with a group of students to produce some kind of advertisement for a local non-profit, thus making it a service learning mentoring program (sounds fancy, huh?)
Well, like many projects, it hit a few bumps in the road. Even I was wondering who we could get to come into the school in the middle of the day to work with these students. Where would they find the time? Would they even care about a school with in a neighborhood like ours? The questions went on. But Katy sincerely has the most "we can do this" attitude of maybe anyone I know. While I sit there stressing about the big picture "where to begin? " "How will this ever get done?" She's already ten steps ahead of me taking care of the details and organizing a plan to execute this. It's very helpful to me working with someone who can focus on the step by step process of things because I tend to see the big picture without taking time to consider details. We make a good team.
So long story short, the program started on Tuesday and it went better than I could have imagined. We had someone from the local newspaper, someone in the advertising business, someone from the local news station, and two local DJs from the students favorite "hip hop" radio station 93.3.
That's right, Charleston's very own "Baby J and Tessa" from the 93.3 JAMZ morning show. You would have thought that we got Jay Z and Mary J Blige. The kids went nuts. They couldn't believe these celebrities that they listen to every day on the radio took time to come hang out with them. They had a group of three students and helped them produce a radio PSA for mentoring. The kids took turns saying what their mentors mean to them and then they Tessa and Baby J's voice saying how cool mentoring was. As mentor coordinator, I was so touched by the entire thing. It's so important for kids to have mentors, but these were real people that they look up to and think are really cool. I even heard "Ronald" a kid I had to kick out of the Recycling Team for bad behavior ask them how to be DJS and Baby J told him he was an English Major in College and Ronald was all wide eyed and like "YOU went to college?" And Baby J goes "Of course I did, and you can too"
You can't make this stuff up.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Army Wives
As many of you know, they tape the show "Army Wives" In my neighborhood. I've never seen the show, but I know some people who enjoy it. And now my mom watches it! They have been taping every day for the last three or so months. So who knows, maybe I'll be seen driving or jogging in the background ;) It's on Lifetime at 10 and it started this week. I don't know if I'll be able to stay up late enough to catch it, but I will try!
I also thought this was kinda cool - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q_x3i6MPrs
a youtube video of the set- I wish it were a little better but if you start at 2:26, it's a house identical to mine and it shows some of the other houses on base.
I also thought this was kinda cool - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q_x3i6MPrs
a youtube video of the set- I wish it were a little better but if you start at 2:26, it's a house identical to mine and it shows some of the other houses on base.
A different kind of post
It has come to my attention that the amount that I spend on groceries and daily life expenses is absurdly cheap. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I had been naïve and didn’t know that I was living at a much lower cost of living than just about everyone that I know (outside of my AmeriCorps friends) It’s just that sometimes I don’t realize just how little I live off of until I step outside my little North Charleston bubble or speak to my friends and family about it.
Let me supplement this by saying that living like this would not be possible if it weren’t for the HUGE amount of help I get from my family. They really help me out A LOT. I am eternally grateful for the amount of financial assistance I get from my family, and one day when I make it big ,you will all have fancy cars and vacation in the tropics like rock stars.
I know it’s sort of “tacky” (Your word, Mom) to say how much you make, pay for rent, etc, I know that no one reads this except for my family and friends, and I’m sort of an open book when it comes to these things anyway. Plus, most of this stuff (like my stipend) is public knowledge.
Though I do live off of a stipend of around $10,000 a year, I hardly have any real expenses.
Things that my family covers: Over half of my cell phone bill, car insurance, and recently, my gas
Things that the government covers: $29/a month in food, my utilities
My expenses: $250/rent, $30/a month in cable and internet, $30/ a month cell phone bill
A huge part of the “AmeriCorps experience” is living well below the poverty line. I knew this signing up, and in all honestly, it was sort of appealing. I love a challenge and approached it with a “bring it on” attitude. I think one of my best skills is living frugally without appearing to do so. And honestly, I think I do a pretty darn good job of this.
Another huge thing that my family has helped me out with that I did not mention up there, is food. When I drove down here, my parents stocked me up with a TON of non perishable food items. And since I am normally cooking just for myself, I have been able to preserve a lot of it. Examples: Rice, beans, soup, tuna fish, nuts, cereal, popcorn, canned vegetables, peanut butter, etc.
I should also mention that I am really into exercise and nutrition. Although I am not trained at all ( I took one class at Community College ) I am constantly reading about proper nutrition and ways to get it. One of my main concerns with my extreme budgeting is lack of protein. See, a huge way that I cut down on my grocery expense is to eat less meat. It’s not too challenging for me to do this because I really don’t love meat that much. In particular, red meat. I have more or less given up red meat, save some special occasions. It is expensive and not too healthy, especially as a woman. But like I said, it is easy for me to do this because I don’t love it. In general, I still eat chicken and turkey, because I like the way those taste more and they are less expensive and more lean.There are some unhealthy foods that I love and refuse to give up. I can afford to do this because of how active I am and because I have a relatively good metabolism (another thing to thank my family for!) Although I fluctuate between about 5-10lbs, I always maintain a healthy weight. In general I also try to be disciplined during the week and kinda let myself do whatever I want on the weekends.
This is less about losing weight and more about staying on tasks. Like a machine, I feel like a better and more productive person when everything is in line. I feel that eating healthy is directly associated with my being more on task at work, spending less money, and getting enough exercise, which in turns makes me less stressed on a number of levels. When one of those factors is up to par it is easier for me to maintain all of them. However, without letting myself go on the weekends and vacations and special occasions, I would totally go off track all the time.
So in essence, eating well and saving money go hand in hand for me, which is why I’m discussing both of these in the blog.
Protein: My biggest challenge. My sources of protein usually come from the following foods:
Eggs- I eat a lot of eggs. I prefer egg whites or egg beaters, but these are usually more expensive than just eggs, so I only buy those if they are on sale.
Nuts- I love nuts. I eat a handful of almonds every day at work for energy as one of my snacks. My Aunt Jean sends me huge Costco bags of almonds, so that is a huge help! I also put nuts in Oatmeal, salad and even pasta sometimes. I also eat a lot of peanut butter.
Canned Tuna- Inexpensive and healthy
Fish- Salmon and Shrimp are my favorites.
*When my mom visited in January she took me grocery shopping and bought me a lot of frozen goodies, including Salmon, Shrimp, and Turkey Burgers. Again, an enormous help
Cheese- I like cheese, but, it’s something I tend to stay away from. It’s just so much fat and honestly it is not that cheap and hard to buy for one person because I never finish it fast enough to keep it from going moldy. And I really hate to have to throw away food because it goes bad. One form of cheese I do eat almost every day is string cheese. It forces me to eat slowly because I peel it (which is good for me because I tend to eat too fast sometimes) and the protein helps me stay alert at work. The other cheese I eat a lot is laughing cow cheese wedges. They taste more like cream cheese than real cheese but they are so good and only about 35 calories.
Dairy Products- Fortunately, I get free milk and yogurt at work. There’s always left overs from breakfast or lunch and since it goes bad quickly, there are always a ton extra lying around. Yes, it forces me to put individual milk cartons in my fridge and work with that but it’s ok. The yogurt is from the free lunch that all my students qualify for, and is sort of disappointing because it is not the most nutritionally dense yogurt (How upset I get about the nutrient value of school lunch is an entire other subject) But for me it’s free, so I still eat it. It’s also a good snack.
One thing I could never stop eating is Carbohydrates, which is good because as someone who is very active like me, that would be dangerous.
Bread- I try to only eat 100% whole wheat bread. I also like weight watchers wheat bread and sara lee 40 calorie bread. When I get coupons for the sandwich thins I will buy those, but they are not my favorite. My favorite bread is the Thomas English Muffin High Fiber bread. They are only 100 calories and have like 8 grams of fiber. I’ll eat these for breakfast with an egg or peanut butter and I can usually stay full till snack time. (ugh sorry I work in an Elementary School, I talk like an Elementary School child sometimes...)
Pasta- I really don’t love pasta. It’s kinda bland to me for all the calories it gives you. However, pasta is cheap, versatile and easy to prepare so I will eat it. I only eat whole wheat pasta and I will usually make it with as many vegetables as I have lying around, olive oil, a bunch of spices and maybe some tomato sauce.
Brown Rice/ Whole Wheat CousCous- I love both of these.
Potato- Call me simple, but potato’s are my favorite food in the world. Mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, home fries, french fries… so good. I eat a lot of baked potatoes where I’ll usually put some salsa on it, a laughing cow cheese wedge, black beans and whatever veggies I have lying around.
Vegetables- I am blessed to love vegetables. All vegetables. I love salads, but again, preparing for one person is hard because vegetables go bad quickly. So typically, I will try to buy canned or frozen vegetables although I prefer fresh veggies. I always try to have at least one raw veggie on hand for snacks at work- carrot sticks, celery, broccoli, cauliflower. I always have canned corn, tomatoes and peas on hand because those are my favorites. I love onions and they add flavor for a very little cost. I try to get whatever is in season from the farmer’s market because it’s so fresh, and I also try to support local businesses whenever I can.
Fruit- I really try to like fruit, but it’s harder for me. I really don’t have a taste for berries or melons. So what I typically do is buy either apples, oranges or grapes (whatever is on sale) and try to have that stretch for at least two weeks to bring for snacks at work.
It is really important to me to try to still eat fresh foods even on a tight budget. That being said, I mix it up with packaged foods for cost efficient reasons, and because sometimes I am just busy or lazy and don’t have time to prepare food.
Also, I try to stick to the “5 small meals a day” diet. I like to constantly eat rather than eating three big meals. Big meals make me tired and I have a sensitive stomach so the smaller meals are easier on my digestive system.
So I will use today as an example of what I eat on a typical day. For breakfast I had a whole wheat English muffin with half peanut butter and half laughing cow cheese wedge. Then about halfway between breakfast and lunch I had a handful of almonds. I was feeling more tired than usual, so I made sure I had three huge glasses of water before lunch. At lunch I had a pasta Lean Cuisine, some carrot sticks, and a fun sized M&Ms packet. My friend from work remembered that I told her I liked pistachios and gave me a huge bag of them. So I munched on those throughout the day too. Then about an hour before school was done I had an orange. I went grocery shopping after work. After shopping I was tired so I had a 100 calorie bag of popcorn and 2 Hershey kisses from easter before I played tennis. I played tennis for an hour and a half with a local tennis league, came home and had 2 scrambled eggs with broccoli, onions and hot sauce. Then I had a handful of special K chocolate Cereal. Not exactly gourmet, but it was good enough. All day I drink water, water with lemon, crystal light, or unsweetened ice tea. I have 2-3 cups of coffee every day and occasionally will have a glass of wine or beer with dinner. I completely stopped drinking soda and juice.
That’s what a typical Monday-Thursday more or less looks like.
Now on to my original plan, to show you how I limit it to $29 a month on food. I first want to point out that I only get $29 a month from the government. I have enough money saved that I can spend more, but I don’t want to. I like the challenge of keeping to the $29, and with a little help from my family, it is possible. Sometimes I do spend more than $29, but with an oil change and a hair cut throwing some unaccounted expenses into my budget this month, that is not going to happen.
So here are the groceries I bought for the week:
First I went to Bi-Lo. There I got:
Broccoli which was on sale for $1.99 (it is huge)
Grapes on sale for $3.42 (2.7 lb bag)
Total: $5.41
Then I went to Publix
Special K granola was Buy One Get One ( I can bring this for breakfast) so I got two at $2.00 each- $4.00
Zucchini sale- 1 lb for 99 cents
Cottage Cheese (Cheap protein) - BYGO- $2 each- $4.00 total
Total: $8.76
This leaves me $16.15 for the rest of the month
Yeah it's annoying to go to a bunch of different grocery stores. Every week I look at all the weekly ads online and map out where I need to go to get what. Luckily, there's three grocery stores (Bi-lo, Publix, Piggly Wiggly) in the same area so it's not too hard. I usually only buy what is on sale. All the above stuff was on sale.
Other Sites I use on a daily basis:
http://print.coupons.com/CouponWeb/Offers.aspx?pid=13306&zid=iq37&nid=10 - for this site you have to download a coupon printing application, but it's very easy. And they are manufacturers coupons, and Bi-Lo will double them so it's even better savings!
http://www.commonsensewithmoney.com/ Awesome blog for living frugal
Recipes-
www.hungrygirl.com - I have a minor obsession with hungry girl. I've been reading her blog every day since High School. I love her.
http://greenlitebites.com/ - I like the woman who writes this. Especially because she's always trying to save money too.
www.weightwatchers.com - Good recipes for real people who don't like a lot of fat
Well that's it. I don't know if this will be a normal kind of post, but I had fun writing it. I'm always open for suggestions and recommendations.
Let me supplement this by saying that living like this would not be possible if it weren’t for the HUGE amount of help I get from my family. They really help me out A LOT. I am eternally grateful for the amount of financial assistance I get from my family, and one day when I make it big ,you will all have fancy cars and vacation in the tropics like rock stars.
I know it’s sort of “tacky” (Your word, Mom) to say how much you make, pay for rent, etc, I know that no one reads this except for my family and friends, and I’m sort of an open book when it comes to these things anyway. Plus, most of this stuff (like my stipend) is public knowledge.
Though I do live off of a stipend of around $10,000 a year, I hardly have any real expenses.
Things that my family covers: Over half of my cell phone bill, car insurance, and recently, my gas
Things that the government covers: $29/a month in food, my utilities
My expenses: $250/rent, $30/a month in cable and internet, $30/ a month cell phone bill
A huge part of the “AmeriCorps experience” is living well below the poverty line. I knew this signing up, and in all honestly, it was sort of appealing. I love a challenge and approached it with a “bring it on” attitude. I think one of my best skills is living frugally without appearing to do so. And honestly, I think I do a pretty darn good job of this.
Another huge thing that my family has helped me out with that I did not mention up there, is food. When I drove down here, my parents stocked me up with a TON of non perishable food items. And since I am normally cooking just for myself, I have been able to preserve a lot of it. Examples: Rice, beans, soup, tuna fish, nuts, cereal, popcorn, canned vegetables, peanut butter, etc.
I should also mention that I am really into exercise and nutrition. Although I am not trained at all ( I took one class at Community College ) I am constantly reading about proper nutrition and ways to get it. One of my main concerns with my extreme budgeting is lack of protein. See, a huge way that I cut down on my grocery expense is to eat less meat. It’s not too challenging for me to do this because I really don’t love meat that much. In particular, red meat. I have more or less given up red meat, save some special occasions. It is expensive and not too healthy, especially as a woman. But like I said, it is easy for me to do this because I don’t love it. In general, I still eat chicken and turkey, because I like the way those taste more and they are less expensive and more lean.There are some unhealthy foods that I love and refuse to give up. I can afford to do this because of how active I am and because I have a relatively good metabolism (another thing to thank my family for!) Although I fluctuate between about 5-10lbs, I always maintain a healthy weight. In general I also try to be disciplined during the week and kinda let myself do whatever I want on the weekends.
This is less about losing weight and more about staying on tasks. Like a machine, I feel like a better and more productive person when everything is in line. I feel that eating healthy is directly associated with my being more on task at work, spending less money, and getting enough exercise, which in turns makes me less stressed on a number of levels. When one of those factors is up to par it is easier for me to maintain all of them. However, without letting myself go on the weekends and vacations and special occasions, I would totally go off track all the time.
So in essence, eating well and saving money go hand in hand for me, which is why I’m discussing both of these in the blog.
Protein: My biggest challenge. My sources of protein usually come from the following foods:
Eggs- I eat a lot of eggs. I prefer egg whites or egg beaters, but these are usually more expensive than just eggs, so I only buy those if they are on sale.
Nuts- I love nuts. I eat a handful of almonds every day at work for energy as one of my snacks. My Aunt Jean sends me huge Costco bags of almonds, so that is a huge help! I also put nuts in Oatmeal, salad and even pasta sometimes. I also eat a lot of peanut butter.
Canned Tuna- Inexpensive and healthy
Fish- Salmon and Shrimp are my favorites.
*When my mom visited in January she took me grocery shopping and bought me a lot of frozen goodies, including Salmon, Shrimp, and Turkey Burgers. Again, an enormous help
Cheese- I like cheese, but, it’s something I tend to stay away from. It’s just so much fat and honestly it is not that cheap and hard to buy for one person because I never finish it fast enough to keep it from going moldy. And I really hate to have to throw away food because it goes bad. One form of cheese I do eat almost every day is string cheese. It forces me to eat slowly because I peel it (which is good for me because I tend to eat too fast sometimes) and the protein helps me stay alert at work. The other cheese I eat a lot is laughing cow cheese wedges. They taste more like cream cheese than real cheese but they are so good and only about 35 calories.
Dairy Products- Fortunately, I get free milk and yogurt at work. There’s always left overs from breakfast or lunch and since it goes bad quickly, there are always a ton extra lying around. Yes, it forces me to put individual milk cartons in my fridge and work with that but it’s ok. The yogurt is from the free lunch that all my students qualify for, and is sort of disappointing because it is not the most nutritionally dense yogurt (How upset I get about the nutrient value of school lunch is an entire other subject) But for me it’s free, so I still eat it. It’s also a good snack.
One thing I could never stop eating is Carbohydrates, which is good because as someone who is very active like me, that would be dangerous.
Bread- I try to only eat 100% whole wheat bread. I also like weight watchers wheat bread and sara lee 40 calorie bread. When I get coupons for the sandwich thins I will buy those, but they are not my favorite. My favorite bread is the Thomas English Muffin High Fiber bread. They are only 100 calories and have like 8 grams of fiber. I’ll eat these for breakfast with an egg or peanut butter and I can usually stay full till snack time. (ugh sorry I work in an Elementary School, I talk like an Elementary School child sometimes...)
Pasta- I really don’t love pasta. It’s kinda bland to me for all the calories it gives you. However, pasta is cheap, versatile and easy to prepare so I will eat it. I only eat whole wheat pasta and I will usually make it with as many vegetables as I have lying around, olive oil, a bunch of spices and maybe some tomato sauce.
Brown Rice/ Whole Wheat CousCous- I love both of these.
Potato- Call me simple, but potato’s are my favorite food in the world. Mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, home fries, french fries… so good. I eat a lot of baked potatoes where I’ll usually put some salsa on it, a laughing cow cheese wedge, black beans and whatever veggies I have lying around.
Vegetables- I am blessed to love vegetables. All vegetables. I love salads, but again, preparing for one person is hard because vegetables go bad quickly. So typically, I will try to buy canned or frozen vegetables although I prefer fresh veggies. I always try to have at least one raw veggie on hand for snacks at work- carrot sticks, celery, broccoli, cauliflower. I always have canned corn, tomatoes and peas on hand because those are my favorites. I love onions and they add flavor for a very little cost. I try to get whatever is in season from the farmer’s market because it’s so fresh, and I also try to support local businesses whenever I can.
Fruit- I really try to like fruit, but it’s harder for me. I really don’t have a taste for berries or melons. So what I typically do is buy either apples, oranges or grapes (whatever is on sale) and try to have that stretch for at least two weeks to bring for snacks at work.
It is really important to me to try to still eat fresh foods even on a tight budget. That being said, I mix it up with packaged foods for cost efficient reasons, and because sometimes I am just busy or lazy and don’t have time to prepare food.
Also, I try to stick to the “5 small meals a day” diet. I like to constantly eat rather than eating three big meals. Big meals make me tired and I have a sensitive stomach so the smaller meals are easier on my digestive system.
So I will use today as an example of what I eat on a typical day. For breakfast I had a whole wheat English muffin with half peanut butter and half laughing cow cheese wedge. Then about halfway between breakfast and lunch I had a handful of almonds. I was feeling more tired than usual, so I made sure I had three huge glasses of water before lunch. At lunch I had a pasta Lean Cuisine, some carrot sticks, and a fun sized M&Ms packet. My friend from work remembered that I told her I liked pistachios and gave me a huge bag of them. So I munched on those throughout the day too. Then about an hour before school was done I had an orange. I went grocery shopping after work. After shopping I was tired so I had a 100 calorie bag of popcorn and 2 Hershey kisses from easter before I played tennis. I played tennis for an hour and a half with a local tennis league, came home and had 2 scrambled eggs with broccoli, onions and hot sauce. Then I had a handful of special K chocolate Cereal. Not exactly gourmet, but it was good enough. All day I drink water, water with lemon, crystal light, or unsweetened ice tea. I have 2-3 cups of coffee every day and occasionally will have a glass of wine or beer with dinner. I completely stopped drinking soda and juice.
That’s what a typical Monday-Thursday more or less looks like.
Now on to my original plan, to show you how I limit it to $29 a month on food. I first want to point out that I only get $29 a month from the government. I have enough money saved that I can spend more, but I don’t want to. I like the challenge of keeping to the $29, and with a little help from my family, it is possible. Sometimes I do spend more than $29, but with an oil change and a hair cut throwing some unaccounted expenses into my budget this month, that is not going to happen.
So here are the groceries I bought for the week:
First I went to Bi-Lo. There I got:
Broccoli which was on sale for $1.99 (it is huge)
Grapes on sale for $3.42 (2.7 lb bag)
Total: $5.41
Then I went to Publix
Special K granola was Buy One Get One ( I can bring this for breakfast) so I got two at $2.00 each- $4.00
Zucchini sale- 1 lb for 99 cents
Cottage Cheese (Cheap protein) - BYGO- $2 each- $4.00 total
Total: $8.76
This leaves me $16.15 for the rest of the month
Yeah it's annoying to go to a bunch of different grocery stores. Every week I look at all the weekly ads online and map out where I need to go to get what. Luckily, there's three grocery stores (Bi-lo, Publix, Piggly Wiggly) in the same area so it's not too hard. I usually only buy what is on sale. All the above stuff was on sale.
Other Sites I use on a daily basis:
http://print.coupons.com/CouponWeb/Offers.aspx?pid=13306&zid=iq37&nid=10 - for this site you have to download a coupon printing application, but it's very easy. And they are manufacturers coupons, and Bi-Lo will double them so it's even better savings!
http://www.commonsensewithmoney.com/ Awesome blog for living frugal
Recipes-
www.hungrygirl.com - I have a minor obsession with hungry girl. I've been reading her blog every day since High School. I love her.
http://greenlitebites.com/ - I like the woman who writes this. Especially because she's always trying to save money too.
www.weightwatchers.com - Good recipes for real people who don't like a lot of fat
Well that's it. I don't know if this will be a normal kind of post, but I had fun writing it. I'm always open for suggestions and recommendations.
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