Money Diet Fail

You know those nights, where it is 11pm and you're starving and the only thing in the fridge is Greek yogurt or Hormel pepperoni?

This was me last night - I'm starrrrving!  I want cheeeeeese!  I tried microwaving some frozen veggies, but without cream cheese or provel cheese or any meat to be had in the house (hmm didn't consider frozen veggies and pepperoni. . . maybe next night of desperation).  I didn't have time to run to the grocery store before it closed because of an assignment I had put off which was due at midnight.  And let's be honest, I didn't feel like going back in the car and out. 

Soooo I ordered a pizza.  and not any discount pizza.  name-brand-$15-bc-I-like-multiple-toppings pizza.   Proud of myself for not getting the 2 liter soda to go along with it.  So angry with myself for such a lame move.  

I really do not have this whole eating on a budget idea down.  Know that I make terrible decisions when underfed.  Need guru.  And need to crave yogurt before it goes bad.  I'm thinking yogurt for lunch tomorrow!  With a side of pepperoni.  Get psyched tastebuds, it's gonna be interesting.

At least I have some leftover pizza for tonight ;)

Eggs and Eggs

Some of my negative feelings are stemming from the fact that I am a) poor b) lumpy.

Seriously, have a credit card problem.  Spent $455.81 in the last few weeks.  Legitimate trips to the grocery store?  Gasoline?  sure.  but also going out and dining out, and not letting boyfriend spoil me when we go out with my family (pride? or just not the same as a date?  not sure but has a negative impact on my financial health.  no more wine bars, MOM!)

Seriously, have a physical fitness/appearance problem.  Was photographed in a t-shirt and workout shorts on mother's day.  Wearing a fitted shirt today.  Serious lumps/rolls/extra flesh I don't want underneath revealed by photos and even the mirror!

So, how do I keep eating?  Bc food is costly AND necessary.  So eggs it is.  I already have about 2 dozen (bc of an easter miscommunication).  Can a girl be malnourished if eggs become her protein for every single meal for 2 weeks?  Or will my body simply eat my fat as hoped for?  and my credit card balances not rise?

I can get creative with canned tuna and tomatoes and other veggies.  Also, I have 4 different types of cheese in my fridge (mostly processed enough to never spoil  oops). 

Soo . . . . challenge accepted!!

Cooking out of the pantry

Saving money success!  I have a friend staying with me for the next 10 days or so, and she is encouraging with the whole "let's have food at home and save money and eat healthier"  (Except she pulls out Hershey's bars after dinner for us to share for dessert!!!) 

She noticed that I had 2 cans of garbanzo beans AKA chickpeas in my pantry and said something about making hummus. . . since I don't have a food processor, I looked for a recipe online that could use them whole and found this amaaaaazing vegetarian dish!

http://www.food.com/recipe/chickpeas-with-spinach-greek-81968

We made it last night, after I worked until 7:30 and it was easy peasy.  The hardest part was dicing the onion and then sauteeing it without burning the garlic - I have the tendency to want to use high heat.  After that, I just threw in the rest of the ingredients and watched tv while the flavors mingled . . .

So, had the chickpeas, had the frozen spinach, had garlic and red pepper flakes, and spices (made it without paprika bc I don't know where that ran off to) . . purchased lemons and tomatoes and onions and FETA to make it awesome! so overall, spent approximately $7 more dollars on the meal.  And have just had the leftovers for lunch, and will have enough to eat it again tomorrow and Friday . . . if I don't offer any to my office mates. 

I feel good about eating the veggies and VERY GOOD about the fact that I have at least 3 meals out of this delicious, fairly nutritious, and cheap/already paid for meal.  If you love mediterranean flavors, make this food now!  sooooo good!

I plan on viewing this as positive news

I've been doing a fairly good job of sticking to just using my debit card for purchases the past month.  For the entire month of February, I put most of my fast food meals and caffeinated beverages on the one account - sticking to a cash basis for to prevent massive interest on massive credit cards.

A good idea, especially since I can add up all the expenditures easily from one, wait, two, oh, FOUR screens of transactions?!?  My purchases of less than $10 at a time came all the way up to $184.85.  This does not include gas or food bought at grocery stores (bc those are necessary-est).  So the 1.74 at the gas station for a soda and chips, the 7.78 at Starbucks for Coffee and yummy egg sandwich, they add up. 

So the good news is, I can save at LEAST $100 a month by buying cheaper items at the grocery store to feed myself!  Excellent news!  Bc a full carton of 18 eggs is 2.50ish and that can last me for 9 breakfasts!

Go to it, superwoman!  Make your own d**n breakfast!  Side bonus: potential weight loss from cutting out nasty salt and extra fats (that make take-out/fast food so delish)

Feb is an ideal month bc it is an even four weeks - my average weekly extra spending was $46.21.  Uhm, that is kind of sickening.  I don't like it, so please hold my hand while I change my lifestyle up a bit.

Final thought - elimination of one of my student loan payments has left me with $280 dollars of cushion in my bank account!  I will decide what to best do with cushion.  Most likely, I will pay it towards the 29% credit card. . .

Mooching and Dating

Good meals are something I really look forward to.  I'm also feeling emotionally wounded this week and want to take comfort in food.  Not truly sustainable on my new money diet.

Options include mooching and dating.  Both going to a friend's house for dinner and making dinner dates can result in me eating well without spending a dime  ;)  If I'm lucky, restaurant portions will be big enough to provide lunch the next day.

So I had a lovely meal Monday night at my sister's house.  But they whine and complain about money a lot too, so I know that I really can't make that a Monday night tradition without pitching in and buying some of the ingredients.  Which puts me back at the starting line.  Except, I'd have to buy food for 3 people because my sister is married.  And her husband eats a lot.  Clearly, I need to find better mooching opportunities.

So I'm single - hence the living on my own and having to cover all of my expenses.  It would be super nice to bring another earner into my life.  But marrying for money is not possible for this lady - I've tried dating without passion and I don't like it.

However, dating for a good meal out doesn't seem like it is very wrong.  Of course, I'm not going to accept a date with someone I'm not at all interested in (looking at you T, c'mon, you really think "I like to cuddle and I'm good at hugs" is a good pick-up line?  I need more content to figure out if you're worth my time).  I looooooove eating at restaurants, and thought I had a date all lined up for Saturday night.  But he is also having budget issues and I flubbed the invite to eat at his house instead.  He's a smoker and I couldn't imagine trying to eat in his apartment while he is smoking.  Because the secondhand smoke seriously suppresses my appetite.   I mean, I'm not hungry the next morning after spending an evening with him and I'm someone who typically needs to eat within an hour of waking up.  However, when I made a joke about that - he took great offense and we will not be seeing each other ever again.

There goes my free meal - and I'm also very upset that I don't get to see this man again.  He was intelligent, complimentary, attentive, HOT, etc.  Had so many good characteristics - except for the smoking, un-sugar daddy status, and clearly a paranoia about me not thinking he was good enough.  He had made a few comments about how I would never end up with someone in his social class.  And clearly he was right, because HE let it get in the way.  So, emotional disappointment of getting dumped (is it dumped if it was supposed to be our 4th date?) combined with no meals to look forward to has me looking up menus during my lunch hour.  Half of me says "10 dollars for dinner isn't that bad" and the other half responds with a sharp "there is no 10 dollars to spend!  you spent it all already!"  buuuut other people making me food tastes so much better. . .

Guess I'll keep looking for someone ready to be a partner and someone who understands my communication style, jokes and all.  Money had always been a side concern of mine (probably why I didn't notice all the debt I was racking up), but let's be honest.  I have enough worries of my own that I don't want to think about if you have the gas money to drive over and see me.

Spend Less

Day 2 of my new life as a spendthrift.  So far, I have spent 60 cents outright - on a can of soda to alleviate my caffeine headache.  I really wanted to get something hot for lunch, but absolutely did not let myself leave the office to make the deposits until I had eaten my PB&J and a brownie.  Not sure what today has cost me in rent/utilities/fuel for the car.  Maybe I'll count that out another day to see how much working translates into putting money in my coffers.  In the current state of things, I know it will be a good long while before working will yield enough for savings.

Babysitter, anyone?

So far the money diet hasn't exactly been a nutritional diet - losing weight would be a great side effect of eliminating unnecessary spending.  I don't need KFC, I'll just eat my own body fat!  (Plenty of it for now!)

I'm pretty good at sticking to a plan for the first few days - but then splurging out of frustration and boredom.