Challenge Confessions

Ok so last week I cheated a lot. On Thursday I noticed that one gas station hadn't gone up like the others around town so I pulled out my debit card and filled up, then it was in my hand and I went to whole foods to look for some frozen wild blueberries which I found and bought along with some candy out of the bulk bins.(The candy wasn't even that good) then I went to Target to get a few things. I can't even remember everything I got there I know I bought frozen chicken breasts and some fun sized snickers bars for a church thing, But I think there was one other thing I can't remember. Oh well, anyways on Saturday I went to Costco with my Mom and bought some Cream of mushroom soup and 2 gallons of vinegar and a bag of chicken nuggets for a friend. that night I even went to dinner with my roommate and spent $7 but that was for both of us, we shared a BLT from Jason's Deli.

   So with all that cheating last week I am starting today with $16 that I shouldn't have and a very vague menu plan. I am getting lazy and really need to get back into doing this right. I might make a few changes though. Gas prices have gone up to $2.84 a gallon and with as much as I need to drive that's over half of the $35 for the week. I was lucky to get $2.66 on Thursday and not all gas stations are very cash friendly. My new Idea is to put $20 a week into my second checking account and carry that debit card with me for gas or car related stuff.  I am still going to stay with the five dollars a day plan for food and fun but this makes my goal a little more attainable. I am recommitting myself to the goal of being debt free in one year from now. I will never turn down free food even if I don't like it and I will make sure I plan my meals out useing what I have and whats on sale.

                                                Wish me luck.

Day Eight

Well I have made it through week one and I only cheated once, I needed some cake mixes for a class I was taking so I used $5 out of my change jar to buy them. I  didn't cave to temptation I caved to necessity. I would call my first week a success with a bit of a bump in the road. I made a detailed meal plan before I started and fallowed it pretty well. I did make a few changes in lunches and breakfasts but fallowed the dinner plans really well. 
On Monday I bought a pre-cooked chicken from Smiths for $5 and had it for dinner with my roommate served with potatoes and steamed asparagus. I turned the left over chicken into two servings of chicken noodle soup and four small pot pies. From one chicken I got 7 meals. I froze two of the pies, refrigerated one and ate one that night. On Friday I made chicken thighs with milk gravy,  potatoes and the other half  pound of asparagus for me and my two roommates.  Wow I just realized the I had a lot of chicken last week I even ate the other chicken pot pie tonight.

Day One

Day one of my $5 a day challenge.

I was going to have instant oatmeal and orange juice for breakfast, but last night I found a recipe for blueberry scones that looked good and I had all the ingredients. So I drank a weight-loss shake to tide me over while I baked. They were really good, I ended up eating 5 of them for lunch and as a snack.. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter, chilled
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 3/4 cup half-and-half cream
• 1 egg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Cut butter into mixture of flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add blueberries and toss to mix.
3. In separate bowl beat together cream and egg, and slowly pour into dry ingredients, stirring with rubber scraper until dough forms. Knead just until it comes together, 3 or 4 times. Don't over handle.
4. Divide dough in half. On lightly floured board, shape each half into a 6-inch round. Cut into 6 wedges.
5. Bake on ungreased sheet about 20 minutes at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Serve warm!!  

After I had lunch I picked up some pictures from Walmart and pulled my scrapbooking stuff out to work on until my roommate came home and we were ready to go grocery shopping.

I studied the grocery store ads and made a careful plan of everything I want eat this week including: Breakfast, Lunch,  snacks, and Dinner. I have also made a list of everything I need to buy for those meals, what day I should buy them, and from which store. Today my roommate and I went to Harmon's like every Saturday. I bought 2 pears, 3 grapefruit, 4 celery stalks, and 2 cans of Cambles tomato soup for a grand total of $4.04. The most expensive thing I bought was the celery and I probably only needed 2 stalks for the chicken soup I am making this week. Oh well, lesson learned and I will just have come up with a recipe that needs it next week. One of my goals with this challenge is to not have food going bad before I can eat it. I read that the most expensive food you buy is the food you throw away.

  For dinner I made BBQ cups, which are made by putting a biscuit into a muffin tin with ground beef cooked with BBQ sauce and topped with cheese then baked per the directions on the tube of biscuits.  I got the idea from my best friend Zipper. I have always really liked it and like everything else I ate today I already had everything I needed to make it. I paired them with some canned green beans and had a wonderful dinner.

After I had dinner I drove to my parents house for a family party where I had some Ice cream and punch.

At the end of the day I have driven 25 miles and spent $4.04 

My $5 a day plan/challenge

Ok so last year I watched a segment on Rachel Ray about a women who for one month spent only $1 a day on food. She started with nothing in her pantry or fridge. She wanted to prove that someone could live off a dollar a day and eat healthy foods not just junk.  She said that the first few days were very hard to get through but once she had a few things in her pantry she was able to eat better. I am also reading a book called Not Buying It  Where a couple goes for one year without buying anything that isn't a nissesity they still buy food and gas and some cleaning supplies but they keep it simple, No fancy soaps instead a bar of Ivory, no pre-made food and no going out to eat. I am over half way though and liking some of it and taking other parts with a grain of salt( the author is a liberal and I am a conservative ).
   
I thought if they can do that why can't I try something similar.  My plan is simple: Every morning I will put a $5 bill in my wallet and leave my debt card at home in a lock box, that $5 will cover everything that isn't a set monthly bill like rent or my car payment. It will be for food, fun and gas. If I don't spend all of that $5 then the extra rolls over to the next day.


I'm not going to the extreams that others have gone to because this challenge isn't to prove a point, its to help me get control of the money I spend. So I will be using what I have in my pantry and fridge and I am not limiting myself to an amount that is so low, I will feel like I am depriving myself of the things that I like in order to save money. I am also not setting a time period to make it through, instead I am seeing how long  I can go before I cave and go on a spending spree.


There will be exeptoins to the rules. I have a CPR class I need to take for work, and I will be hosting a party at the house in a few weeks so those purcheses won't count.


Starting this Saturday.