100 DOLLARS A WEEK PT.2 - Day 12 (Tuesday) Shopping Day...

So I think I told y'all that I caved last night and went shopping. After dinner, I would have had half a zucchini, one yellow onion, a few stray cloves of garlic, some ginger, and a few leftovers in the fridge along with just a little bacon and one chicken breast in the freezer, and I wasn't feeling like getting starving student-type creative this week.

$41.86 spent in 2 trips to Fresh & Easy this week
+ $3.53 spent at 7-11 for soda :(
- $6.00 Fresh & Easy coupon
= $39.39

That said, I do like getting down to somewhat bare bones before I replenish. It's just a lot easier for me to make sure I use what's on hand before it goes bad.

PRODUCE: For cilantro, onions, pineapple, green cabbage, green onions and garlic to tie me over until Friday, I spent $7 or 15% of total.

MEAT: For some shrimp, salmon, flap steak, (the salmon and flap steak were on clearance but looking quite healthy) and breakfast sausage, I spent $19 or 42% of total.

DAIRY: For 36 eggs, I spent $5 or 11% of total.

PANTRY: For a bottle of strawberry jam also on clearance, I spent $1 or 2% of total.

GRAINS: For 8 burrito sized flour tortillas and an unbaked whole wheat pizza dough, I paid $4 or 9% of total.

INDULGENCES: Unusual for us, but we're both feeling like soda this week, so for some &7Up, Mountain Dew, and 2 bottles of mineral water I paid $8 or 18% of total.

MISC: For a bag of ice (because we don't have an ice maker in our fridge, and I'm just really fucking tired of refilling ice trays), I paid $1.50 or 3% of total.

I originally planned just to get the green cabbage as roughage for our noodle salad dinner, but then I had a coupon for $6 off a $30 purchase at Fresh & Easy, so I figured I'd just buy some other stuff I'd be able to use into next week. Because Fresh & Easy is so close by and I can go any time with minimal inconvenience I'll sometimes shave down my purchase to as close to the minimum coupon purchase requirement as possible so I can maximize my savings until the next coupon comes in the mail or by email. That's about as extreme couponing as it gets for me these days.

So roughly $182 spent last week + $39 spent this week = $221 spent so far. Two shopping trips left to go in this month with $179 left to spend. I'm pretty sure I'll still come in right around target.

Back in a bit with Tuesday's meals.

shinae

100 DOLLARS A WEEK PT.2 - Day 11 (Monday)...

The longer I do this foodblogging thing, the greater respect and admiration I have for those who have been doing it for years. To say the least, it is challenging to come up with content every day. And were it not for the numbers attached to this daily diary of comestibles, I don't think I could exactly consider my recent output content.

Being the sponge that I am, I find the more I blog, the less I am inclined to read other blogs because it's far too easy to be swayed, sidetracked, or even discouraged at times, by the amazing food content and images there are to be found all over the web. And while I'm sure this self-imposed lack of exposure has cheated me of some incredible images, recipes, and ideas, I'm also confident that it has helped me to further define my point of view, which I'd like to think is becoming clearly focused on the most delicious, diverse, healthy, resourceful, and reasonably practical use of food possible.

I think that

- eating leftover pumpkin cupcakes for breakfast three times in one week, or
- the fact that it pains me to throw away $1.40 in corn tortillas, or
- that both of the meals eaten at home on Monday were leftovers

says just as much about my food philosophy as the fact that

- I might make up to 20 different dishes, inspired by a number of different cuisines, in one week (on a really good week, that is), or
- that we indulge from time to time in a bucketload of live uni, or
- that I still long for a slab of foie gras from time to time.

For all the good influence and information there is to be had out there, sometimes it's good to just put your head down, focus, and, as they say, do YOU.

BREAKFAST

was, you guessed it - THE LAST OF THE PUMPKIN CUPCAKES HALLELUJAH.

And coffee.

= $0.40 FOR BREAKFAST (for 2 cups of coffee)

LUNCH

for the Man was a repurpose of the rice and beans of the night before, with some melted Jack cheese on top.

For me, it was the last of the leftover yoohkgaejahng from last week with a little bit of rice.

   some grated Jack cheese $0.25
+ 1 cup of jasmine rice for my yookgaejahng $0.50
+ some Mountain Dew and 7-Up we bought because I wanted bubbly drinks $3.53 (for two schtinkin 20 oz. drinks, of which I still have some left - you can see why soda is considered an indulgence in our house. Jeebuss. $1.75 a bottle, and it doesn't even get you buzzed...)

= $4.30 FOR LUNCH

DINNER

was SUSHI. Out, of course. And it was lovely. But that comes out of the Entertainment budget, so it doesn't get counted here.

SNACK

And because dinner was really early, I got a little schnacky at night while we were watching TV, so I finished off the rest of the sweet potatoes from Thanksgiving, but not before I bruleed some marshmallows on top. :)

= maybe $0.10 for a handful of marshmallows FOR SNACK


$4.80 spent yesterday.

Friday 11/25 - $5.15
Saturday 11/26 - $23.95
Sunday 11/27 - $8.30
Monday 11/28 - $4.80

$42.20 spent so far with three days left to go in the week. I'm running low on produce, so we'll need to shop for a few fruit and veg items today.

Off to select more recipes for the cookbook, which really is the hardest part, I think.

shinae

100 DOLLARS A WEEK PT.2 - Day 10 (Sunday) & Something About Starving Children Elsewhere...

I'm sitting here watching Bourdain in Nicaragua as I write this post. While I've done some traveling in my life, I haven't yet gotten to the point where I'm compelled to travel to more, shall we say, challenging destinations. And by challenging destinations, I mean those places that I only visit through the magic of television because they make me uncomfortable in the realization of the harshness of life in some places other than where I've been.

In this particular episode, Bourdain visits the largest landfill in Central America (La Chureca), which is also inhabited by over 300 families, including the smallest of children, who dig through and eat straight from the daily garbage dumps just to be able to survive.

And if I felt a little quaint and silly yesterday and this morning for making myself and the Man eat every last leftover pumpkin cupcake from Thanksgiving for breakfast, I don't anymore.

BREAKFAST

for the kids was Nutella graham crackers and milk.

For the grownups, yet more pumpkin cupcakes and coffee.

And then for this general un-ease I've been feeling, I made myself some cinnamon ginger tea to sip throughout the day.

Graham crackers and cupcakes already accounted for,

   2 small glasses of milk $0.20
+ 2 cups of coffee $0.40
+ a stick of cinnamon and 7 slices of ginger $0.20

= $0.80 FOR BREAKFAST

LUNCH

And because this generally uneasy feeling made me feel not so much like cooking, we all ate ramen with some onions, cilantro, lime, and sriracha.

Poached eggs for the adults, but not for the kids, who haven't yet learned to appreciate a runny yolk.

   4 packets of Sapporo Ichiban ramen and some kimchi $2.00
+ 2 eggs $0.35

= $2.35 FOR LUNCH

DINNER

was arroz con pollo with black beans and a salad of red cabbage, tomato, onion and cilantro dressed with some lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper, oil, and a pinch of sugar to round out the lime juice.

It was a really lucky thing that the package o' chicken I defrosted yesterday had exactly four pieces o' chicken in it. :)

Spanish rice is one of Mads' favorite rice preparations, so she took a lot of the leftovers back to her other house.

   4 pieces of dark meat chicken about $1.00
+ 1 onion, 1/2 red bell, 1/2 green bell, 1 head of garlic $1.00
+ 1.5 cups black beans $0.35
+ 6 canned tomatoes $0.60
+ 1/2 head of cabbage, 1 tomato, a little bit of onion, 1 garlic clove, 1 lime, some cilantro $1.20
+ 2 cups of jasmine rice $1.00

= $5.15 FOR DINNER ($1.30/serving)


$8.30 spent yesterday.


Friday 11/25 - $5.15
Saturday 11/26 - $23.95
Sunday 11/27 - $8.30


$37.40 spent for this week with four days left to go.

Time to clean up this house a bit. Bed's not been made, dishes haven't been washed. We are a disaster.
BUT, I'm caught up. :)

shinae

100 DOLLARS A WEEK PT.2 - Day 9 (Saturday)...

On Saturday, we did next to nothing.

Well, the boys went for a bike ride, the girls worked on the tree, we ate some stuff, and we watched a couple of movies. And like so many other days, I wished there were more waking hours.

And because sometimes the need to get caught up takes priority over the need to try to be interesting, expository, or engaging, or whatever, it's on to the meals...

BREAKFAST

As usual, I woke up before everyone else and was starving, so I ate the rest of Friday night's rice and braised kimchi.

Everyone else had pancakes.

    egg, flour, vanilla, milk, sugar, baking powder and lemon juice for pancakes $0.60

+ 2 cups of coffee $0.40
+ 2 small glasses of milk $0.20

= $1.20 FOR BREAKFAST

LUNCH

Before we knew it, lunch was upon us, people were starving, and I was not in the mood to cook, so we bought some coupon fried chicken, and I supplemented with some buttered broccoli and fresh pineapple.

   7 pieces of fried chicken, 3 biscuits and some mashed potatoes $11.00

+ 1.5 pounds broccoli $2.00
+ half a pineapple $0.75 (they were on sale)

= $13.75 FOR LUNCH

When you compare what it costs to buy takeout versus making the same quantity of the same food at home, you see that time is a relatively expensive commodity. :)

DINNER

was Mads' request of goi cuon (Vietnamese summer rolls), and the kids' favorite veg: green beans in garlic oyster sauce.

   1.5 pounds pork shoulder, 1 head red leaf lettuce, 8 shrimp, some cilantro, mint, sprouts, jalapeno and tapioca paper $7.00

+ 1 lb. green beans and some oyster sauce, sugar, and oil $2.00

= $9.00 FOR DINNER ($2.25/serving)

$23.95 spent on Saturday.

Friday 11/25 - $5.15

Saturday 11/25 - $23.95

$29.10 spent this week with 5 days left to go.

So far this week, we've spent $8.65 on groceries for shrimp and cilantro. I figure we'll supplement a little here and there, but there's still plenty of food in the fridge to keep us until Friday.

To sushi or not to sushi tonight. That is the question... ^-

shinae

100 DOLLARS A WEEK PT.2 - Day 8 (Friday) & So Close To Being Caught Up I Can Almost Taste It!!!

Wanna know what's sick? I don't remember anything about yesterday except for what we ate and doing eight loads of laundry (it was linens and beddings day). Oh, and working on the Christmas tree, and making feeble attempts to stay up to watch TV.

Do you ever look back at your college days - when you were going to school full time and working two jobs, running five miles every morning, making honor roll, and generally burning the candle on three ends if that were possible - and thinking that is the kind of shit you do when you either don't know any better or don't have a choice in the matter?

That's kind of how I look at my past life in which I was working full time (and running a part time business for some of that time), waking up at 4am so I could work out and come home in time to pack all the lunches before heading to work, cooking most of the meals, doing all the laundry, cleaning the house, picking up the kids, checking the homework, managing the finances and investments, and even trying to blog from time to time - all quite very imperfectly, by the way. We could have afforded a cleaning lady every once in a while. We could have afforded to eat out more often. We could have sent more dress shirts to the cleaners to be pressed. But I was convinced and insistent that those were all my jobs.

I didn't know better back then. I believed in the idea that *I* could have and be everything at once. This is not to say that it's impossible - I know there are still women who at least seem to have and be everything as far as the rest of us can see. But I had to learn the hard way that that was an impossibility for me. Some women can keep it going longer, but a decade of living like that - of not knowing and accepting my own limitations - caught up with me. And how.

So these days, having been duly walloped by a healthy serving of humility, I find a sense of accomplishment in things like washing and folding eight loads of laundry, cooking three meals a day and washing every last dish afterward, taking a few good pics of food every day and/or getting a blog post written to go along with them, sharing my love of food with others who love food, tweaking *a* business plan (just one), knowing when to stop, and humbling myself enough to ask for help when I need it.

Sometimes it's not just our circumstances that require change, but our perspectives and approaches as well.

Normally, Friday would have been shopping day, but with the glut of produce from last week's shopping and the leftovers from Thanksgiving (both stuff I made and stuff my mom gave me), I figured I would make some room in the fridge before going shopping again.

BREAKFAST

for the grown peeps was leftover pumpkin cupcakes. For the kids, ramen. Two different kinds, even. I don't indulge in different meals for different people so much anymore, but on these catch as you catch can leftover days, it's not such a big deal.

   1 packet Sapporo Ichiban ramen and kimchi for Mads $0.50
+ 1 packet Shin Ramyun Black for Joe $1.00
+ 2 cups of coffee for the adults $0.40

= $1.90 FOR BREAKFAST

LUNCH

was leftover oxtail stew brought home from my parents' on Thanksgiving. And since I didn't make any veg for lunch, everyone ate three tangerines, also brought home from my parents'.

So lunch was basically free.

TREAT

Dean and Mads both decided they wanted s'mores early in the day. Joe and I decided to pass.

But I already accounted for all the s'mores ingredients on Thanksgiving so treats were also paid for.

DINNER

Sometime in the late afternoon, I passed out for a granny nap and didn't wake up until well into dinnertime. Starving family at hand, I had to make something somewhat fast, so I made a 30 minute bacon and brown sugar braised kimchi and served it with some steamed rice and gihm (toasted seaweed). More tangerines all around to balance out the bacon. ;)

   half packet of bacon $1.25 (the bacon was on sale when I bought it a couple of weeks back)
+ 2 cups kimchi $1.00
+ 2 cups rice $1.00 (the gihm also from my mom)

= $3.25 FOR DINNER ($1.10/serving)

$5.15 spent on the first day of the second week with six days left to go.

I could write today's post and get all caught up, but my family and Edward Scissorhands await me.

Oh and something about accepting my limitations.

Back tomorrow,

shinae

100 DOLLARS A WEEK PT.2 - Day 7 (TURKEY DAY!!!) & Things For Which I Am Thankful...

So many things to be grateful for this Thanksgiving, not the least of which was that this was the first Thanksgiving in many years in which I was surrounded by a near-complete (and happy) family. My big brother is missing from the picture, and I miss him dearly, but human drama sometimes has a way of tying knots between us that are hard to untie. I've not given up on him, and I hope he's not given up on me, but for good and bad, while the past few years have made me a more simple person in some respects, it's made me a much more complicated one in others. And I'll just leave it at that.

At the age of 38, this was also my first Thanksgiving with a true life partner by my side - one who is really good for me, and hopefully I for him. In a very short period of time, the Man's goodness, decency, kindness, and emotional generosity have been tested in so many ways, and they have been unfailing and unwavering through all. So among the things for which I am grateful are the life experiences, many of them difficult ones, that forced me to reevaluate what it is that makes a man good in general, and good for me specifically.

And for a cozy and comfortable home in which we all laugh and love easily, in which we can live close to our needs and yet not too far from most of our wants, in which I can teach my children the life lessons I wish to be my legacy to them, and in which we all can be a part of a family dynamic that I would be more than happy for them to carry on into their futures, I am grateful beyond words.

BREAKFAST

for me was the last of the pasta.

For the Man, it was bacon and eggs. 

For both of us, a very juicy and flavorful but super puckermaking grapefruit that screamed for a sprinkling of sugar. (Or was I the one screaming for sugar?) 

Always coffee.

   2 eggs and 3 slices of bacon $0.80
+2 cups of coffee $0.40

= $1.20 FOR BREAKFAST

LUNCH

was coffee and gummy bears for me, coffee and a little bit of Lindt dark chocolate with fleur de sel for the Man while we were driving up to my parents' place with food in tow.

   gummy bears $1.70
+ Lindt chocolate $2.00
+ 2 cups of coffee brewed at home $0.40

= $4.10 FOR LUNCH (The rest of the budget considered, this sounds a little ridiculous, doesn't it?)

DINNER

My contributions to Thanksgiving were:

Soy Braised Short Ribs

    5.5 pounds of short ribs $23.00
+ 1 onion, 2 carrots, 1 head of garlic, half an apple $0.80
+ a bag of cooked chestnuts $5.00
+ soy sauce, brown sugar, and some rice wine we got as a housewarming gift that we're still trying to use up $0.50

= $29.30 for the short ribs

Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

   3 pounds of potatoes $0.30
+ some butter, sour cream, milk, heavy cream $0.50

= $0.80 for the mashed potatoes

Baked Sweet Potatoes

    2 sweet potatoes $0.70
+  a little butter, brown sugar, pinch of salt, cinnamon and nutmeg $0.30

= $1.00 for the baked sweet potatoes

Crunchy Red Cabbage Soy Slaw

    half a head of red cabbage $0.80
+ cilantro, green onions, soy sauce, sugar and vinegar $0.50

= $1.30 for the red cabbage slaw

Pumpkin Cupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting

   1 package of carrot cake mix $1.25

+ 15 oz. pumpkin $1.25
+ 3 eggs and some oil $0.50
+ 1.5 packages cream cheese $2.25
+ 1/2 a stick of butter $0.50
+ 1.5 cups of powdered sugar and some vanilla $0.40

= $6.15 for the cupcakes

S'Mores

   1 Hershey's Bar $1.20
+ 1 Bag Marshmallows $1.50
+ 1 box graham crackers $4.80

= $7.50 for s'mores

Soda and Sparkling Apple Cider

= $4.70 for drinks

All tolled for Thanksgiving...

= $50.75 FOR DINNER ($8.50/serving for 6 people)

$56.05 spent in total on Turkey Day.

Friday 11/18 - $9.05
Saturday 11/19 - $12.65
Sunday 11/20 - $15.20
Monday 11/21 - $7.20
Tuesday 11/22 - $14.05
Wednesday 11/23 - $16.15
Thursday 11/24 - $56.05

$130.35 in groceries spent in the first week of this project, and considering that it included Thanksgiving, I think we did alright!

Can I just say this was one bitch of a post??? 8/

I actually do think I can manage to get Friday's post out too. But I think I'll take a break to work on our tissue paper Christmas tree for a bit.

Back later,

shinae

100 DOLLARS A WEEK PT.2 - Day 6 (Wednesday) & Something About THE CHANGE...

Well thank Goddess for facebook and G+, else I wouldn't - nay, couldn't - have remembered what it is I ate for breakfast on Wednesday because I didn't take any pics!

Wednesday was mostly spent prepping for Thanksgiving, and while I vaguely remember that we had ambitions to go out and grab a drink in the evening, those plans were dashed by a general pooped-ness that settled in by late afternoon.

With the whack sleep patterns of the past month or so, general exhaustion, on and off all day bitchiness, recently hypersensitive palate, and now all day mild pukeyness,  I'm really starting to think I might be entering...

THE CHANGE. 8|

And let me just say that it's not the hot flashes that scare me, though I hear they suck. What scares me is that I remember in hindsight my mom seemingly going through it for FUCKING EONS. And I'm ashamed to say that I wasn't very sympathetic at the time. The word *menopause* was in my vocabulary, but I really had no notion or understanding of it. And my mom, while progressive in many ways, is and always has been a little old fashioned when it comes to talking about female or reproductive issues. (Let's put it this way - it was my dad who plopped us in front of a PBS special when I was 11, explaining to us that the show could probably explain to us the birds and the bees better than he could. Gawd bless him...)

So if indeed I am entering THE CHANGE, wish my family luck, will ya.

And on Wednesday...

BREAKFAST

was pancakes and hotdogs masquerading as breakfast sausage. And coffee of course.

No pics. I had Thanksgiving cooking on the brain, but I'll post all the stuff made for Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving's post.

   pancake ingredients $0.60
+ 2 hotdogs $0.20
+ 2 cups of coffee $0.40

= $1.20 FOR BREAKFAST

LUNCH

was yoohkgaejahng (aka yukgaejahng) made with the scraps of short rib that I trimmed for Thanksgiving dinner, 2 bunches of green onions, a leek, and a head of garlic. 

That served with some rice and kimchi really hit the spot on a cool, autumn day. Plus it made efficient use of scraps, which always makes me happy.

   2 bunches of green onions $0.70
+ 1 leek $1.85
+ 1 head of garlic $0.20
+ seasonings $0.20 (leftover rice already accounted for, short ribs to be accounted for on next post)

= $2.95 FOR LUNCH ($1.00/serving for 3 servings)

DINNER

I was starving by dinner time and in no mood to keep cooking, so inspired by a couple of G+ friends' posts about sandwiches, I sent the Man to Subway for a turkey sub on wheat with lettuce, tomato, onion, avo, mayo and pepperoncini. And considering that we spent $12 at Subway for two really lackluster sandwiches, EVEN BY SUBWAY STANDARDS, and a bag of salt and vinegar potato chips, I am reaffirming my thinking that I will only ever go out to eat three things in this town ever again - Mexican food, sushi, and coupon fried chicken.  :(

= $12.00 FOR CRAPPYASS SANDWICHES FOR DINNER. BOO.

$16.15 spent on Wednesday.

Friday 11/18 - $9.05
Saturday 11/19 - $12.65
Sunday 11/20 - $15.20
Monday 11/21 - $7.20
Tuesday 11/22 - $14.05
Wednesday 11/23 - $16.15

$74.30 spent with Thanksgiving left to go in this week.

You know what I wonder sometimes? I wonder if you guys ever check my math.

Only two more posts! I can practically SMELL caught up-ness.

shinae

100 DOLLARS A WEEK PT.2 - Day 5 (Tuesday)...

Tuesday was a rare treat for me, not because Mads had a 100F fever the day before, but because her school required her to stay home for the 24 hours following even though she'd recovered from it that afternoon. So I drove up to Stepford to pick her up for the day, and we spent a really lovely day together, cooking, talking, watching TV, and working on our tissue paper Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

She reminds me a lot of me when I was her age - fairly self-contained and entertained as long as I was fed. Songs, imaginary friends, markers, roller skates (or in Mads' case, a Power Wing), a good book, and a little TV, and I was good for hours on end, by myself.

Times are a little different now. My kids have a much greater expectation of my time and attention than I did of my parents, but I think that's because kids have a pretty keen understanding of their environment. My kids understand that I have the luxury of time and energy to give to them now that I implicitly understood my parents, who are first generation immigrants, simply did not have to give me when I was a child.

Even when I was working full time, I had the good fortune to be employed in a fairly flexible white collar environment, when my parents had to work 16 to 18 hour days manning (and essentially chained to) their restaurants and grocery stores, trying to create a better life for all of us. They probably couldn't have imagined that I would one day be able to work in a place where my boss let me come and go as needed, let me set my schedule to suit my family's schedule, let me take yoga classes in the middle of the day if I thought that would keep me sane, and to keep in touch with the office with a little electronic device named after a fruit... (That was all part of a past life, but hey, Roger, if you're reading up there, I just want to say that I sure miss you some days.)

Despite the heartbreaks and dysfunctions that the holidays always seem to spotlight for many of us, when I think of the fact that I now have the blessings of time, energy, and presence of mind to be able to truly appreciate and enjoy the moments I have with the people I love - and I almost hate to admit that I wasn't always so able - I am grateful for the heartbreaks, dysfunctions, and the minor and major human tragedies that had to be lived so my heart and mind could arrive at this place.

BREAKFAST

was chorizo fried rice and OJ and coffee. One of my facebook friends was a bit incredulous about the idea of fried rice as breakfast, but if you think about it, this is really just deconstructed breakfast burrito without the tortilla. :)

    3 oz. of chorizo $0.35
+ 1/2 an onion, a jalapeno, some cilantro, and a Roma tomato $0.40 (leftover rice accounted for)
+ 1 Hass avocado $0.70
+ 2 bigger than usual glasses of OJ $1.00
+ 2 cups coffee $0.40

= $2.45 FOR BREAKFAST ($1.25/serving)

LUNCH

for Mads was ramen. When I asked her why ramen of all things, she said it's because she never gets this brand (Sapporo Ichiban), and certainly not with kimchi, at her other house. How can I refuse a recently sick child?

For the Man and me, it was a Puttanesque-ish spaghetti made with tomatoes, onions, garlic, capers, olives, some red chili flakes, a little uncured bacon, and some fish sauce in lieu of anchovies I didn't have.

   1 package Sapporo Ichiban ramen and some kimchi $0.50
+ 4 slices of bacon, 1/2 an onion, 4 or 5 cloves of garlic, a Tablespoon of capers, 6 olives, 1/3 of a can of tomatoes, plus some spaghetti $2.50

= $3.00 FOR LUNCH

DINNER

was Mads' request of roast chicken, piggybacked with much anticipated artichokes served with a lemon basil garlic mayo for dipping. The kids are always so pleased when I take their suggestions for dinner, even if they don't always participate in cooking them.

   all the dark meat from one whole chicken $2.50
+ 1/2 an onion, 1 celery stalk, 1 carrot, 1/2 a leek, a few cloves of garlic, and a few pats of butter $0.60
+ 2 artichokes $5.00
+ 1 cup jasmine rice (for Mads) $0.50

= $8.60 FOR DINNER ($2.90/serving)

$14.05 total spent on Tuesday.

Friday 11/18 - $9.05
Saturday 11/19 - $12.65
Sunday 11/20 - $15.20
Monday 11/21 - $7.20
Tuesday 11/22 - $14.05

$58.15 spent for the week with two days left to account for.

I did spend an extra $52 on Tuesday for Thanksgiving groceries, bringing my total grocery bill for the week to roughly $182, but seeing as it's already Friday, and I have a pretty full fridge, I probably won't be veering too far off budget for the month, even considering the holidays.

Three more to go, and I'm not all that hopeful that I'll get completely caught up today, but I think I have at least one more catchup post in me.

Back in a bit,

shinae

100 DOLLARS A WEEK PT.2 - Day 4 (Monday) & Lemme Bitch A Little On Black Friday...

It is now Black Friday, and I am FOUR posts behind with good reason for once. It's the holidays, I've been busy cooking, I had an unexpected but very welcome chance to spend the day with Mads on Tuesday, and then Turkey Day was upon us before I knew it. But I am no less daunted by having to write five posts by the end of the day in order to get caught up.

I've only gone Black Friday shopping a few times in my life, and each of them was with a couple of once friends who loved to shop. They used to laugh at me because I'd refuse to go anywhere before first getting a 16 oz. coffee, and I'm pretty sure they thought it was because I wasn't awake yet. But I'd been a very early riser for years by then from having to work East Coast hours. The truth is coffee is my drug of choice, and you need to be some kind of drugged to brave the insanity that is Black Friday.

It's taken a divorce, a few other relationships left behind, and many years of being misunderstood as an unfeeling or unsentimental person, to finally surround myself with people and an environment in which my minimalist approach to Christmas is understood or even appreciated.

I don't hate Christmas for the togetherness or general sense of warmth and goodwill that seems to permeate the season (except at Walmart and Target on Black Friday). I don't hate Christmas for the observation of family traditions. I don't hate Christmas for the red and green color scheme, as they are two of my favorite colors.

I hate Christmas for the thoughtless commercialism and consumerism we have unconsciously and unwittingly allowed to take hold. I hate Christmas for youtube videos of little kids acting like assholes when they get books instead of electronics, and the parents who shamelessly broadcast those videos as if they're proud of the fact that they're creating materialistic monsters out of inherently easily pleased children. I hate Christmas for that bullshit e-bay commercial where that chick is essentially calling out all her family members for the crappy gifts they got her last year and directing them to her self-absorbed e-bay wishlist instead. I hate Christmas for the fact that people put themselves into debt and stress that lasts for months, sometimes years, after a given Christmas because they've bought into the idea that their worth and ability to love as a human being is tied to how much money they are willing or able to spend. And I hate that that warmth, togetherness and goodwill aren't enough for some people who are so emotionally attached to things that they can't respect someone else's decision to celebrate the season without buying and exchanging more things.

Don't get me wrong. I love that Christmas makes my kids giddy with anticipation and excitement. I love that we're working on our tissue paper Charlie Brown Christmas tree together, little by little, looking forward to its completion. I love that no matter how you celebrate, or if you even celebrate the same way every year, there is tradition built into the holiday season. And I love that even if we don't believe in its religious underpinnings, the observation of the holiday allows time and our little microcosm of the world to stand a little stiller, if only for a few days.

And so as I sit here on Black Friday, in the comfort of home, my son beginning to sleep in like the teenager he's fixing to be, my daughter watching Alton Brown and waiting for a break in my writing so we can work on our Christmas tree, my man listening to music for inspiration with our clingy furbaby nestled into his lap, I can say that I actually am looking forward to a simple, meaningful, grateful, connected, and very merry Christmas.

BREAKFAST

was leftover cupcakes from the weekend. And coffee.

Cupcakes already accounted for, coffee was

= $0.40 for BREAKFAST

LUNCH

To balance out the chili and cupcakes from the day before, I made a meatless meal of sahngchoo ssahm (Korean lettuce wraps) and tofu jjigae (stew).

    half a block of tofu, half a zucchini, half an onion, a couple of garlic cloves, a jalapeño a small potato and some gochoojahng and dwenjahng for jjigae $1.00
+ half a head of red lettuce, a quarter of an English cuke, and a few sprigs of mint for sahngchoo ssahm (the seasoned chili paste was leftover from meals past) $1.20
+ 2 cups jasmine rice $1.00

= $3.20 FOR LUNCH ($1.60/serving)

DINNER

To balance out all that rabbit food goodness of lunch, and to satisfy my PMS cravings, I made onion rings, fried zucchini, and bunless burgers.

   2 onions, half a zucchini, an egg, some flour, and some panko for the onion rings and fried zucchini $2.00
+ half a pound of ground beef, 4 lettuce leaves, 1 Roma tomato (onion already accounted for) for the burgers  $1.60

= $3.60 FOR DINNER ($1.80/serving)

$7.20 spent on Monday.

Friday 11/18 - $9.06
Saturday 11/19 - $12.65
Sunday 11/21 - $15.20
Monday 11/21 - $7.20

$44.10 spent for the week with three days left to go (and guess who completely forgot that this week was Thanksgiving and had to go shopping again?)...

It's only 9:37AM, and I'm ready for lunch.

One down, four to go. 8|

shinae