My Thoughts from Last Night.
I'm cold. I'm wet. I'm hungry. Fuck you $2 Challenge.
fin.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
How to Live on $2 a Day: Part I
And so I begin the $2 challenge...
My day so far:
Geography at 935, Russian at 11:10, and already I have caffeine withdrawls. or maybe it's hunger gnawing in my stomach. at this point, it really doesnt matter because it's already the first day, and i feel like im failing. speaking of failing, it is really difficult to take tests on an empty stomach. when im focused on eating or how coffee would be the best thing in the WORLD right now
--starbucks,dunkin' donuts, juan valdez, illy cafe, latte, black coffee, coffee with milk, i really shouldve bought a coffee the night before this challenge--,
im surprised how expensive everything is. $2.29 vs. $2.49 never was a big deal to me, but when i am calculating how much food i am eating for the week, money has new value. looking at my basket, realizing it has beans, rice, pasta, peanut butter, putting away soup because it's over $2.69, i feel poor. and the funny thing is im not--i realize the limitations of this experiment, and how privledged i am. i still have a room to go back to, electricity, i can go to the gym and take a shower if i wanted to, i can go to class at a great university. hell--i can blog at the library!
it's absurd how sorry i feel for myself.
while volunteering at various food banks and shelters, i realized that the most popular items were bread, peanut butter, and eggs. i understand that now. eggs have so much protein in them, and given a stove top, you can make so many things out of it and have enough energy for your day. i really wished i ate eggs. i think it would be a lot easier, especially since a dozen eggs are pretty cheap. anyway, i really cant wait for my peanut butter sandwich. it's going to be delicious.
i decide to think in terms of meals, recognizing that ill probably have one big meal (late afternoon) and then a smaller one (maybe) late at night. i also was trying to be realistic by buying portable items (bananas, granola bars) because i needed something to get me through the day, knowing that i would not want to run back to my dorm to cook rice and beans.
My List:
Bread: $2.29
Rice: $2.99
Black Beans: $0.89
Kidney Beans: $0.99
Corn: $0.89
Granola Bars (for emergencies only!): $1.99
Peanut Butter: $1.79
Marinara Sauce: $1.29
Pasta: $0.99
Bananas: $0.76
combined with D.C.'s outrageous taxes and...im $4 overbudget.
how did that happen!? maybe i shouldve done away with the granola bars. and the expensive rice certainly didnt help.
i know this is an experiment, so the $4 over will go to donations for The Future Leaders of Ghana, the non-profit we are raising funds for, and carry on for two extra days.
i hope my grocery list works. i dont really have a choice now, since not only was i out of money, but i was about 2 days over.
another thing about the challenge: no cell phone use. when i woke up this morning, i realized my cell phone died. i felt panicked in a way and started to structure my day around when i was going to charge my phone. who called me? what text messages did i receive? how am i supposed to get ahold of someone? instead of focusing on what i may have missed, i began to accept it and actually enjoy cutting off ties to technology (ironic, i know, im blogging right now). it's strangely liberating.
i should be studying for my persian quiz coming up (i should have studied for it about a week ago). but first! my peanut butter sandwich!!!!!!
My day so far:
Geography at 935, Russian at 11:10, and already I have caffeine withdrawls. or maybe it's hunger gnawing in my stomach. at this point, it really doesnt matter because it's already the first day, and i feel like im failing. speaking of failing, it is really difficult to take tests on an empty stomach. when im focused on eating or how coffee would be the best thing in the WORLD right now
--starbucks,dunkin' donuts, juan valdez, illy cafe, latte, black coffee, coffee with milk, i really shouldve bought a coffee the night before this challenge--,
active present participles and forming prefixes for irregular verbs arent huge priorities.
i cant take it anymore. russian is over. and im off to trader joe's.im surprised how expensive everything is. $2.29 vs. $2.49 never was a big deal to me, but when i am calculating how much food i am eating for the week, money has new value. looking at my basket, realizing it has beans, rice, pasta, peanut butter, putting away soup because it's over $2.69, i feel poor. and the funny thing is im not--i realize the limitations of this experiment, and how privledged i am. i still have a room to go back to, electricity, i can go to the gym and take a shower if i wanted to, i can go to class at a great university. hell--i can blog at the library!
it's absurd how sorry i feel for myself.
while volunteering at various food banks and shelters, i realized that the most popular items were bread, peanut butter, and eggs. i understand that now. eggs have so much protein in them, and given a stove top, you can make so many things out of it and have enough energy for your day. i really wished i ate eggs. i think it would be a lot easier, especially since a dozen eggs are pretty cheap. anyway, i really cant wait for my peanut butter sandwich. it's going to be delicious.
i decide to think in terms of meals, recognizing that ill probably have one big meal (late afternoon) and then a smaller one (maybe) late at night. i also was trying to be realistic by buying portable items (bananas, granola bars) because i needed something to get me through the day, knowing that i would not want to run back to my dorm to cook rice and beans.
My List:
Bread: $2.29
Rice: $2.99
Black Beans: $0.89
Kidney Beans: $0.99
Corn: $0.89
Granola Bars (for emergencies only!): $1.99
Peanut Butter: $1.79
Marinara Sauce: $1.29
Pasta: $0.99
Bananas: $0.76
combined with D.C.'s outrageous taxes and...im $4 overbudget.
how did that happen!? maybe i shouldve done away with the granola bars. and the expensive rice certainly didnt help.
i know this is an experiment, so the $4 over will go to donations for The Future Leaders of Ghana, the non-profit we are raising funds for, and carry on for two extra days.
i hope my grocery list works. i dont really have a choice now, since not only was i out of money, but i was about 2 days over.
another thing about the challenge: no cell phone use. when i woke up this morning, i realized my cell phone died. i felt panicked in a way and started to structure my day around when i was going to charge my phone. who called me? what text messages did i receive? how am i supposed to get ahold of someone? instead of focusing on what i may have missed, i began to accept it and actually enjoy cutting off ties to technology (ironic, i know, im blogging right now). it's strangely liberating.
i should be studying for my persian quiz coming up (i should have studied for it about a week ago). but first! my peanut butter sandwich!!!!!!
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