Day 5

I had my coffee this morning and noticed I'm running a little low but thankfully just two more mornings left so I think I can make it stretch.  I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich around 9:30.  Then for lunch, you guessed it, Ramen noodles.  I never realized how much I give in to temptation and eat when I'm not even hungry.  Today someone brought little individual size blue bell ice cream in chocolate and vanilla.  Oh my, was it ever hard to resist.  For dinner tonight, I ate cheese raviolis.  Yum yum!!  What I've realized is that I think I'll have some food left over.  I'll have more than half a jar of peanut butter and jelly, saltines, a can of tuna and a pack of ramen noodles.  I probably should have calculated per serving costs, then I would have had more left over for my in case of emergency chocolate fund!!  I'll have to ration the remainder of my diet coke over the weekend, which means drinking more water, which I should be doing anyways.

Day 4 concludes

I joined in the birthday celebration today and ate a cupcake.  I calculated the cost and need to add 58 cents to my budget.  I had Ramen noodles and saltines for lunch and raviolis for dinner.  The worst part about this is really the choices are just limited and the same things gets monotonous.  I think I'm a little over $21 for total spent, though I still have enough food for the rest of the experiment.

Day 4

Something interesting happened this morning, I actually woke up feeling hungry.  I have never really been a breakfast eater and often go without breakfast if I've had my coffee.  I woke up today thinking, gosh, I'm hungry that's odd.  Then I got to thinking either I typically eat too much which is why I stay full longer or I'm not getting enough to eat.  Either way, it's getting me off schedule.  I ate an egg sandwich for breakfast and then had my coffee.  Lunch today is Ramen noodles and dinner will be cheese ravioli.

Day 3 concludes

I am running low on bread, growing tired of Ramen noodles...so I scrambled some eggs for dinner.  I went ahead and fried an egg for my breakfast sandwich Thursday morning.  One positive I can say is this has really eliminated the guesswork out of deciding what I'm eating for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  But that is also a negative in that my options are really limited.  That's kind of depressing, not having options and the same old thing is getting mundane.

Day 3

Today has been a hectic day at work.  I had coffee first thing and usually eat a little something for breakfast around 10 but it wasa so crazy that I didn't get to come up for air until almost noon.  I decided to go ahead and eat lunch, tuna salad sandwich and a pudding cup.  I computed the cost of my salty treat looking at how many servings per container and what I consumed.  I totaled 24 cents for the hummus and 22 cents for the chips, so that adds 46 cents to my total.  I wish I could have taken my generic cheese nips back for a refund but some how I'm thinking that wasn't an option.  I could put that $1.35 towards a more flavorful salty snack.  Day three isn't too bad.  I am down to half a loaf of bread and I'm hoping I don't run out before Sunday. 

Day 2 Concludes

Today wasn't so bad.  I need a break from Ramen noodles for lunch so I made tuna salad to make a sandwich at work tomorrow.  The generic cheese nips at the Dollar Store that I purchased for $1.35 are quite disgusting.  They left this film in my mouth that was horrid!  Those are now in the trash.  My dog wouldn't even eat one.  I had divided the box up into five snack size baggies.  Probably because my only snack item is now gone, I was craving something salty this evening.  I ended up snacking on a few chips and hummus that I found in the fridge.  I'll have to calculate the cost to add that into my budget.  I foresee this mishap has likely putting me slightly over my $21, considering I only had 92 cents left.

Day 2

Still missing my dunkin donuts coffee with caramel and cream.  Mistake was made today in effort to "soften" up my bread a little bit, I nuked it.  Yeah, that was gross.  It made it kind of doughy.  I cooked my egg last night and had it in a ziploc baggie to be better prepared.  Ramen noodles and saltines are on the menu for lunch.  I thought I was going to have to go to a training class Wednesday and Thursday, which would require taking a sack lunch while watching everyone else dine at the Mexican Restaurant or Chilis, but thankfully, mine was scheduled for the following week, whew!  Dodge the bullet on that one.  I don't think I would have been able to sit through that.  What I find myself missing the most is fresh produce.  I always have fresh pineapple and grapes available but there was no way my budget would have allowed fresh pineapple, maybe a sprig of grapes.  It's sad that you can't eat healthy on a low budget and you can forget buying organic if your income is limited.  I couldn't even afford to get any fresh fruits or veggies from the farmer's market.  It's sad that it cost so much to eat a healthier diet.  Not that I am a health freak by any means but what I do eat and like, I couldn't afford this week.