My sister is evil sometimes (how come they know all the buttons to push?). She knows that this experiment has had a huge impact at the way I look at the cost of things. I now tend to look at prices in terms of how many days of food something is worth even for non food items. So if we go to the store and there is a shirt for $15, I will ask myself if the shirt is worth 15 days of food (if you need a way to reduce the amount of shopping you do, this is a great way to do it — since starting this, my spending in all areas has dramatically fallen because most things I come across just aren't worth the price when thought about in this way).
Knowing this, my sister now enjoys watching my reaction when she asks me if I want to do things with them. “Would you like to go to the amusement park with us? It will only cost you a month worth of food.” Or “We're heading down to the pool. You should come along. It is only 5 days worth of food.” Obviously, I am going to have to find a good way to get her back (any suggestions welcome)…
A bit of inspiration for any of those that think that they can't make a difference (believe me, you can)
Plum Smoothie
The best part of making a plum smoothie is cutting up the plums around the seed and then putting the seed into my mouth to eat the excess plum around the edges as I cut up the next plum. Wash, rinse, repeat:
Then the portions cut off go into the blender with a frozen banana, a bit of ice and a bit of milk (I finished off the blueberry juice) and you have this to drink:
Hard to beat a morning meal starter like that 🙂
Strawberry Cinnamon Pancakes
I had the rest of the cinnamon pancake mix I had made and decided that the strawberry pancakes were so good the last time, I would make them again. The only difference was I decided to cook the strawberries into the pancakes this time instead of putting them on top:
As I was doing it, however, I chickened out (I shouldn't have) I'm not sure why, but I started thinking that they might not taste nearly as good heated up (they were great), so I didn't put enough into the pancakes and also had to place some fresh strawberries on top:
It was kind of strange having both warm and cold strawberries together, but I'm not complaining. It was still wonderful. The only sad part was that was the last of my strawberries…
Veggie Pasta Salad
Since I ended going a little light on the sour cream for the Chicken Stroganoff, I decided to make the leftovers into a pasta salad. I simply added some tomato and celery along with some Italian dressing which made a wonderful quick meal that was quite tasty:
Potato Rice Veggie Mix
I had a bunch of different leftovers and decided that I would combine them all together to make a quick meal. It sounded good and efficient in theory, but it didn't quite turn out that way. I took the rest of the rice I had and put it in a frying pan with a bit of Italian dressing. I then added the rest of the Easy Chicken Cacciatore and the rest of the roasted veggies, As I was cooking it all up, it was smelling really good and I thought I had a hit on my hands:
And then I tasted it. The potatoes and the rice did not go together well at all (although the other roasted veggies were fine) and I had to pick them all out:
Without the potatoes it was much better, but definitely nothing special. Kind of a disappointment because it had really smelled good while I was cooking it up…
So I need to make another trip to the grocery store, but have been trying to hold out until Saturday when I have to stop by to help my sister out and can pick up some coupons I don't have on hand here. I'm not sure if I can make it that long…
This is the current list of food I still have
This is the current list of what I have purchased:
Goal: 100 days eating on $1 a day
Current Money Spent: $48.85
Money Left to Spend: $51.05 ($6.17 must be spent at CVS, $1.50 must be spent at Safeway)
Retail Value of Everything Purchased: $1396.37
The Beginning ::: Day 83: Bacon!
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I have looked at items in the past, especially when I was working full time off the farm, and decide whether that item was worth X amount of hours of work to pay for.
Now that I am only working on the farm and going to be getting back to my home based businesses, I really have to look at things that way!
Jeffrey? Is your sister as mean as she sounds? Even though she’s making the rules, it seems cruel and mean spirited to rub your nose in it, especially when she’s doing the inviting.
Back on topic — I routinely look at professional services in terms of how many hours of work I have to do do afford someone else’s fees. If it is something I can do (although it might take me longer, like plumbing or changing the oil in the car), I nearly always come out ahead financially doing it myself. You have to decide where to draw the line — based on what you value.
I still think your sister is mean. You should ask her to guest post sometime.
Did you know that you can make “ice cream” from one ingredient? Frozen banana(s) VRRRRRRed in a food processor. You can mix in other things to make it more interesting (nuts, peanut butter, chocolate, fruit, whatever).
And, for the record, I *love* your $1/day idea.
Jeff, the way to get back at your sister, should you choose to take the low road, is to taunt her about how many days you could have eaten for the price of something she owns, wears, or has just purchased. “$75 for that pair of shoes? Gee, I could eat on that for seventy-five days!”
But hey, look at it this way. You’re not the only one who now can’t help seeing the prices of things in terms of how many days’s worth of food it costs. Clearly your sister has, too. I bet she’s teasing you because she can’t help seeing money this way now, and she’s irritated at feeling guilty. Or she’s afraid you’re going to taunt her as described above and is trying to pre-empt you.
I agree with KAD, you should say things to your suster like “Wow, you are wasting 50 days of food on THAT?!?!? Jeez, think of your kids why don’t you?!”
btw – Potatoes and rice don’t go well together because they are both starches.