I’m not hungry today. The challenge has been pretty easy lately, which is completely the opposite of what I expected. I am definitely learning a lot about the cost of food, though. A lot of my favorite things, like hummus, cost a ton of money for ingredients that are relatively cheap, which signals to me that I should be making these things at home instead of buying them already packaged.
Yesterday, I ate pseudo-Mexican food all day, totally by accident. I went out with some friends after hearing Robert F. Kennedy speak at Milliken University, and I spent more than my allotted $4.50. However, the cost was only $2.77 over my daily budget, so if I add in the money I saved earlier in the week, I’m still $1.70 under budget for the week. See what happens when you’re frugal? You can afford to go out and eat without breaking the bank. Nice!
Wednesday: $7.27
-Breakfast: bean burrito and a cup of tea – $0.57
-Lunch: tortilla chips and corn salsa (corn, black beans, cilantro, lime juice and red onion) – $1.20
 Dinner: “Vegetarian A” at Mi Pueblito Mexican restaurant in Decatur – $5.50 tip
Thursday:
-Breakfast – bean burrito – $0.47
-Lunch – peanut butter on a spoon – $0.50
-Dinner: I’m totally going to cheat because we’re having our 35th anniversary party tonight at Illinois Times! (Sorry, hungry folks!) I justify it by imagining that if I were on SNAP, I would gobble up any freebies I could get. I know that defeats the point of the challenge, but I’m not passing up delicious cake.
 Here’s an interesting side note: Scott Summers, the Green Party candidate for state treasurer, is doing the challenge as well. You can read his blog here: http://summerstimes.wordpress.com/
 Tomorrow, I will share my hummus recipe. (Don’t worry, you can skip the tahini. It’s totally unnecessary.) Until then, keep on keepin’ on.
This article appears in Sep 23-29, 2010.
