This week begins my first attempt (and let’s be frank — it’s an attempt unless I prove that I can do it) at Tami’s Eat on $30 project.
The premise is simple: eat no more than $30 of food and drink for a week, which is close to (but more than) the amount that a person in the USA receives for government assistance. A lot of people are participating, and you can find their blogs and twitter names on Running With Tweezers.
In the couple of days leading up to this week, I have had several thoughts bouncing around in my cluttered excuse for a brain, which are worth exploring here:
The first question is the easiest to answer: I believe in the cause … and I need to save money. I filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy this year and have been on a no-credit lifestyle for about six months. My car was broken into last week, and the damage and losses set me back around $650. That’s, unfortunately, a huge chunk of my savings, and doing this for one week is a small step towards righting the ship. One week a month might be even smarter.
The second question is more difficult. I can’t shake this feeling that simulating poverty (for lack of a better phrase) is distasteful. I have no rational reason to believe this, but it reminds me of when celebrities pimp a charity or adopt a child from a beleaguered nation. The worry, I suppose, is that it can become an exercise in vanity. Someone slap me if I get sanctimonious or self-righteous :) One tertiary thought to this is that, while I can always drive to the farmer’s market and get cheap, high-quality produce, someone on the nutritional assistance program might have to ride Atlanta’s pathetic excuse for mass transit to an overpriced, understocked grocery store like Piggly Wiggly, Harris Teeters, or Wiggly Teeters.
The third question is the one that scared me. My first reaction when I considered doing this project was, “oh my god, how can I go a week without going out drinking?” I don’t much like what that says about me. Maybe I will learn something unexpected this week.
—————
So, onto the nuts and bolts of my plan:
I spent an hour or so at the farmer’s market yesterday, gathering prices. I have my eyes set on a few things as a result: namely, cheap/trash seafood (squid is less than $1/lb, for example .. cioppino?) and basing several meals off one chicken. Kale and potatoes also came to mind (chicken scraps to make a version of linguica could be good .. then caldo verde!)
About to go shop. Wish me luck!
