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Have to last 21 days on $1,700

March 11th, 2009 at 02:57 am

We spent so much during the first 10 days of the months that with 21 days left to go we are down to only $1,700 left to spend - otherwise we will be spending more than we make.

This amount has to cover everyday expenses including the most expensive line in our budget - commute. Tolls for DH's commute to work are exactly $20 each workday day ($10+$8+$1+$1). Than there is gas (he works 47 miles away, and the traffic is horrible for a chunk of it).

Than groceries, food at work, a weekend with friends maybe, and everyday life.

And there will be additional chiropractor visit(s) and he does not take my insurance. I am still in a lot of pain - having trouble even getting up by myself. Advil, anti-inflammatory cream, and heating pads did not help relieve it. I took a vicodent an hour ago. That helped somewhat - now I can lay down and get up by myself and don't feel as much pain(still feel enough) and now I can feel the tension itself. I am a little tempted to take more to see if that can lessen the pain even more.

10 Responses to “Have to last 21 days on $1,700”

  1. whitestripe Says:
    1236741418

    maybe you could look into cooking cheaper dinners at home and taking leftovers to work?

  2. Nika Says:
    1236743240

    My co-worker actually cooks real dishes at work for us - so I get fresh, hot and varied food for just the cost of the ingredients. I am very lucky in this.

    DH does not have such option available. But I am not so sure about leftovers for lunch for him - during weekdays I only make simple things like salads, paninis, or dumplings or something like that - these things are just not meant to be eaten on day 2.

  3. creditcardfree Says:
    1236778766

    Good luck! It's amazing how much diffence there is in different parts of the country. I can't imagine $20/day for commute. I hope you feel better soon.

  4. nance Says:
    1236783616

    I don't work, and the pantry is full, but I have $40.00 left for the next 20 days. I won't have a problem.

  5. Nika Says:
    1236786262

    It is not $20 a day for commute. It is $20 a day for TOLLS ALONE. Than there is gas, insurance, tickets of insane amount for anything (they come up with new stuff all the time).

    Subway commute for me is extremely cheap - $2 per ride.

    Nance, we don't have a "pantry".
    We try to favor fresh food - not frozen, not in cans, not processed.

    Like tiny breads that are baked daily and gone by the end of the day . They are hearty, healthy, delicious.
    No, that kind of bread is not meant to be kept in a freezer for weeks. It is meant to be eaten that day. So one has to buy it the day you want to eat it.

    If recepie calls for roasted pepper I take fresh peppers and roast them.
    If it calls for spinach I get a couple of containers and just blanch them in boiling water for 10-15 seconds instead of buying frozen cartons. So fresh baby spinach will never last 21 days! Cooked, it will only taste good for no more than 24 hours.... you get my point. I pick up fresh food every other day - to be cooked that day, so my "pantry" only consists fo things like coffee, tea, spices, rice, orzo, and crushed tomatoes/tomato purees jars). You can't really make 3 weeks of meals out of it.

    I know it is a different culture. It is hard for me to comprehend shopping for groceries once a month. In most cities in Europe, you will see that people just pick up from a local grocer enough food to make a meal that and/or the next day -- few veggies, half a loaf of bread from the bread shop, meat from the butcher shop, etc... And all of it is done on a walk home from the metro or a bus.
    And if you don't work, why would you not want to make fresh food every day, having 10 hours more of free time a day than most people?

  6. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    1236787782

    Perhaps Nance goes to her pantry each day and makes those tiny loaves with the flour and yeast she stores there. Perhaps she even mills the flour fresh from wheat in her own kitchen and pepetually cultures the yeast herself. Perhaps she goes to her pantry each day and pulls out the beans sprouts, alfalfa sprouts and broccoli sprouts growing in the dark so that she can expose them to light in the window for their final green up before making the freshest salad. perhaps she goes to her pantry to take out her soy beans to make her own fresh soy milk and tofu each day. Perhaps she goes to her pantry to pull out the potatoes, carrots, and onions to make a stew from ingredients which were harvested the same week as the potatoes, onions, and carrots you buy two at a time. With that $40 Nance has for the next 20 days, perhaps she will buy the baby spinach, peppers and other items that cannot be held unprocessed in a pantry.

    Just because a person has a full pantry does not mean they don't cook fresh. Heck, how fresh is your just-cooked-this-morning tiny loaf of bread, compared to the loaf Nance can serve piping hot out of the oven?

  7. Nika Says:
    1236797844

    Joan, I must admit I did not think of this possibility.

    When I hear "stocked pantry" in a context of not having to shop for groceries for weeks, the image that comes to my mind is cans of campbel's soup, wonderbread, green giant cartons, kraft cheese, etc....
    I guess I should not be stereotyping.

  8. nance Says:
    1236799897

    Nika,
    I don't use Campbel's soup, wonderbread,processed foods, etc. I make all of our bread from scratch as well as every meal from scratch. I would suggest you look into ways to have food on hand because you never know when your income might end, an emergency might make it impossible to shop daily, etc. That is how our ancestors got through the Depression. They stockpiled foods so they would have food available to feed their families when times were lean.

  9. whitestripe Says:
    1236801141

    i too have a stocked pantry but none of the things you mentioned. i eat fresh bread every day, never eat canned soup etc

  10. Nika Says:
    1236805984

    My apologies for erroneous assumptions. It was mainly due to the fact that I cannot manage to make fresh meals without stopping by the store every other day to pick up some greens/veggies/breads and other quickly perishable items.

    Baking ones own bread would indeed be tastier.

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