About all this...

Can I afford real food?

When I started living off campus the summer after my freshman year of college, I started thinking of meals in terms of dollars. I also bought all my meals in box form. It was all Pasta Roni (the herbs and angel hair pasta was a particular favorite, retailing at 1.35 and sometimes 99 cents on sale). And Boca burgers. And spaghetti. The idea of cooking something from a recipe or buying a fresh vegetable seemed completely overwhelming, and expensive. If I used half of an onion for a recipe, how would I use the other half? I knew my boxes of Pasta Roni would never go to waste, so I stuck with safe territory. I also panicked if I bought a three dollar meal from the campus cafe for lunch, because after all, that would be $15 a week and would add up to $60 a month, which is WAY too much to spend on lunch. However, after I got out of college and got jobs that allowed me a small amount of discretion with how I spent my money, I stopped thinking about the costs of food, and didn't freak out about the prospect of an inexpensive meal out.


After working in circles for almost a decade, I've decided to pursue a master's degree to help me become more of a grown up. But right now with the money I'm living off of, I feel like I'm 19 again trying to make that dollar stretch. The difference is that now, I can't stomach a box of Pasta Roni every night. I also live with my boyfriend. Now, I can't sleep until noon and watch 19th century BBC period pieces all afternoon without a care in the world, or leave dishes in the sink for 3 days without impunity. The upside, however, is that I have someone to share food with, so when I do make something, I don't have to eat it for every meal (I swear someone should come up with a cook book for one that includes menu plans for single people, maybe it will be me?). There's also an exhibitionist factor in cooking for two. I'm incessantly saying things like "look what I made for you, aren't I the best? Isn't this delicious? I'm so talented." Validation feels good! (Did I tell you I'm studying clinical social work? I'm all about feelings. How does that make you feel?)

Long story short, this project aims to find out the real cost of living - mostly through eating, but sometimes through the other nitty gritty things we don't think about. I'll be examining how to get the cheapest onion, and how much half of the onion costs with the tablespoon of salt and the pound of spinach with the table spoon of curry powder...and so on. Is it worth the time to make your own salsa fresca, or should you buy it in a tub (hint: make it your own dang self). And if I throw out moldy business at the end of the month, I have to own up to it. And if I go to five different grocery stores to get the best deal and use up 2 gallons of gas, I have to own up to that too. Call me a tight wad, but I have to keep myself and my checkbook in check. And I bet some of you do too.