Guest Spending

Well, it seemed to me that cooking toward the end of the time I'd be here wouldn't be very sound. Mainly because it meant I'd be saddling the friend who's caring for my house and "kids" with some leftovers she may or may not want. Didn't seem fair. So instead, I cooked enough food on Monday to last a couple days and decided to rely on pita roll-ups for the remainder of my dietary needs.

And so, that brings me to the purpose of this post. Since I obviously wasn't cooking anything, I really wasn't spending any money, either. Or was I?

Well, as it turns out, I was. I was spending money stocking up on things for my friend! She didn't really want much; just some Dr. Pepper and pasta sauce. I felt like maybe that wasn't enough, so I got some other things too. A lot of other things. I also made sure that I got enough for more than just her, since she mentioned she might have her brother come over to play rough with Francis. Playing rough is hard work, so I think he should be fed too. :)

Here's what I spent:

Dr. Pepper (12 pack cans) - $4.38
Pasta sauce (5 jars) - $9.60 (wow. Now I know why I usually make it myself)
Chips (you have no idea how hard it is not to eat these) - $4.48 (2 bags)
Pretzels and crackers (see temptation above) - $5.46 (1 bag, 3 boxes)
Meat - $3.35 (hamburger and chorizo)
Cheese - $5.86 (parmesan and string cheese)
Pasta (this sounds weird, but I got the shapes I didn't already have) - $5.28 (6 kinds)
Mangoes - $1.00 (they were 2/$1)
Salsa - $1.72
Coffee creamer - $3.18

So, with tax ($0.36), the total came out to $44.67.

Comments

  1. Chile6:00 PM

    Taking care of guests often throws a wrench in the budget, but their company (or house-sitting services) are well worth it. Hope they enjoy what you stocked up on for them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Allie6:12 PM

    Yeah, I'm not complaining about the spent money in the slightest. I'm glad to be able to make sure she's comfortable while she's here.

    I was surprised by how much processed food costs though. I didn't remember it being so expensive. People who say poor people can only afford to eat processed foods are liars who've never followed a strict food budget.

    ReplyDelete
  3. j.9:24 PM

    I think what they mean when they say that is "poor people who don't make time or have cooking skills" eat crap. I'd get like $170 a month if i had food stamps. Do you have any idea how much *really good* stuff I could get with that? Or processed? I could have my dream junk food every day, every month.

    Still, $45 isn't bad for a pet sitter. Do you pay her too?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Allie10:42 PM

    Oh, man. If I had $170 a month in food stamps, I would be the queen of chips and fresca. And vitamin water. And scallops. I might eat scallops and tuna steak once a week each. And maybe real steak too. Since you're not allowed to use food stamps at restaurants. My understanding is that in some areas, if you don't use all your food stamp money (+/- a bit), then you can lose your benefits. I could see that inspiring people to eat a lot of processed stuff, since it's easy to use up the money that way. But yeah, I totally know what you mean about how much good stuff you could get with that. I feel like my weekly budget is kind of limiting, but yours is even smaller.

    No, she didn't want any money (she's a friend of mine), but did agree to take some gas money. She works in another (adjacent) city, so getting to work and back is going to be very gas-heavy for her. I figure if someone isn't getting paid to watch your kids and house for you, you should definitely make sure they have all the junk food and other foods they could possibly want (but secretly I am hoping there're some chips leftover for when I get back, which I bet you already knew). I'm just really thankful that someone I trust can stay with the kids so I don't have to board Francis and give Aleister a few days of alone time.

    Mainly I posted about what I spent because I'm trying to keep a log of everything I spend on food for the summer. Even though this isn't food for me, it's still food I'm buying so I felt like I should include it. I did find it interesting, though not at all surprising, that I happily will shell out WAY more money to feed other people than I'll spend to feed myself. And of course, she knows she's welcome to any other food in the house (and I put out and labeled a jar of vanilla sugar for her to use with her coffee). And I made her a bergamot pie, since that pie is the ultimate "thank you" I can offer a person.

    When I saw the mangoes were 2/$1 at Wal-Mart, I totally thought of you. Also when I looked at the avocados (which I didn't get because I don't know if she likes them, but only a crazy person would have mangoes in the house and not scarf them down).

    ReplyDelete
  5. j.12:15 AM

    Deff. better to have someone you know over to watch your fur-kids.

    Interesting point about being willing to pay more on food for other people than you spend on yourself. I think it's a continuation of the "eat your mistakes" thing. Like somehow other people deserve better food maybe?

    mmmm, mangos.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Allie9:09 AM

    I don't know if I think that other people deserve better food, per se, but I know that I can cook really good food on a tiny budget. I don't always feel so confident about other people being able to. I do know she doesn't cook a lot, tohugh.

    Yeah, they were super on sale, which was exciting.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bergamot Curd

Image
As promised, here is the curd recipe. This is perfect for scones, toast, just to eat, or for an unusual twist on the filling typically used in those little fruit tarts. If bergamots are not available to you, you could always use lemon, Seville orange, sweet types of orange (cut the sugar a bit though), lime, pomello, grapefruit or any other citrus. Enjoy! 9 ounces freshly squeezed bergamot juice 2 tablespoons finely grated zest 1 1/2 cups sugar 6 eggs 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 12 tablespoons butter, cut into 1 tablespoon bits Whisk all but butter into a saucepan. Begin to heat over medium low heat and add all the butter. Whisking periodically, cook until the whisk marks stay in the curd. Pack into sterilised jars (or you can just put this in a jar and put it in the fridge, if you don't want to can it) and process 15 minutes. Makes about 3 cups.
Read more

Gems, Lovely Gems

Image
I actually have a bit more homework than I anticipated, so today I just want to tell you guys about gems. It appears that no one really knows what gems are anymore, but back in the 1800s they were a popular, if heavy, treat. So much so, that many pioneers even found room in their wagons to bring a gem pan. By the early 1900s, gems had fallen out of favour and most people just went with muffins. It's a sad, sad thing, really. Traditionally, gem pans were made from cast iron. You can still find beautiful, old cast iron pans on eBay. In fact, aside from scouring antique shops hopefully (and often fruitlessly), eBay is the only place I know that routinely "carries" them. You can find a proper gem pan for as little as US$5, and I've seen them as much as US$300. You just never really know. My advice, however, is to find one that's shallow, made in the mid-1800s (this is when the pans were really in their prime, quality-wise), and in extremely poor condition. I say to fi
Read more

Lentil, Chick Pea and Eggplant Boil

Image
Sorry for the delay. I actually made this days ago, but due to my busy school schedule (yay! The semester is finally almost over!), I didn't have time until now to post it. I always forget about lentils. I always have them in the house, and like them quite a bit, but most of the time, they don't even exist as an option in my head. I don't know why that is. I've been telling P for a while now I wanted to eat more lentils, so finally I just made some. I also decided to take this as an opportunity to use up some spare veggies laying about. Hope you enjoy! 1/2 anise bulb, sliced 1 small onion, cut into rings 1/2 jalepeno, minced 1 tablespoon olive oil salt to taste 1 cup yellow potato, cubed 2 cups cubed and peeled eggplant 1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, cut into quarters 1 cup lentils 3 - 4 1/2 cups water 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/4 teaspoon each: clove, cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground coriander seed 1/2 preserved lemon, diced 1 roma tomato, chopped 1 cup mixe
Read more