*By "I didn't have much control over where we ate" I mean that our group went to all my favorite Atlanta restaurants, by my suggestion. Oh well.
But we were gone for exactly a week, which meant I had three days on one side of the trip and four days on the other to make a whole budget week. And I did a little better this time than last. Not only did I have a few things left over that made room for some more varied purchases, but I also had a coupon for $2 off a $20 purchase at Martin's. I actually forgot the coupon the first time I planned to go shopping, which is my usual modus operandi with coupons. Normally I'd say whatever, it's two dollars. But this time I went home to get it. (If gas factored into the budget, that might be a different story.) The thing is, it might have only been $2, but that meant another item or two I could buy. It actually made a big difference.
I spent about $22 for those three days before the mission trip, which means I still have $8 to work with between now and Wednesday, and that makes me feel rich.
This time, I was able to get chili and garlic powder. I can't tell you how much better it makes everything to have garlic back in my life. And the chili powder will go a long way on those beans and rice, I'm sure. I got some veggies and some more beans and made vegetarian chili. I also bought yogurt (non-Greek, and in the big container, instead of in the little ones) and grapefruit juice (on sale.)
I'm starting to feel like as meager as everything seemed during week one, this is going to get easier as I gradually build up my pantry. (That, or everything will run out at once...) I'm already not as hungry and not as worried about rationing.
Of course, I've been aided by a couple meals in the meantime. Two Wednesdays ago was the free office lunch I won from Moe's, from which I took some leftovers, too. That Thursday I met Jenny and Jessie for dinner at Panera. (A $5 meal of soup means I owe the Lenten offering $10--that plus $3 for the coffee I got at Wawa this morning after deciding I wasn't preaching on 3 hours of sleep without a caffeinated beverage.) Just like the $2 coupon, it's amazing what a difference one meal out/free can make in stretching the rest of your groceries and providing a little variety. I've decided free food isn't cheating. Instead I'm thinking of it as grace.
I've been more aware of food and food stamp issues recently, too. I ran past 7-11 yesterday and noticed the sign outside advertising that they accepted SNAP (the official program name for food stamps.) I was a little disgusted by that. I guess I had thought from the outset that food stamps would be more like WIC, where you have designated items you can buy that will presumably actually supplement your health. I remembered that Sarah had said once when she was going to Wawa a woman gave her her food stamp card and asked Sarah to buy her Funyons and a Coke. Sarah hadn't realized you could buy Funyons with food stamps, and neither had I. I mentioned that to Jon later and he said it made sense, because of course it's in the interest of whatever big company mass produces Funyons to make sure the government lets people buy them with food stamps. But if I did my shopping at 7-11 for $30 a week, I'm pretty sure I'd be broke by day 4, and possibly also develop scurvy. Then again, I wonder if in some food-desert areas where the majority of the population probably receives food stamps, 7-11 is one of the only convenient places to shop.
I'm planning on spending my remaining $8 for the week this afternoon. I'm going to get more bread and peanut butter and bananas and if I have anything left over maybe look ahead to what I want for next week. I'm pretty excited about it.
