Frugal Food Challenge - Day 4

Alright, time for more details. This experiment was started quickly (read: not much planning). Immediately I have more manual work then planned for. Keeping track of and pricing each meal for one. It is also the most enlightening part of the process. Knowing the cost of my meals is really motivating to not spend money at restaurants.

I'm going to have a separate post with the cumulative meal list and prices for reference. For today though:

Breakfast Total $1.06
Sweet Potato Fries - 0.26
Butter - 0.05
Toast - 0.18
Peanut Butter - 0.15
Agave Syrup - 0.12
Coffee - 0.30

Lunch - Total $2.15
Mixed Salad 0.40
1/2 Avocado 0.50
3oz Turkey 1.00
Bell Pepper Sliced 0.10
Dressing (not sure estimated 15cents)

Snack Total $0.15
1 Banana - 0.15

Dinner Total $0.44
Applesauce - 0.18
Sweet Potato Fries - 0.26

Overall Total $3.65

I ate a light dinner. I was working in the evening and already pretty full from the days meals. As far as adjusting, my tummy is quickly becoming okay with the lower calorie amounts. It feels that my calorie intake is more than adequate and later evening cravings died down quicker than anticipated. The hardest part has been calculating the cost per meal, so there are still estimations. They should be within a few cents and I'm careful to not to under value as much as possible.

My weekend finished up and I worry that returning to work will pose new challenges to staying budget. To counter that, I talked with co-workers for added social accountability.