Thrifty Eating Challenge: Day 1

Today has been a chill day, the perfect day to start my challenge!

BREAKFAST

It was an easy, simple, traditional breakfast of bacon, eggs and hash browns. Word to the wise: never get distracted while making bacon, or else this could happen =(

But, all in all, my breakfast was delicious!

LUNCH

For lunch I made Sloppy Joe's with half of the 2lbs of lean, ground beef I had thawing in the fridge. One of the reasons I love this dish is because you can transform it into so many things once it's finished! I will likely use it for pasta sauce tonight, and perhaps make stuffed peppers or something later on in the week. It'll be a quick and easy meal since the bulk has already been made!

I used a modified version of the Budget Bytes Sloppy Joe's Plus recipe. I modified it because I just didn't have certain items in my fridge or pantry. The modifications are below:

• Instead of using tomato sauce, I used a can of diced tomatoes.
• Instead of using tomato paste, I used a tablespoon of ketchup.
• Instead of using the apple cider vinegar, I used rice wine vinegar.
• Instead of using dijon mustard, I used honey mustard.
• Instead of using lentils, I used black beans.

The result is still pretty delicious!

DINNER

I know my earlier list says I'm having pasta for dinner, but I had an open container of couscous, so, here we are: Sloppy Joe's with couscous. Super Delicious!

I highly recommend this brand of couscous, btw.

Today has been good. I've kept it together. Let's hope tomorrow is just as successful!

What's up with this blog?

First thing you should know about me: I'm broke. Don't misunderstand, I have a job (two jobs, actually) and am able to pay my basic bills, but lately I've noticed that I'm putting absolutely NO money in my savings account and I have to live off of going to my parents' house and raiding their pantry when the end of the month hits. When I looked at my finances I thought I was doing well with everything except one area: food and drink. Although I spend WAY less than your average person, I spend too much for the amount of money I make. So, I've decided to challenge myself: 30 days without paying for a meal. 

I went to the store today (as you can tell by the above image), purchased about $200 worth of groceries, and with the $50 worth we'll say I already had at home, that puts me at $250 for 4 meals a day (gotta count the snack in there!), which is a total of 120 in one month. Roughly, that comes to about $2.10/meal.

Here are my rules:

• No money will leave my bank account to purchase any food item. This includes beverages.
• Other people's leftovers, community food at the office and/or work-related event meals are fair game. 
• I will only accept to be treated for a meal once every 7 days.
• Not all of my meals will be home made. Let's be honest, ain't nobody got time for that!

I'll be posting updates every day, including the recipes I use when I do cook at home. I hope this helps me be more mindful of my food spending and I hope that you all keep me honest!

Tomorrow will be day 1! What shall I eat, what shall I eat...