16/28 Car Truths: Scavenge

Scavenge!

This might be more a part of college life than living out of your vehicle related. Somewhere out in the wilderness of the town and campus there are organized events that give away food. As the frugal person I try to be and as the daughter of a mom who would save popcorn bags for movie trips, I love free food.

I shouldn't say free, as my student fees go towards paying for event food.

The up side to going to as many events on campus for food is that you also get to learn about other programs or careers out there. So, it's entertainment as well.

Student organizations and club set up various themed activities or forums related to their mission. Most of the events have professionals from the field who discuss their jobs. The Ethnic Studies department had  professionals who have careers in social justice, the International Studies department invited professionals from the field to describe how they found their careers; French and German Club hosts Mardi Gras/Fasching every year.

If you're a student, go down to the student center and look for posters, club meetings and offices that you could gather information about where to go.

If you're luckily enough not to be in school anymore, local libraries and city websites detailing event information (csindy.com, for Colorado Springs events).

Besides being active in the community and learning about something you normally wouldn't seek out, it's free food.

Even though you're looking for discounted food, remember to be a respectful guest and actually participate in the activity. For Fasching, I helped decorate and danced around. For the career seminars, I listened to all the presenters and asked questions on their experiences.

4/28 Car Truths: Food

Banana, Nutella,
peanut butter tortilla, yum!

Food!

Figuring out what food to buy, how much and working that into the whole budget for the month was a completely new experience for me. Originally, I tried giving myself a certain amount I could spend everyday. That didn't work out for two reasons: I would focus on buying little things over cheap larger purchases and I worked better having a set amount of money I could spend over the course of the week, as opposed to three dollars every day.

I have a small lunchbox cooler for small items that need to be stored for a couple of days and when the weather stayed cold enough I purchased different juices and fruits. Now that the weather is warming up (even though it's still snowing) I avoid large purchases that can go bad too quickly and stick to simple items.

For snacks and breakfasts, I mostly have granola bars (33-50 cents each, depending on the brand, Nature Valley honey is the cheapest), various nuts (10 bucks for a canister of cashews, almonds or 14 for pistachios). Peanut butter and tortillas are always a good bet. Carrots, apples and bananas are fruit and a vegetable that last for a couple of days while I munch on them. Those are the healthy food stuffs. I still occasionally have a one dollar burrito or hamburger from a fast food restaurant.

Expectations on Easter

EXPECTATIONS

My friends from work invited me over
for Easter. We decided to bake these cute
little bunnies for the occasion.
I don't know the exact source, but found them on tumblr.

  Reality is less picturesque.

Visting Cousin!

Source

Source

Exciting news! My cousin is traveling down from Germany to visit my mom, sister and myself. Except for my late grandparents, none of her family has ever visited. 

I've been to Germany a couple of times as a kid, but didn't have a firm handle on the language then. Now with my improved proficiency in the language, it will be great to actually talk to my relatives directly and not through my mom.

While I visited my mom during break, my cousin sent an early Easter care package with a bunch of German chocolate. Yum! Germans know how to make their sweets.

Homecoming

The cake, feat. red chucks.

My pup, Penny. Smart as a tack.

All three of the beasts, in the guest bed with me. Penny, Bubba and Basil.

I have the best mom ever. My manager had to leave work for a family emergency and never approved my four days off to visit home. I still managed to spend two days visiting mom, the pups and my cat.

My mom saved a Valentine's Day cake for me in the freezer and we had steak and broccoli, my favorite dinner, on my first night back. She helped me sign up for a low-income dental insurance wait list and organize a bunch of my old crap to donate.



I still feel pretty bad. Because of her leg surgery my mom has picked up extra shifts in one of her jobs and the clients there seem like jerk offs. In her other job one of her major clients is actually moving up near Fort Collins and she's loosing that income.

When I graduate in May, I'll definitely be helping her by paying back that family loan, but I still feel my mom deserves better than working two jobs just to get by at 49.

Foods Stuff

I'll put the healthier, more appetizing meal up first. It's a banana, nutella, peanut butter tortilla. It's a great breakfast and simply enough to make in a car.


The second isn't as pretty, but a reality, is a dollar hamburger. Usually grab one in between school and work as a quick bite. I'm moving away from more commercial foods, especially after what happened at my job. Grocery stores are also cheaper. A dollar for the amount is still occasionally worth it.

Mardi Gras!

German and French club host a Mardi Gras/Fasching celebration every year and I'm not one to miss out on free food and good music. The one benefit of living closer to campus is scoping out free food given to student events. Our student fees technically cover all of it, so "free" isn't the right term, but without some inquiring I would never see any of this food anyways. Cupcakes, hot wings and vegetable trays for all!

Mouse Trap

After reading this inspiring article by David Cain just a few days ago, Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed, I caught myself today falling into the trap.

The summary of the article is that because the forty hour work week has taken up so much time that people have they tend to over spend on the weekends to recover from the droll of the week. As I work twenty plus hours and week and spend the rest of my time school-working, I rarely have time for entertainment or recovery.

I had a really stressful day at work.

I had a really stressful day at work.


I'm going to type it one more time: I had a really stressful day at work.

I am at my three strikes at work. My manager basically told me that this meeting should of been my termination and that I should talk to him in two days to change positions in the company (or face the "responsibilities" of my job).

Let me elaborate here: I am one of those annoying cell phone polo shirts that interrupt your shopping and use every tactic in the book to get you to buy a phone.

One of these desperate people

Source: http://www.printapromo.com.au/uniforms-and-clothing/custom-polo-shirts/mens-unisex/pp-2mp-jbs-wear-embroidered-podium-moto-polo-shirt

The first time, my manager wrote me up: a customer threw a tantrum in the store because their cell phone bill was higher than the brochures. Apparently, they decided not to understand the concept of TAXATION. That was my fault for telling them that their cell phone bill would be X and not X + taxes.

The second time was a couple of months ago, when I showed up on the wrong day and skipped the right one. My room mate thought it would be funny to fuck with the written down schedules I posted on the fridge. A no-call, no-show called for a coaching.

Today would of been my last day. I have been late for work once a month for around 11-16 minutes for sixth months. The last time I arrived tardy happen to be the day that my mom's pug vomited blood on me.

He was cuter as a puppy. A puppy that didn't vomit as much.

Fortunately for me, my late hours working, covering shifts and building good customer repoire has paid off as I didn't get fired. Unfortunately for me, I've been "suggested" to leave my position and be a regular sales associate on the floor. I wouldn't mind as much (working on the floor is fun), except for the pay deduction.

Source: http://www.foodspotting.com/reviews/324180

Feeling rather stressed, during my break I fumed my way to the sandwich shop across the parking lot and "treated" myself to a 6 dollar meal, complete with cookie.

Breaking my food budget and personal goals for a sandwich and a cookie I fell into the trap of convenience and want. I had food in the car. I already overspent my budget last month. I can't really afford to be homeless, let alone be homeless and eating out.

Lesson of the day! Watch where every cent of your money goes.

The Diet

Here's what I eat regularly!

Soy Milk for Protein

WestSoy doesn't taste that different from regular cow milk and it doesn't have to be refrigerated. Although, it has stayed cold enough where the milk is still chill throughout the day.

The Basic Fruit

Oranges, apples and bananas are cheap, keep well in the car and I like to eat them (which is important).

Nature Valley Bars (30 cents) and
Some Discounted Protein Bars (50 cents)

Snackies! I've pretty much replaced a meal with one of these bars, in between classes or the time before work. Once again, tryingin to focus

Nom Nom Nom Nom

Carrots are great because they keep long enough when I store them in my little lunchbox cooler. When the weather gets warmer I'm probably going to have to switch out the vegetables I eat, or get them in cans. 

Foods not listed are peanut butter, tortillas, chips, mixed nuts and craisins. I still pick up a dollar hamburger at least once a weak, partly for the protein. ALSO, I don't like not eating dead cow for extended periods of time.

The Second Night

After I rearranged the sleeping position and had experience placing the window covers, getting into bed and sleeping went much smoother. I do need to wear two pairs of socks when I'm sleeping, as it gets really cold. The weather tonight is reported to be 12 degrees and this morning I awoke to 9 degrees. Although, it's not cold enough to keep me from sleeping in - I set the alarm for 5:40, but sleepily turned it off and slept in till 6:21. Oh well!

The Situation, taken from my sleeping position

As long as I am under the comforters, I stay relatively warm. In an attempt to solve the condensation problem, I left one window cracked slightly. No frost covered that particular window, but the rest of the car windows carried a thin layer.

To eat healthier and cheaper, I finally took a trip to the grocery store and picked up some fruit, tortillas, a yogurt cup and peanut butter. Because work offered free chicken sandwiches in the break room my daily food expenses stayed low: 50 cents for the orange, 50 cents for the cup of yogurt, 14  cents for a tortilla and 12 cents for the peanut butter spread on the tortilla. $1.26 for the day isn't bad at all!

The Food

I didn't really plan out my first month. I do have a basic mess kit (plastic container, knife, spoon, fork, cup), but haven't really put together a plan on what I should purchase to survive on my budget, in a car for a couple of months.

Today, I already spent 1.69 on the hamburger, leaving 1.61 for today. Per serving, I will be looking at how much it costs to get things like granola bars and make sandwiches. Right now though, it looks like breakfast is something off the dollar menu and dinner will be canned food from the grocery store.

Many sites have warned against eating fast food as a substitute for meals, Romana S. at Vandwellers.org uses the term false economy, which I understand. If I did order 5-10 dollar means at fast food restaurants I couldn't stay in my budget.

I would defend the big burger (520c) I had this morning from Carl's Jr as having almost half my caloric intake (1200-1400c) taken care of for a dollar. Well, it was suppose to be a dollar, but it looks like Carl's Jr is more expense than other value menus. Taco Bell, McDonalds and others have items that only total 1.07, but have 400-500 calories. A granola bar for .50 cents or can of fruit for the same can fill up my other two dollars.

With more planning, I will hopefully have a better plan that eating off the dollar menu everyday, but for the next couple of days that will have to work.

The Budget

With my part-time job, I make around $900 a month. To put that in perspective, a one-bedroom apartment in this city costs around $750 to $900. Most college students stay in houses or large apartments together, with each student paying $400 to $500 rent. Through financial aid and student loans the semester and the Rec Center fees are paid.

My Expenses

Reoccurring: I know every month I will have to pay my phone bill, a Netflix bill, and what I want to put away in savings:
Phone Bill: $38.38 ($35 + tax)
Netflix: $7.99
Minimum Long-term Savings: $168.00

Estimated Expenses: My goal is to eat off of $3.30 a day and use under $150 in gas money (a high estimate). By the end of January, I should I have pretty good ideal of the actual costs.
Food: $100
Gas Money: $150
Toiletries/Laundry: $10
Misc: $25 (movies, clothing, etc.)
Student Loan Payment: $400

This is a pretty rough budget. I did not plan this whole car adventure particularly well. The total amount equals: 899.37.