The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Throw Down the Gauntlet => Topic started by: barker on December 07, 2014, 02:26:56 PM
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I'm new to this forum and blog. I've been reading the blog for about two weeks and I have started to fully embrace the Mustachian lifestyle. I am starting a challenge for myself (and anyone else interested) tomorrow to see how long I can go without spending any money on food.
A little background: I have been attempting to follow paleo/primal guidelines for a while and haven't been sticking with it...AT ALL! This year alone, I gained almost 20 pounds because of several work/life changes. New living situation since October 2013, new store (I was working in retail) in March 2014, new career (desk job) in July 2014, laid off and rehired by new company in September 2014...so pretty crazy. I haven't been able to consistently stick with anything in terms of diet/exercise.
That being said...from a shopping trip a few months ago I have a decently stocked freezer with chicken, fish, turkey and beef burgers, and mixed veggies; I also have canned tuna, salmon, chicken, and green beans; several types of nuts and seeds; about a pound of loose leaf tea; chicken and beef stock; coconut oil and ghee; mostly everything I have is within the primal guidelines.
A few notes:
I already know I have plans next week with some friends for a pizza party. I obviously want to chip in, but how? Well...my friend is going to have to bring me to the bank to use the coin counter/converter. That will be my only exception for paying for food in the upcoming weeks. (The rest of the money will be stashed for potential use at New Year's Eve event).
I will be going upstate (NY) to visit my parents and brothers for Christmas. Yes, I will be eating their food! I'm probably going to score some free chicken and duck eggs from my brother's "farm" to help hold me over another week.
And then it is almost New Year's Eve...I believe I have plans to go to a friends house for a couple of days in the Berkshires. Remaining converted coins may be applied.
After that I'm guessing I will be ready for a trip to Trader Joe's to continue living LOL
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Guess I should have scrolled through the forum a bit and read "Eat all the food in your house" posts. Oh well...
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Good luck! I did this twice this year...once before going on vacation and once when my son was out of town for a week.
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Cool! I'm looking forward to it. I will probably end up trying to convince my parents to do it too. It's just one of those habits that people buy in excess and don't eat everything they buy.
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Definitely join the "Eat all the food in your house" thread. Any ideas or questions you have will help us all.
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...I am starting a challenge for myself (and anyone else interested) tomorrow to see how long I can go without spending any money on food...
To be honest, I don't see a whole lot of benefit in this. Maybe there is even a negative consequence to it.
Here's just one point.
We buy food when it is on sale and then stockpile it. Meats and so on in a freezer, canned and dry goods in plastic bins on basement shelves. This means that we NEVER pay full retail for anything we eat. In fact, we basically eat at a big discount. And you can't do that if you run yourself out of supplies and then have no choice but to run out and restock your larder at whatever prices may be in place at the time.
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...I am starting a challenge for myself (and anyone else interested) tomorrow to see how long I can go without spending any money on food...
To be honest, I don't see a whole lot of benefit in this. Maybe there is even a negative consequence to it.
Here's just one point.
We buy food when it is on sale and then stockpile it. Meats and so on in a freezer, canned and dry goods in plastic bins on basement shelves. This means that we NEVER pay full retail for anything we eat. In fact, we basically eat at a big discount. And you can't do that if you run yourself out of supplies and then have no choice but to run out and restock your larder at whatever prices may be in place at the time.
Don't disagree. In the "eat all the food in your house" thread, people are falling into three groups:
- Some are moving soon and don't want to move a bunch of food with them.
- Some are going on vacation soon and are taking the time to eat up perishable items.
- Some are trying to use up all the various "non-staples", or oversupply of staples collected over time due to sale prices.
We share ideas for using ingredients that otherwise would be wasted. But if all you're doing is causing more food to be purchased in the future at a non-sale price, it's absolutely short-term gain/long-term loss.
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We share ideas for using ingredients that otherwise would be wasted. But if all you're doing is causing more food to be purchased in the future at a non-sale price, it's absolutely short-term gain/long-term loss.
GardenFun nailed the difference. With food prices only going up - it makes sense to stockpile when and if you can - especially meat if you are on the primal/paleo diet. Now if you wanted to eat down your freezer or save some money to buy a local side of something from a farmer, that would make a whole lot of sense. |
In our case we lived remotely and had one shot a year to buy pretty much all our dried goods and staples so we lived in a constant cycle of buying/eating down. The use up everything thread has been great for ideas and throwing random idea out to the group to get some new inspiration.
Now that we have moved South, it is interesting getting to peek at our friends and families pantrys. I definitely inherited my "squirrel" and "ohh shiny".... complex in regards to fun foodstuffs from my mom. Thinking I'll be pointing her to the use it up thread too :)