Being Frugal Is No Fun, But It Does Make Me Feel Good About Myself.

A little misshapen, but not too bad!

I forgot the egg wash on my second batch of baguettes.

I am really trying hard to fulfill my New Year’s resolutions.  This past week at work I was not able to completely carry out what I wanted, but I got really close.  My New Year’s resolutions were really all about food.  I resolved to:

1.  Spend less money on food while I am at work.

2.  Cook more meals.

Well, I have not really cooked more meals.  Although you can see from my last post that I did start baking bread.  This weekend I have done pretty well  on the baking front again.  I made baguette (we went through the two in less than a week), mini baguette to take to work with soup, and a loaf of wheat bread.   More on resolution number two a little later.  As far as spending less money on food while at work  I have managed to do pretty well with that.  My true goal is to not buy food at work, but to completely pack my food from home.

At my old office I could buy food and it was not really that expensive.  I would go to the nearest grocery store and buy frozen dinners, water, juice, soda, and snacks while they were on sale.  We had a fairly normal sized refrigerator with a top freezer and only eight people in the office, and only two besides myself actually used it.  Now I am at the Pentagon, and the only way to get grocery type food in is to haul it on the very long metro ride in and then walk the 10 minutes to the office lugging it with you.  So no grocery bags of food for me.  Also, if I shlepped it in with me then I would have to store it.  Well, let’s just say that our fridge in the office would be lucky to hold more than six cans of soda and a loaf of bread on a good day. In addition there is no freezer space in the mini-fridge.  Because of this I have bought lunch every day.  Not only is the calorie count gaining on me fast, but the price is outrageous.  I also need my cup of coffee in the morning and since the Starbucks opened up right where I come in…my daily cash outflow for food has risen dramatically.

My whole-wheat dough.

Let’s start with what I have done.   I spend $3.79- 4.39 every morning depending on what drink I get.  I have never been a breakfast person so I did not think that buying breakfast would be a problem.  However, it is easier said that done when everyone has their breakfast food at their desks and you smell it.  All of a sudden sounds come out of my stomach that are like a mix between a 5.0 earthquake and a bear growling.  So I end up spending $5-$8 on breakfast.  Lunch usually costs me about $7-$9.  So on average I have spent $93 a week on food at work.  That is at least a pair of shoes a week.

I have tried to use my hoard of travel mugs and to-go cups to decrease the coffee cost.  I have taken my Tassimo one cup drinks in my travel mugs.  They cost me about $1.00 per cup of coffee/tea.  I have taken packs of oatmeal ($0.50 each) with me to work that I can make instead of going and buying breakfast with my co-workers when they all go.  For lunch I was shocked when I realized that the lowest calorie thing I get is a bean burrito from Taco Bell!  It also only costs me $1.19 and with a $1.00 soda from the soda machine I am spending.$18.50 on food per week instead of $93!!  I don’t think I am going to do any better money wise for my New Year’s resolution, but I do think I can be a little healthier than Taco Bell.

All the dirty pans.

Although my New Year’s resolution may be no fun.  Let’s face it cooking, cleaning up after, and eating oatmeal everyday for breakfast isn’t the greatest.  However, it does make me feel pretty good about myself and maybe I’ll put some of that money I am saving towards a really great pair of shoes – or a new kitten.