Reviving SAP

Hi everyone,

I'm ready to conduct the next experiment. If you were following me previously, you know that I burned out from all the online activities I was doing in order to try to maintain my previous lifestyle.

Since I ended the last experiment prematurely, I haven't quite reverted back to my old ways. I don't drink coffee at Starbucks as much as I used to. I'm more likely to pack a lunch instead of eating out. And I've become much better at not buying every single piece of clothing my little heart desires.

I've also paid off my credit card and I have around $2800 in my savings account. So I've certainly improved.

However, I'm ready to challenge myself again. My goals, in a nutshell:

• Spend $250 a month on food (around $50 a week)
• Only spend $50 a month on clothing
• Have $5000 in my savings account
• Pay an extra $1000 on the principle of my car loan

I have until my graduation date - December 17th - in which to do this.

So starting July 1st, I will try to cook everything I eat. Food is still the area of my life where I experience the most waste. What I want is a sustainable relationship with food, not the fast food junkie lifestyle I'm prone to fall into anytime I am under stress.

My plan is to upload a picture of every piece of food I buy, every bit of food I eat, and everything I throw away. I'm still deciding how to go about this, whether or not I should open a tumblr or post to here.

This is going to be difficult because I am living with my parents, and they are huge wasters of food and lovers of convenience foods. But living with them is the only way I've managed to put so much into savings. I'm supposed to graduate with my bachelor's degree in December, and living with my folks has contributed to my lack of student loans and massive credit card debt. If I wanted to live in an apartment, even with a roommate, I'd be in the hole about $500 a month. And I can't live under the pressures of debt like that.

Hopefully, I can further better myself, become a better citizen, and be a good example for my parents.

My lunch today

Cheddar cheese, ranch dressing, and turkey pinwheels with a sliced apple, a side of chips, and a throwback.

I got my Ruelala makeup today!!!

Woot!

I'm so excited! I mean, I'm not a huge makeup person, but free is free! Hmm.... I wonder if I could resell these... or regift them.

I also got my 288 Lipton decaf tea bags. This shipment cost me $1.57 after subscribe and save (six months so I can cancel it) and my $10 viewpoints gift card. Tea is NOT an item I have to keep track of, but I wanted to share how cheap it was.

(I have a year of free prime because I signed up with my .edu email.)

I think I'm getting it....

This week, I spent $2.86 so far! I bought a ready-made Starbucks frappuccino ($2.06) and a candy bar from the vending machine at school ($0.80).

The whole bento lunch thing seems to be working. Today I had fried rice (I made it myself) with a Dr. Zevia, yesterday I had a turkey and cheese sandwich with carrot sticks and grapes and a Dr. Zevia, and Monday I had lentil stew and rice with a Dr. Zevia.

Made with my pressure cooker

Who knows what tomorrow will bring! (Besides more Zevia....)

Weekly totals 10/22/10

Here are my earnings for the week:

Swagbucks: $10

mobilExpressions: $5

Viewpoints: $10
Total income: $25

Last week's rollover balance: $31

Breakdown of "fun money" I spent:
$12.40 at Whole Foods on Zevia
$2 on Mamapedia for a $5 starbucks gift card
$7.55 at Starbucks
$7.41 at Chik-fil-A
$21.25 for my BENTO BOX!!!!

Remainder: $5.39

My first bento box lunch!

...with a Zevia, of course.

The pickle is dil

I didn't buy anything extraneous for this bento. You're looking at a grilled turkey-and-cheese sandwich cut into thirds, some sour cream and onion chips, a side of loquats, a dill pickle "oval" cut into a heart, and a Dr. Zevia.

It was fun to eat and I felt satisfied but not full.

Weekly totals 10/15/2010

Here are my earnings for the week:

Swagbucks: $25

Associated Content: $8.78

Triond: $1.38

uPromise: $24.71

Misc:

Total earnings: $59.87

Here are my splurges:
Throwback Mtn Dew, $1.08
Taco bell, $5.24
Starbucks, $7.44
Sonic, $3.93
HCW, $1.54 (purchased some mail in rebates and coupons)
Membership, $4.56
Calling card, $5.00 (my little brother is in the UK and it's cheaper to call this way)

Total spent: $28.79

Total remaining (less 8 cents from last week's overage):  $31

Not bad, not bad at all!

So far so good...

This week, I spent $1.08 after tax on a 20 ounce throwback of Mountain Dew.

Wewt~

That's it, at least so far!

Oh, and today, for some weird reason I decided to come home and COOK because I was hungry after my lecture finished.

Uhhh... I didn't have any knee-jerk reaction about fast food. I just decided coming home and cooking would be the logical thing to do.

Weird....

And on top of that, I made carrots from scratch. Yes, that's right. I had four carrots that weren't quite at that rubber stage, so I washed and peeled them, sliced them, and cooked them on the stove. Oh, and I made rice. I mean real rice, not instant rice.

It's not that I don't know how to cook, or that I dislike cooking. I just never did it before unless I felt like cooking. And it wasn't that I felt like cooking today, I was hungry and didn't want to tap into my free money.

Chicken and rice

wikimedia commons

Tonight I made chicken and rice with the following ingredients:

4 chicken thighs, bone-in
1 can chicken and mushroom soup
1 can water
1 cup rice
salt and pepper to taste

Bake at 300 F for 1 hour 15 minutes.

I'm not counting the price of foods that I cook, but four meals for under $4 (not including the price of the vegetable sides) is pretty good.

Whole Foods confession

wikimedia commons

I bought these items on September 30, because that was the deadline for my mail in rebate. I'm still going to count them as this week, because I bought them with the intent of using them for this project:

2 pounds ground beef ($5.49/lb) - $11.31 after tax
2 six packs of Zevia soda ($3.99/ea) - $8.26 after tax

Total deducted from my earnings this week: $19.57

HOWEVER, I won several mail in rebates from a RAOK at Hot Coupon World. I should receive a $6 mail in rebate from the beef listed above, a $10 mail in rebate on some frozen veggies I bought (not single serve), and a $5 rebate I'll get on chips (not single serve).

I divided the ground beef into 8 quarter-pound patties and froze them in packs of two. The price per patty is $1.41 before rebate, $0.72 after.

Whoo hoo! My soap.com order came in

I've been with soap.com since they were 1-800-diapers, and I get a lot of referrals each month. You can get referrals too. Just make your first order (and be sure to use coupon code 10OFF49 if you spend $49 or more so I get credit, too) and then set up your own unique referral code. You'll also get 15% off your first order, and free two-day shipping.

I "purchased" some essentials from soap.com on the first, right after I decided to do this. Here is what I got:

Nature's Gate Henna Shine Enhancing Conditioner ($6.29)
Nature's Gate Velvet Moisture Body Wash ($7.49)
Method Daily Shower Refill ($6.49)
Crest Glide Floss - Mint ($4.15)
Seventh Generation Ultrathin Pads, Overnight ($4.29)
Seventh Generation Ultrathin Pads, Regular ($4.29)
Seventh Generation Laundry Detergent x 2 ($10.96)

Total credits used: $43.96

$43.96 added to my "non-essential allowance".

Woo hoo!

What is the Spoiled American Project?

I was sitting around one day, upset that I live paycheck to paycheck. There's really no reason for me to do this. I have enough money each month to live comfortably, but I got used to buying whatever I wanted. Of course, that was before divorce and the recession.

http://freerangestock.com

The problem is, I keep spending as if I have the same amount of disposable income. Some months are fine. Some months, I use my credit card. Right now, I have around $1900 on my credit card. I also owe around $9000 on my car. But I'm sick of debt. I'm sick of spending money mindlessly. I'm sick of equating happiness with things.





So this is my project:

• All money from my primary source of income (VA disability and the post-911 GI bill) will only be used for essentials.
• If I want anything else, I must pay for it out of some sort of secondary income, i.e. a part time job, freelance writing, Swagbucks, uPromise, etc.

This is how I define essentials. I know it's going to seem extravagant, but I'm a spoiled American. I consider certain things necessary that really aren't required for my life to continue:

• Rent
• Anything associated with maintaining my automobile: I live in Arkansas and there is no way possible I can use the public transportation system here. It's not feasible at all. If I were in Seattle, D.C., or New York, I would use public transportation.
• Anything required for my education
• Any healthcare expenses
• Food: this is limited to food I can buy at the grocery store, excluding luxury items like gourmet cheeses, meat over $3/pound, single-serving packages, TV dinners and the like, and ready-to-eat foods.
• Household cleaning supplies that I actually use (and I know the ones I do use)
• Health and beauty items that I actually use. I don't wear perfume or cosmetics, and I don't dye my hair, so I don't count these at all.
• Clothing - but only IF I need to replace something I already have that is not fit to wear.

YOU can help me by cheering me up, giving me feedback, or using any of my referral links to make purchases or earn money yourself. If you want to join me, feel free. You can make changes as you deem necessary. I don't copyright ideas.