From Prosperity to Poverty...and Back Again

To go from living a comfortable life of prosperity to "living well below the poverty line" hasn't been easy. Anyone who has been doing this one-month poverty experiment with me knows that there are times you just want to scream.

Our family moved to New York in 2004 for my husband to go to grad school. It was a financially tight time for our family. First, we were doing grad school without the burden of student loans. Second, we had saved up the first year of tuition before we moved to New York and worked through school to pay for the second year of tuition. Third, we had three small children. We weren't quite living under the poverty line, but we were sure close. We lived tight so that we could live without consumer debt (or "mommy and daddy debt"--we didn't want the strings that are attached to money that comes from parents.)

I remember going to ALDI, our favorite discount grocery store, and getting exactly what was on the grocery list. I scoured thrift stores to find darling clothes and house decor. We even drove the streets of Syracuse looking for fun and funky discarded furniture. (We still have one of the treasures that we found on the streets of the village of Camillus.) It was both empowering and exciting to know that our future freedom from debt was in my hands. My ability to control my spending, to be creative and to live well despite our lower income was a challenge and a blessing.

We were able to graduate without debt, without mommy and daddy strings attached and with a tremendous amount of dignity. Within a year of graduating we bought our first home and have been amazed at how much living with less has taught us.

Ten Item Challenge

If you could only put ten items in your grocery cart this week and spend less than $50, what would they be? Could you make enough meals with those items to keep your family fed throughout the week? You may use what you have on hand (ketchup, mayo, oil, sugar, butter) to supplement the items on your list.

Here's what I would buy:

1. Cabbage
2. Eggs
3. Oats
4. Milk
5. Onions
6. Carrots
7. Bananas
8. Chicken or Lobster (whichever is cheapest)
   
9. Rice
10. Beans

I have stuff on that list to make decent dinners, healthy breakfasts, very boring lunches, and some snacks. If I could add one more thing to the list it would be popcorn. Just a bag of unpopped kernels. It's an incredibly cheap and healthy snack...

What ten foods would you put on your list?

Dinner: Wednesday, January 28

Herbed Chicken with Garlic
Potatoes
Steamed Italian Vegetables
Sliced Whole Wheat Bread
Total Cost: $6.80

My husband loves vegetables. He also loves meat. He loves my homemade wheat bread. This was a meal for him. Our aniversario numero diez is this week, so I made a meal I knew he'd like. And I promised the kids that if they ate 90% of the vegetables on their plate that I would make a batch of Supernatural Brownies.

They ate their veggies and we made the best chewy brownies ever. And my husband loves chewy brownies, too.

Dinner: Tuesday, January 27

Super Nachos
Total Cost: $3.50

When you make Super Nachos, you must remember the most important thing: The Rule of Three. Super Nachos need at least three different toppings in order for the nachos to be super. This can be cheddar cheese, refried beans, and tomatoes. Or mozzarella cheese, shredded chicken, and green chiles. You can also try pepper jack, olives, and chili con carne.

So, remember the Rule of Three, and serve your Super Nachos with the Rule of Two: sour cream and salsa.

Hint to the menfolk: This dinner is wicked easy. Just pour chips on a cookie sheet cover them with shredded cheese and two other nacho-y type toppings. Bake at 350 till the cheese is melted...about 15 minutes.

Dinner: Monday, January 26

Whole Wheat Spaghetti and Meatballs
Cooked Carrots
Pineapple
(no bread)
Total Cost: $4.35

Spaghetti and meatballs without garlic bread is a sad thing. I used up my refrigerated dough to make cinnamon rolls for the kids for an after-school snack. I also had a headache, so dinner got no creative juices from me.

Some nights you just need a boring dinner. No weird herbs or spices. No strange ingredients or labor intensive elements. You just want to sit down and eat without thinking.

I sat down for dinner and my sweet husband had accidentally grated asiago on my spaghetti and my pineapple. He said it was just like Hawaiian pizza, but I think the headache made it taste exactly like pineapple with asiago on top. If you closed your eyes and took a bite of spaghetti and pineapple with asiago, it tasted sort of like Hawaiian pizza. But you had to think about it really hard, and like I said, tonight wasn't a good night for thinking hard.

Dinner: Sunday, January 25

Leftovers
Total Cost: $0

I know families who do the whole "Let's Pretend Like it's Thanksgiving Again" thing for Sunday dinner. Too much work.

I love simple. Simple is good. And tonight, we had leftover lentil soup. And it was good.

We try to keep Sunday dinners simple for the simple reason that God said that Sunday is a day of rest. He's got our best interests at heart. We try to serve simple meals on Sunday, and since the whole family is home and hungry, we often serve leftovers from the week.

Keep the Sabbath Day Holy. If it involves leftover lentil soup, then this is one commandment we can all agree is both convenient and a pleasure to keep.

Purchases: Week Three

Instead of listing purchases this week, I'm going to give an update on the budget categories.

Groceries: We hit our budgeted amount for groceries for the month, so either I have to buy nothing next week, or I need to pull from another category and do without something else. The good news is that I spent the rest of our budget for groceries on long term storage that will last for months. I bought chicken at a great price.

Clothing: We're under budget in clothing. I spent about 75% of our budget, so I could spend the rest this week, but I don't need to.

Dining Out: Just bought a few ice cream cones for the kids after piano lessons (the free ones, remember?)

Gasoline: Right on budget, and we have two full tanks. Since we don't shop as much this month, we're saving tons on gas. I'm not super strict about combining my shopping trips--I went out on Saturday just to buy some paper to make cards.

Household Consumables: Right on.

Household Non-consumables: Love to buy a huge leather couch, but our lovely floral sofa will do fer now. We really didn't buy much this month.

Recreation: I bout some paper and counted part from the gift category and part from the recreation category. We really need to get babysitting and get out more. It's in the budget!

Gifts: I was able to make two batches of truffles and give gifts to my friends who had birthdays this month. I also made sure my husband (who has supported me through this month of poverty) got plenty of truffles.

We're doing all right...and just a few more days left.