The Rules
1. I am allowed to spend only $100 on food for myself this month. That money may be split across the month in any way and spent on any foodstuff or meal.
2. If a friend owes me lunch or dinner and offers to make good during this period, I am allowed to accept. I will accept such an offer no more than four times over the course of the month, although that shouldn’t be an issue since I can’t think of four people who owe me meals.
3. I am allowed to use any coupons or deals I can find or haggle. A major point of this exercise is to learn frugality.
4. I am allowed to dive for food if the mood (and an experienced friend) should take me. See previous re: frugality. Besides, I live in Oberlin—diving is something I always meant to try as a student and never got around to.
5. I am allowed to use the food already present in my home. Besides some useful spices, oils, and tea, this currently equates to a half-bag of sushi rice, a few lousy apples, about a pound of butter, and some cheese. Oh, and a partial bottle of white wine. Hopefully I can find creative ways to use them.
While not on the official list of rules, I will also be acquiring a bike in the next week or two and attempting to reduce my carb intake substantially. Losing some weight and getting back into decent shape are secondary but very desirable outcomes of this experiment.
If you’ve got any questions or suggestions, please let me know!
