Day 3 - $2 A Day - Field Notes

                  

Today, I wanted to give a clearer picture of some of the challenges we face with food and budgets.  So, I interviewed my kids.  It's not just all cheap glam food and easy gourmet over here, in case you were under any illusion.  I feel like they provide a pretty accurate representation of how things are.

Note:  As quotes go, this is close. My kids talk faster than I can type. 

Me:  Hannah, you are in charge of this experiment. What are you learning?

Hannah (12):  Budgeting gets easier as you go - cause when you first jump into it you are so used to eating whatever you want, whenever you want and you don't have to worry about the budget or keeping track of all that stuff. Then you hit $14 a day and think, "Well I can do that. $14 is kind of a lot of money."  But, what you don't realize is how much you have to cut back on snacks, and write down every cup of milk or glass of juice,  and you have to get your dinners so they are nutritious but fit into the budget. You can't just buy ice cream or popcorn u less its on the list and in the budget.  It is hard at first, but gets easier with practice.

Me:  KC, What is our worst food habit?

KC (17): Soda. We spend a lot of money on it compared to how much we spend on everything else.  And, it's like the worst thing we put into our bodies on a consistent basis. 

Me: Caleb, what is your guilty pleasure when it comes to food and budgeting?

Caleb:  Well, like, what do you mean?

Me:  i mean, what do we do regularly that maybe we shouldn't do as much?

Caleb (14):  that's exactly what you asked KC.  Soda.  That's it. 

KC:  no, she asked me about our worst habit.  Shes asking you about something we do that maybe we should consider it a little better.

Caleb: Hmm.  Maybe, Mozzarella sticks from Arby's. 

KC: Ikea chocolate, 

Hannah: Vegan Ice cream

Me: fancy ice creams, pricey cheeses - but I buy them on managers special. 

Caleb:What?  Those are not guilty pleasures. I feel the same attraction to mozzerella sticks as i do to el pollo loco.

Pause. Pause. Pause.

KC: Attraction???

We all burst out laughing. 

Hannah:  Weird.  So, would you say you love mozzarella sticks more than you love your family.

Caleb:  I would trade six family members for six mozzarella sticks any day

Hannah: Rude!

Caleb:  Hey, the first album I ever write is going to be called "I 'd Sell My Soul for Mozzarella Sticks." 

KC moves to my dresser where an opened Ikea chocolate bar is waiting for her.

KC:  Caleb,  how do you feel about this?

She waves her hand game-show-model style over the candy bar.   He laughs.  Then she looks at some of the stuff on my dresser.  

KC:  Mom, we can't have these kinds of magazines in the house.  What is this?  Slow Cooker Favorites?  You were raised better than this. 

Me:Brennan, what do you think is our worst eating habit?

Never to throw anyone else under the bus in a judgement he makes or the values he espouses he considers my question. 

Brennan (Married to Marissa 1.5 yrs) : Well, for me. I'd have to say carbs. I think I eat more simple carbs than I should and I wish I could get the filler I need from more than just bread or rice.  Carbs are just energy.  I think I could turn to more nutritious sources and I don't always do that.  

Me:  That's funny 'cause Dad said that very thing just a coupla days ago. 

Me. Marissa, what have you learned about budgeting for food as a newlywed?

Marissa (married to Bren 1.5 years):  Just that there are lots of different ways to do it that work. When we had more funds for food we could buy food storage, and that was great. Then, later when we had less money we went two months without really going to the grocery store. It was hard not to have fresh very often, but we were okay. What we've found we like best is when we have a small food storage, pasta and grains and spices, and we can just go to the market and buy fresh stuff on the day we need it. That way we don't have any waste and we actually save money doing that.  We've gotten really flexible about food. We're good cooks so I feel like we will always be okay. 

I loved all of these answers. They are revealing of our strengths and our weaknesses.  Some foods are more nutritious, some are more attractive. ;)  This is real life here in the Fralick family kitchen.

Missing Notes from Hannah's First Day

 

                                    

Hannah and I did our grocery shopping last night for today's meals. Were pretty sure we failed already, because even though we count seven for the sunday meal, our grocery store receipt alone was $12.50 and we're pretty sure we need more than $1.50 worth of ingredients from our fridge and pantry.  We may have to do some serious shuffling in order to make the day work - Like ditch the coconut milk and only use one can of garbanzos and tomatoes instead of 2.

We don't have any hard core rules for our experiment other than this:

1.  We can only spend $2 per person per day one food.

2.  Most food must be purchased the night before it is need and as few items as possible should be borrowed from the fridge, freezer, or storage.

3.  Any food drawn from the fridge, freezer, or storage must be factored in to costs for the day.

4.  leftovers get discounted, i.e. if you only use 1/2 of something you bought for $2.50, you only have to deduct $1.25 for that day. 

5.  Spices, home grown produce and eggs, and the change jar are all free game for supplementing. 

Day 2 - $2 a Day

                     

Today, Hannah and I went to the allergist. She endured some pretty good poking and prodding, so we got a shake and a diet coke (i endured watching her being poked and prodded) from McDonalds when we were done. It's a good thing it was a low budget day. Our first treat cheat fit in no problem, but we weren't sure it would. We decided to declare it either way, just to keep ourselves honest.

Hannah had a major hand in every portion of the meal tonight beginning with the plan. She made the bread with only minimal final resting place help from me. She sliced all zucchini and insisted on making the marinara on her own. KC helped her with dredging and I did the frying, but she was master chef. I love that when I tell her, "Make a chiffonade," whether for basil or chard, she knows exactly what to do.

What we've learned so far - 

1. Hannah says, " Pasta is way easier than curry." I ask, "like between the marinara and the masala sauce?" Caleb responds, "The whole shebang." Hannah agrees. 

2. "It is great that we can use so much of our own stuff," Hannah adds. meaning, the most nourishing parts of our meals were from our garden or hen house. This would be really hard to do in the winter unless you had a greenhouse. Also, chickens. 

3. Leftovers are key. Because we didn't divide the cost of yesterday's dinner for multiple meals Several of us ate free lunch figured from curry and rice leftovers. Tomorrow will be the same except with pasta and sauce.

Breakfast - 

Eggs - free from our chickens

2 granola bars $0.40

2 Cups Milk $0.20

1 Cup Choco Milk $0.20

1 Cup Juice $0.20

Breakfast total - $1

Lunch -

Curry Leftovers - free lunch- already accounted for

1 Cup Milk $0.10

1 Cup Juice $0.20

Cup o noodles $0.50

Lunch total - $0.80

Dinner -

Homemade whole wheat bread 

    3 cups flour - $0.30

    1 tbsp yeast $0.05

    Salt and water - free

    Butter $0.25

    Jam from the neighbor, traded for eggs - free!

Sautéed chard 

    Rainbow Chard - free

    4 tbsp Butter - $0.25

Zucchini Parmesan

    Zucchini - free 

    1 cup flour (1/3lb) $0.10

    Parmesan cheese $1

    Egg & Spices - free

    1/2 cup Oil for shallow frying - $0.50

Marinara - 

     1 can tomatoes $1

     1 can tomato paste $0.50

      Herbs from the garden - free

1 lb Pasta - $1

1 cup homemade ranch dressing $0.50

3 cups chocolate milk $0.60

Dinner total - $5.90

Daily meal total - $7.85

McDonalds Cheats on Family Funds - $3.85

Daily total - $11.70

Goal >$14

Totally met!

P.S. After all meals were enjoyed and cleared away, KC chose to treat us all to half-price creme brulés from her work. If we counted it we would be $1.50 over budget. She said we shouldn't have to count it because it was her personal money, not family funds. A gift. Moral ambiguities and true confessions. You judge for yourself how you would handle it. Feel free to share your thoughts.

Day 1 - $2 A Day

Hannah at the Helm...Again

Heaven on Earth around the Dinner table. 6 of these beautiful people belong to me.  I claim the other two, as well.      

I won't lie. It was bit of a rocky start as we got this budget into place. Hannah and I went shopping last night for several items we would need. The rule is $2 per per person per day, and we are counting 7 people because we frequently have that many, even if our newlyweds don't join us. Tonight there were 9 of us. Still $2x7 = $14. We spent $12.56 at the store, then subbed some of the ingredients out for things we had here.

Another confession. There were a few minutes of heartburn figuring out how much each granola bar costs and if we really had to count them, Or the ice cream one might want in the evening, or any number of miscellaneous food items we might ingest that aren't necessarily meal related. There were several utterances of "I really don't want to do this experiment." But, before dinner was on the table, Hannah had the days budget figured down to the dollar, and when she answered the door for company and said, "I was just working on the day's budget," there was a clear note of pride in her voice. And, when she finished making the meal and crunching the numbers, her sense of accomplishment was evident.

KC keeps us honest. She said, "I think we need to do more of making the meals fit the budget of the day rather than just seeing what happens when we get to the end of the day. It should not be an option to go over."

So, we took that to heart, chose our curry recipe that didn't call for coconut only used one can of garbanzo beans when I thought we needed two, and we came in just under where we needed to be, making room for chocolate milk.

Tonight's dinner was in honor of Malala, the 18-year-old Pakistani girl, who at 15 was shot by the Taliban for daring, as a girl, to go to school. At 17, won the Nobel peace prize. And, just last week, in honor of her birthday, opened a school for Syrian refugees, especially welcoming girls. KC made a cake to celebrate! We are still looking for a cause to support with the funds we save through this experiment. Malala reminds us that by small means, great things can happen. If you are considering a $2 a Day Challenge, here's some food for thought. Also, this is our accountability, all figured by Hannah:

Breakfast - 

Waffle mix - $0.85

Syrup - $0.50

Milk - $0.50

Juice - $0.25

Butter - $0.25

Breakfast total - $2.35

Snack - 

Granola bars - $0.40 

Chips - $0.50

Salsa - $0.50

Snack total - $1.50

Submarine total so far: $3.85

Dinner 

Tikka masala 

Onion - $0.20

2lbs potato - $0.40 

1 can tomatoes - $1

1 can garbanzo beans - $1

Cream - $1.30 

Carrots - $0.40

Yogurt dip - Dip - $1 

Rice - $1 

Naan - $2

Cake - $1.25

Milk - $0.70

Spices and garden veggies don't count on budget!

Dinner total - 9.55

All together for the day - $14

Right on!

                                    

Fralick Family Econ Experiment #9 - $2 A Day

                                  

Several months ago, Hannah and I watched the documentary "Living on One Dollar." Given our families history of economic experiments, this was dangerous fodder for Fralick minds. But Hannah chose it, then she came up with this:

"Mom. I want to do this as our next experiment. For real. I stayed up last night making this simulation, sort of like what those guys did, and I figured out how our family could do it. We would draw from a hat what our pay was that day. Some idays we find good work and get paid well. Other days we getting shorted money. And, some days we have to going without any money at all."

"Wow, thats pretty detailed. And, hard core! So what average are you working with?"

"A dollar a day per person. That's it. And, I want it to include stuff like housing and the internet. They did it in the documentary and we have done enough experiments I really think we can do it too."

"So, how long do you want to carry this on?" I ask, a little fearful. Our last experiment was 40 days of no grocery shopping. It got pretty desperate there at the end as far as fresh food was concerned, and I decided long experiments are not my thing.

"We can do it however long, but i think two weeks would give us a good idea of how hard it would be," she says.

With this, I take a long look at our life of privilege and relatively decent nutrition an begin negotiations. "Okay, how about 10 days. It's summer and I don't know if I can do it much longer that that. The other thing is, $1 a day per person is not sustainable in the United States, even just for food, without running into some serious malnutrition problems. You guys are still growing. I'm not ready to take on that sort of liability."

"But they have a whole program you can duplicate," she argues.

"And, they did it in Guatemala," I retort. How bad is it for me to shoot down her bravery like this?

"I'll tell you what." I say. "Lets start with $2 a day, per person, and if we easily beat it every day, we can reduce it. K?"

"Okay, but can we make it random like, my little simulation?" she asks.

"Again, lets see how it goes for a few days with a set amount and then see if we could stand to have a day without the $2."

"Fine. But that takes a lot of the fun out of it," she says. I laugh because food insecurity isn't fun or funny, but we are making it a game anyway.

If you are confused about the content of this post, what i mean by our family's economic experiments, or how we could do all of our family food on just $2 per person per day, stay tuned and follow along. Tomorrow is Day 1.

Preparing for Something New at the Deep Well of Silence

Photo credit: http://www.chaoswallpapers.com      

Sometimes you miss opening night of the musical theater production your kids have been working on so intensively for the past two-and-a-half weeks, not because you are stocking up for your next experiment, but because you are still in search of that deep Well of Silence you lost track of years ago when you got distracted by a passing squirrel.

"I used to be a master meditator," you tell your oldest son, who has taken up a Silence practice of his own at times, "I sat near that Well every day, even with little kids and babies all around. But the busy and worry of the last few years has wrung that old practice right out of me."

"You'll find it again," he assures you, without qualification.

"Maybe if I had a camel and a compass," you think.

Instead, all you have are your own distracted thoughts. You sit quietly with them over the ten days your kids are otherwise engaged, and wait for a Guide to help you find your way back to that illusive Silent oasis. There are living waters in that place, meant to help you feel and embrace what is coming next. What you get right now is a lot of sand and grit in your face and a sense that the storm on the horizon might bring life giving rain or just strip you bare of so many of the things you thought you knew. Could be both, but the latter image makes you shudder. You shift your gaze. Change the scene. Draw your energy elsewhere.

Off in the distance you see the memory of attending every performance of every show you kids were in. You helped back stage, kept the flow going, helicoptered around herding little actors into place. Hover, hover. Then, last year, at 11-years-old, Hannah wrote, produced, and directed her own play with one of her friends and a cast of 25. You were only there as adult supervision. The experience reminds you how capable your kids are of doing amazing things without any of your hanging about. This show is KC's fist paid gig as stage manager. Caleb plays a supporting role, and sets the tone for the energy of the cast. And, Hannah is a Drama kid/dancer extraordinaire. Every day of rehearsal they took the car, headed to practice, ran errands, enjoyed taco shop treats or stopped for drinks. You watch, grateful, as they dip into the Well of Encouragement and Unity before heading home.

You are very quiet as the scene fades, but still find no sign of the Well of Silence. Maybe, right now, it doesn't matter. Because every day you prayed to find that well, you came across other wells instead. You found the Well of Comfort and Joy, the Well of Humor and Happiness, the Well of Hard Work, the Well of Patience and waiting - whose waters are sometimes more bitter than sweet. And, your kids know all about the Well of Love and Support you and your husband located for your family decades ago. Even in your absence on opening night, they don't have to go hunting for it. They know right where it is and can draw deeply from it any time.

So, tonight you leave the Well of Silence behind you somewhere and go to another oasis. Here you find two great performances, with all the fun, fan-fair, and hooplah attending closing night. Here is an awesome network of wells. You immerse in the waters of Singing, Dancing, Harmony, Comedy, and deepest of all, Gratitude. No camel or compass required.

                           

   

Weeks 5 and 6 Food - KC in the Kitchen

KC is nearly 17 and very capable in the kitchen.  The challenge for her is that the day is long, starts early, often requires things of her after school, and getting dinner on the table and lunches into bags is a tall order to fill.  This is the real world and she is no stranger to managing time and resources.  It isn't impossible, but it is hard to nourish and sustain a family meal after meal, day after day. 

KC had three additional challenges.  First, she had no farmers market or goods from the dairy to supplement with.  Second, she was working in the dark without a plan.  Before this challenge started, the other kids did all of their planning and shopping.  KC was otherwise engaged, so she wasn't part of that process.   She gets the final two weeks without the benefit of prep time. Finally, she had to finish up the No More Grocery Shopping challenge with me out of town.  And, she did it! Though, I did call a few times to remind her that having a meal at dinner time really was an essential part of the day.  KC is like me in that if left on our own we would be happy with popcorn and cold cereal for most meals.  She finished the 40 days of staying out of the store with pasta, curry, mac&cheese, rice&beans.  Pretty modest fair, but done with a little KC flair, no one complained.  

I think the best part of her two weeks in the kitchen came on day 41 when she could finally go to the grocery store again.  Surprisingly, the thing everyone was most anxious to have was fresh produce.  Though our final foods were nutritious and tasty, we really missed the crunch of fresh veggies when most of the meal came from long-term storage.  But, that is another essay altogether.  Here's what KC did.  

     

Day 29, Monday, November 3

Lunches - for 5

Mashed potatoes - 2lbs potatoes, cream, butter 

Corn bread 

Canned Pears 

Dinner - for 5

Hash-brown Waffle Hack

                      

Day 30, Tuesday, November 4

Dinner - for 5

Cheesy broccoli soup 

cornbread

Day 31, Wednesday, November 5

Lunch - for 6

Cornbread

Hummus 

Crackers

Dinner - for 5

Japanese Curry

Day 32, Thursday, November 6

Lunch - for 6

Pears

Pb&j

Dinner - for 6

Pizza

Day 33, Friday, November 7

Lunch - for 6

Pizza leftovers

Dinner - for 6

Egg on toast

Day 34, Saturday, November 8

Family lunch  Up north

Salads

Lasagna

Family dinner down south

Curry bar

Day 35, Sunday, November 9

Dinner at friends' house

An amazing spread that we contributed to with pasta, Alfredo sauce and homemade bread.

        

Week 6 Food - KC in the Kitchen

Day 36, Monday, November 10

Lunch - for 6

pb&j

Dinner - for 5

Japanese Curry leftovers

Day 37, Tuesday, November 11

All out for dinners

Kids at thanksgiving party

Mom at a wedding

Dad out of town

Day 38, Wednesday, November 12

Dad and Caleb out on a huge adventure

Dinner - for 2

Girls only - Mac and cheese

Day 39, Thursday, November 13

Fend For Yourself - mom and dad out of town

Kids on their own

Day 40, Friday, November 14

Mom out of town

Dinner - for 4

Beans 

Rice

Chips

Sour cream

Salsa

Day 41, Saturday, November 14

Mom still out of town

Grocery shopping again!

Sandwiches

Fruit

Salad

Day 42, Sunday, November 15 

Mom is not back yet!

Veggie burger fest

French Fries

Salad