Green Coffee Bean Extract

I decided to create a Green Coffee Bean Extract review video to give you an overview of Green Coffee Bean Max. People are losing weight with green coffee bean extract and the chlorogenic acid in the product that comes from the green coffee beans.

2 Years Ago

2 Years ago I set out to live off $30 per month for only Food. That was a challenge. Because of my profession doing web design greenville sc and being bound to a chair all day, I am now back to square one with losing weight.

I have started a new diet called Medifast. And so far it is going well. I have lost 6 pounds in less than a week based off healthy eating and eating 5 meals of their bars, snacks, shakes, ect.

Everything has tasted great so far and I am well on my way to losing weight again.

I will post here more progress when I have hit another milestone.

Know anyone that needs a professional website and would like $1,000 off? Check out this offer from EVM! http://ping.fm/llDAG

Day 31 - Challenge Complete!!

Today was the last day of the $30 challange!!

It has been a long journey and lots have been learned. For example:

1. Refridgerate or freeze your bread or it will mold :)
2. Coupons are your friend :)
3. You can sign up for Zaxby's and other restaurant mailing lists online for a free meal :)
4. Panera occassionally has free coffee
5. Rice and lemon pepper seasoning are a cheap meal
6. Ramen is delicious and cheap :)
7. Volunteer at your local church to serve...and have a muffin here and there :)
8. Drink lots and lots of water

All in all...eating off $30 is possible. Not pleasant...but possible.

I have definitely learned to appreciate food more. I will not take food for granted ever again.

I am so glad that I can to get some sushi or Crackerbarrel now :).

Day 30 - One More Day To Go

Today is going to be a short simple post.

For breakfast I had a granola bar (see a pattern).

For lunch I used a Chick-Fil-A coupon that I had.

For supper I used another Chick-Fil-A coupon.

For a late night snack, I ate a double decker peanut butter and jelly sanwich (only because I am
nearing the end.

Thank you all for your support. One more day to go. See you guys tomorrow.

Day 29 - A little sick

Today I felt a little sick with the common cold, sniffles and such.

I usually never get sick with this type of thing. I rarely ever have anything at all including the common cold. I attribute it to the lack of vitamins, fruits, and vegetables. Oh well...it's almost over...

I did not have anything for the entire morning. My friend Matt Tag gave me a slice of fruit cake when I saw him up at eCity Java downtown Anderson. That was good.

From there I traveled back by the UPS Store to pickup the business mail. I had a check from one of our clients and included with that check was a handful of Chick-Fil-A coupons. Thanks Sherri! So for lunch I had a Chick-Fil-A #1 Combo. It was amazing!

For supper, I used a Zaxby's coupon that I acquired from signing up for an email list for Zaxby's. There are some businesses out there that give you free meal incentives to join a mailing list. This is free food. If you can bear the spam mail of course...

Day 28 - Engulfed with work

Today I had a lot to do.

I got up, ate a granola bar (imagine that) and then started work. I had a couple of meetings throughout the day, but other than that I was in the office most of the day.

I was doing a little bit of everything: billing, coding, developing, tech support, sales, and managing. It's amazing how fast the day passes by when you are engulfed with your work. I looked up at the clock and it was 2:15 p.m., I had not had lunch and in comes Bobby with left overs from lunch. "I thought you would like to have this" he said with a smile. I opened the Styrofoam box and looked at 3 fried pickles, some broccoli, and 3 slices of tomatoes. Lunch. That's what it was. And I ate it thankfully.

For supper, I had some of the deer meat and potatoes that were left overs from last nights get together at Corey's. I made some rice to go along with it too. I definitely over ate. But it's alright because I really hadn't eaten all day.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...

Day 27 - Nearing the end

I have just a short while left. I will definitely be able to finish the challenge. I am so ready to go eat some sushi :)

Today I had Leads Club this morning. We had breakfast there that was included. We had sausage, grits, biscuits, and eggs. After that, I ended up at Ecity Java to do some work. Matt Tag was working and needed help with some things. He said he would give me a scone and some coffee to help him. So I agreed :) That is what I had for lunch.

Tonight was an event we call Last Tuesday where we all meet at Corey's house to hang out and enjoy good food and fellowship. We ate some deer meat mixed with potatoes, onions, and beef consumee mixed into a crock pot! We also had deer chili which turned out very well! We had a ton of people show up and had enough to cover everyone. We also had some left overs...guess who got those :)

Day 26 - Focused on Work

Today was a pretty simple day as far as food goes.

I worked from home all day and focused so hard on my work that I didn't eat a lot. I started out with a granola bar for brekfast. Then for lunch, I had a bowl of oatmeal. Have I mentioned that I love oatmeal? I really love oatmeal. Anyways, that's what was for lunch.

For dinner, I pigged out on the left overs that were in my refridgerator. Again was a plate of chicken fingers, mashed potatoes, and macaroni.

P.S. I think my milk is going bad :(

Day 25 - Observe the Sabboth :)

Today I decided to observe my Sabboth and stay in bed til about lunch time. Of course, this bypassed breakfast which saved a meal.

For lunch, I ate a bowl of oatmeal and a bowl of cereal. I might have to throw my milk out. It kind of tasted a little funny. It might have been because it is Vitamin D milk, but still tasted funny. That was all I had to eat until supper.

I went to New Spring tonight for church. Clayton King spoke tonight. The title of the sermon was "Impossible." He talked about how it is impossible for us to earn our way into heaven by observing the law (Galatians 2:15-16), but we don't have to worry about that because Jesus came and fulfilled the law and we can be justified by faith in Christ. 38 people accepted Christ! That was just on the Anderson Campus! I wonder how many people were saved at the Florence and Greenville campus'.

I had a coffee after the service with a coupon that one of my friends had given me. They said they did not want it, so I accepted :) When I got home I fixed a big plate of mashed potatoes, macaroni, and chicken fingers. God bless you Daniel :)

Day 24 - Eating Out...But Not

Today was my friend Ali's last diving meet ever!

On the way over to the meet, I ate a granola bar and drank some water. Hardly enough to fill the belly.

Lunch was really enlightening. I went out to eat with a group of people after Ali's diving meet in downtown Clemson...but...didn't order anything to eat. I just sat there and drank my water. This is the first time that I had ever been out with people but not ordered anything to eat. I got to observe from the mindset of someone that could not afford to buy a meal but still hang out with people.

Some people offered me a fry here and there. The real prize came when my great friend Tori gave me the rest of her Portabello Mushroom burger! It was good. Probably not something I would order myself (if I was paying) but it was delicious.

Then my friend Ali sat down and started to eat but then said she wasn't feeling good...so she passed her burger to me! So I ended up with 2 burgers for lunch! Unbelievable.

For supper, I had an even more special treat. I got to use the rest of the Olive Garden gift card that I had. I ordered the all-you-can-eat Soup, Salad, and Breadsticks! It was delicious. After we finished at Olive Garden, we went back to my friend Tavarus' house and watched The Saint. Tavarus said that Josh and I could have some of the cookie cake on the counter. So Josh and I dug in. Before we knew it, we had eaten almost half the cookie cake! I immediately drank a lot of water to try and dilute the sugar so I wouldn't mess my stomache up. I was sooooo good. Worth the hassle :)

Day 23 - Coupon Day

Today, I found some coupons in the mail that were sent to me :) I found a Chick-Fil-A meal coupon and a Chick-Fil-a chicken biscuit coupon.

So for breakfast, I had a chicken biscuit. For lunch I had a #1 from Chick-Fil-A :) It was quite delicious.

For dinner, I enjoyed the wonderful left overs that Daniel had dropped off last night. I had about 7 chicken fingers, a big serving of mashed potatoes, and a big serving of macoroni and cheese. It was awesome!

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Day 22 - A Miracle

This morning I woke up about 9 and started work. I some coffee that was a sample of some coffee. I drank coffee until about 1 p.m.with nothing to eat. I started getting jittery and started speaking real fast so I decided to eat something. I ate a Nature Valley granola bar. 2 per pack actually. I heated up the rest of the left overs from Tuesday's Leads Club for a snack later on that afternoon.

Ria Hydrick invited me to come over to her house and have dinner with her and her husband Matt. She had a tenderloin, green beans, mashed potatoes, and for dessert...peach pie with ice cream :) Ria's cooking was quite amazing! Thanks Ria!

Then "The Miracle" happened...

My friend Daniel texted me and asked if I wanted some left overs from a meeting they just had. Of course, I said, "Yes, please." When Daniel arrived at my house, I saw that he was carrying 3 or 4 trays of food with both arms!! He put it on the counter and uncoverd the pans. It was about 50-60 chicken fingers, a pan of mashed potatoes, a pan of macoroni and cheese, and about 13 biscuits!!!! Here is what my refridgerator looked like when I fit everything in there...

The top shelf is the tray of chicken fingers. The mashed potatoes are below that shelf and the macoroni and cheese are in the bottom of the refridgerator (not shown here).

I believe I could go another month off this :)

Day 21 - Meetings, Meetings, Meetings

Today I had business meetings almost all day. This presented a problem when it came to eating. I picked up a Chicken Biscuit from Chic-Fil-A with my last Breakfast coupon and a large coffee (with my last coffee coupon) on the way to my morning meeting. Later, I scarfed down a bowl of oatmeal before I left to go to Greenville for my afternoon meeting. I stayed in Greenville practically all day. My friend Andrew, who works at State Farm, offered to take me out for a meal for doing some business with StateFarm. So I accepted. We went to eat Mexican. Free chips and Salsa for a long time. :) Along with the food Andrew bought of course :)

Meetings make it hard to plan your eating schedule or make it convenient to eat.

Day 20 - Thinking about food

This morning I went to a business meeting called Leads Club. It is comprised of about 30 members that learn about other members businesses so that they can refer customers to your business. It's like having 30 salespeople for my business :) Leads Club usually meets at Mama Penns where we enjoy delicious food included with our membership. I won't lie, I ate pretty well this morning. I had eggs, sausage, grits and a biscuit. The server gave me a To-Go box and let me take home some of the left over food!

I didn't eat lunch because I was too full from breakfast. I waited until about 3 p.m. and ate some of the leftovers for a meal and drank lots of water of course. Later into the night I had a bowl of cereal. Yet again, the milk was awesome.

During the middle of today, I had a gentleman by the name of Paul email me and ask me "How has your 30 day challenge made you think about those who have to do what you're doing all the time? Have you had any thoughts as to how the church could help folks more efficiently? Any thing else you're thinking about as all this relates to spiritual matters."

My response was "Yes. The first day that I shopped I immediately realized that I took food for granted. How many times do we sit in a restaurant wondering how good the service is going to be and how much to tip at the end? We skip right over the food as a routine to us being out with friends.

When the prayer comes, we usually say “Thank you God for this food and help it to nurish our bodies” as a routine instead of truly being thankful for the food that is in front of us and say “God thank you so much that I have the ability to eat right now. I know there are people out there in the cold that have no food to eat. Thank you so much that I have this meal in front of me.”

I have genuinely been thankful when friends take me out to eat now and I am anxious to return thanks versus viewing it as a requirement prior to partaking in the meal."

Have you been genuinely thankful for the food that you have eaten today?

Day 19 - Getting tough

So, today was a very light day for the first part. This is of course, coming from a guy that used to eat out every meal last month. For breakfast, I had a granola bar. That's it. For lunch, I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a small bowl of oatmeal. That's it.

I also decided that Vitamins are not a food. So I took a Mega Man Performance multivitamin pack. It was rough. It was a lot of vitamins for a body that hasn't had too many vitamins in a while :) It was pretty rough. I felt like just laying down and not doing anything. They kind of made me agitated. My friend Andrew thinks it is because there were so many vitamins but not enough food to absorb some of it. It was a weird feeling. Anyone ever had an adverse effect from vitamins?

For supper, I ate 3 slices of pizza that were left over in the freezer (two weeks old), a bowl of cereal, and a granola bar. It was so good. If I keep eating like that, I might not make it :)

I hope my body absorbs the vitamins and makes tomorrow awesome. :)

Day 18 - Read the Rules Please

I would like to take a short moment and re-post the rules for those of you that are just joining us. Meet Bob. A critic who is too scared to leave his real name on the blog. Bob pointed out a very good point. I have been cheating...NOT. I have been playing by MY rules because this is MY game. So here are the rules...

(1) I cannot spend over $30 on food
(2) I cannot ask for a meal but can eat at someone's house that invites me over
(3) if I invite someone over for a meal, they have to eat from the available rations from the challenge (that should be interesting)
(4) I can work or trade services for food (the good ole barter system)

So, on to what I ate today....

Running out the door to volunteer at New Spring, I grabbed a Nature Valley granola bar. Of course, I ate a bagel while I was at church because New Spring loves volunteers and wants to feed them scrumptious food :) Thanks New Spring!

For lunch, some friends were having a get together and invited me over. I pitched in the last $0.69 that I had to spend for the month in the pot for food. That cashed out the remaining balance of the $30 for the $30 challenge. I know it's not a lot but they were not expecting anything anyways so it was great!

My friend Tori approached me at New Spring...Love you Tori :)...and gave me a cupcake :) It was deliciousness :) Haven't eaten anything for supper yet, but I plan on making a bowl of cereal or something simple :) I mean that's all you really need anyways, right? :)

$30 Press Release!!

The Anderson Independent Mail published an article on the $30 challenge!! Read the article below. You might have to click on it to blow it up. I didn't know the article was going to be this long!!



Enjoy the read. I will post today's post later tonight. Thanks for supporting the challenge!!

Day 17 - Good ole Gift Card

It's a Saturday morning. I woke up to go to a meeting at 9 a.m. at the Bagel Shop. Didn't have time to eat breakfast, so i drank water the entire time. I ate a bowl of cereal when i got back to the house.

For lunch, I decided to use a gift card that I had gotten to Olive Garden. And what did I get? All-you-can-eat soup, salad and breadsticks plus coffee :) MMMMMMMM I believe Olive Garden is my favorite restaurant now. You can get All-You-Can-Eat soup, salad and breadsticks for $7.95!!! That's an amazing deal!

For supper, I had 3 pieces of pizza (left over from Sunday) and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Later on I got hungry again so I ate another peanut butter and jelly sandwich :)

Tomorrow is Sunday!! Volunteering at New Spring!! Gonna see some lives changed...and get some free muffins :)

Day 16 - Join The Party

For Breakfast today I had a big bowl of off-brand frosted flakes and MILK!!! Milk tastes so awesome when you've been eating dry cereal for two weeks!! I have come to realize that milk is a luxury item and is very much appreciated when combined with dry cereal.

For lunch, I had the privilege of going out with a client (because he invited me) to eat at the Palmetto Grille in Anderson. It was awesome. Palmetto Grille serves a variety of things including "meat and threes." That's what I got :) Chicken Fried Chicken, Green Beans, Pinto Beans, and Sweet Potato Cobbler :) It was amazing.

For supper, I went to Tom's house because he was having a party. I got some finger foods and ate a whole lot of Kylie's beef and cheese dip. By a whole lot I mean a WHOLE LOT! Definitely not a good idea to eat cheese and beef on an empty stomach...

Day 15 - Celebrate!!!

Today is officially (kind of) halfway through the challenge!! I had $10 left to spend, so I wanted to buy more and different foods to eat. What does $9.05 look like?

I got all that for $9.05!!! That's pretty awesome. "Where did you get such a deal?" you might ask. To which I reply, "Bargain Foods."


It an outlet type grocery store that has dented cans and cereal that is still sealed but out of the box. Pretty awesome! I should have shopped here since the beginning!

By the way, I also had a photographer come out today from the Anderson Independent. The $30 challenge made the local paper!! :) I don't know when it will be out, but I am guessing it will be in the LifeStyle section :)

Day 14 - Share the burden

Today I decided to sleep in for a little bit past breakfast. I warmed up a 2 day old pot of the last coffee that I had left and started the day.

For lunch I enjoyed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I also cooked some black beans and rice. Now I have never cooked black beans. Apparently, it takes 2 hours to boil the beans. I had the time but I was hungry :) So I drank water for 2 hours.

I invited Vanessa and Bobby over for Spaghetti. They brought the sauce. It was soooo delicious!

Tomorrow is halfway!

Day 13 - Almost half way

So I am a couple days away from the halfway mark and I believe I am going to make it. Today was a pretty skimpy day. Here's the meal layout:

Breakfast - 1 Nutrigrain Bar
Lunch - Chick-Fil-A Chicken Salad Sandwich (with coupon)
Supper - 2 Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches

I think I lost 2 pounds today from my meals being so slim. I believe tomorrow I am going to cook my spaghetti and have a good supper meal :)

I also might buy some milk. This dry cereal thing is getting pretty boring...

Are Vitamins food?

I am having this discussion and would like some feedback from all you who are reading the blog.

Do Vitamins count as food?

You eat food to get Vitamins from the food. But, you cannot live on Vitamins alone. Your body needs FOOD. However, it is something that you consume. If they do not count as food, I will start taking some to suppliment the malnutrition I am probably getting :)

Post in the comment section your comments on whether or not Vitamins count as a food.

Day 12 - No more coffee

For breakfast I had a Nutrigrain bar and water (of course). Pretty light. Also drank coffee on top of that. That was the last of my coffee (that was given to me of course). So from now on out, it should be pretty interesting.

My world works on coffee. Am I going to be more grumpy? Hope not. Am I going to get headaches? Hope not. Am I going to drinks lots of water and pretend it's coffee? Yes.

I was at a photo shoot today and got to meet Cindy "Rodeo" Steedle promoting the McConnell Hall Outfitters Womens Jeans line. You should really check out the jeans they have over there. Anyways, before the shoot, Richard ordered pizza for everybody. Free meal. Thanks Richard :)

Tonight for supper I had left over pizza from volunteering on Sunday, two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and a bowl of Ramen noodles. I was pretty hungry.

I wonder what tomorrow will be like without coffee?

Day 11 - You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours

Ahh the Sabbath. A day of nourishment for the soul and the body.

Today I volunteered at New Spring Church. First off, let me say that today was absolutely amazing! There was something like 250 people that were seated in the lobby at the 11:15 service because we ran out of room!!! Everybody was pumped up!

After taking this picture, i walked over to volunteer headquarters and ate about 4 PopTarts :) After the service was over, I helped my dear friend Tori enter some data, along with some other folks, who got fed pizza for the effort :) I got to take a pizza home with me...this was supper :)

I'll scratch your back anytime New Spring :)

Day 10 - Sleep the meals off

Today I slept for a while. Past breakfast. Almost past lunch. Bottom line is I saved money :)

For lunch I had a Nutrigrain Bar and water. My awesome graphic designer friend Luan and I went fishing down at my grandfathers farm today. Luan caught 3 bass in about 5 minutes and I caught nothing. Fishing for food is not looking good. You should click on those highlighted links to check out his awesome website. Do it now.

What's that? It's a rice cake, peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It's not all that bad...but I wouldn't recommend it to the average joe looking for a new lunch substitute. The peanut butter really shines through the chewy cardboard taste.

Oh how I am beginning to love this challenge :)

Day 9 - Free Meal Cards

So here's the breakdown for Day 9:

Breakfast - Off Brand Frosted Flakes (with no milk) (this is kind of getting boring)

Lunch - Sullivans (free meal card I acquired) This was grand :)

Supper - Chili's :) ($10 gift card I acquired for referring my dad to an insurance agent) :)

I consider this a reward day :) I went out with some cards I had. Not to shaby and very delightful.

If anyone needs to get a better quote for their insurance, I know some people ;)

Day 8 - Trade Services

I slept in a little today (which helped with not eating breakfast).

My friend Luan was having some computer trouble with his laptop. I helped him transfer all his information off to save it before the computer crashed. And guess what...he offered to buy me lunch for the help :) So I gladly accepted.

My roommate Mark also felt very generous around supper time and asked if he could treat me to Supper. What a guy! Thanks Mark...you are a true Hero (2.2.09) :)

Lots of water is one of the things that has helped with eating off a tight, tight budget. Get a 32 oz. water bottle and fill it with water and keep it with you at all times. That's the secret.

Day 7 - One Week Mark

It's the one week mark and I have learned so much.

First of all, I will never take food for granted...EVER. I will have a profound thankfulness for everything that I eat from now on.

Today I ate a Nutrigrain Bar for breakfast. I brought this home with me Sunday after volunteering :) I had to rush out the door for a meeting in Greenville. My meeting got delayed so the company I work for and own a portion of, EVM Inc., bought me a french press Kenya coffee from Starbuck's :) I was so delicious! Thanks EVM :)

For lunch, I used some more Chick-fil-a coupons. I got a Chicken Sandwich, a Chicken Salad sandwich and a Large Coca Cola Classic (as Andrew calls it). That tied me over for a while. I worked late until about 8:30 p.m. and got really hungry. Bobby and Vanessa said they wanted to take me to IHOP because they had a gift card...I was so overjoyed!

It's incredibly filling to have good friends with big hearts :)

Day 6 - Weight Loss

So I have been keeping track of my weight along this journey. I just weighed in and I have lost 5 lbs. since the start!! I'm pretty sure that's not healthy.

I had a guy send me an email yesterday saying that he wanted to take me to lunch. Of course, I said yes :) So today I went to a local restaurant downtown called Matty's Downtown. It was awesome! I ate a huge chicken salad with beans, tomatoes, corn, and oil and vinegar. I made sure I ate healthy while I could!

Tonight I had Home Group. Home Group is a small group bibles study fellowship time of New Spring Church attendees. After we discuss The Word a little, we partake in some dessert. My dear friend, Tori or "the goddess of dessert", made these awesome peanut butter/white chocolate fudge. MMMMMMMMM! It was so good. If anyone that is reading was there...you know what I'm talking about :)

Day 5 - Check the Expiration Date

So...I didn't have any breakfast this morning but let me skip straight to the point...the bread was moldy. That's right. I pulled the bread out of the bag and it had mold on it!! So what did I do...

...I cut of the edges with mold on it, threw it in a ziploc bag and stuck in the fridge for later :)


Any mold experts out there? I'm about 1% sure this is safe...

I finished soaking the beans, washed them, bagged them, and put them in the fridge for Wednesday when I will prepare them with a Crock Pot.

Be sure to check the expiration date before you buy bread next time.

Day 4 - Volunteer to eat

Today I volunteered at New Spring Church (where I normally go to church and volunteer) as a greeter. They usually are pretty good at taking care of the volunteers :) In the morning, they have muffins and bagels for the volunteers. I ended up eating 2.5 bagels and a muffin :) Bagels and cream cheese have never tasted so good in my life! I Loading up on the good stuff :)

This afternoon I went shopping around a little for some more food. I am getting a little tired of multiple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (although they are delicious). I found some beans and mixed vegetables to help flavor some of the 5 lb. bag of rice I have.


This 2 lb bag of beans and can of mixed vegetables was $2.50. I still have about $10 left to spend somewhere. I am trying to hold out as long as possible to make it last.

I also went to SAMS Club with a friend to shop around and see if I could get something in bulk. Not to mention the free samples :) They have a $6.50 bag of pancake mix that yeilds 50 servings :) It also contains milk, soy, eggs, and wheat so I can get some nutrients from it.

For supper, I had rice and lemon pepper seasoning. I am soaking the beans overnight to prepare for tomorrow.

Today has taught me to shop for the essentials that my body is going to need to function for the next 25 days. I am learning a lot about shopping for certain items.

When you are on a tight budget (and are trying to stay somewhat healthy)...you pay attention to the small details.

Day 3 - Travel with Food :)

Today was interesting. I thought I wouldn't last. Me and two friends took a trip to Charleston, SC to take some pictures with our Canon Digital Rebels. I had to plan for food this time.

I went to Chick-Fil-a before we left (with a coupon from a Chick-Fil-a calendar) and got a chicken biscuit. Man that was awesome. I tried to save it until I started getting really hungry. We started out about 8 a.m. and I waited til about 10 to eat the biscuit. It was sooooooo good.

I also took with me my economy sized bag of Frosted Flakes. I was eating that about every 2 hours :)

For supper, I used another two Chick-Fil-A coupons for sandwichs. I am going to run out of these coupons so fast :)

While I was in Charleston, I got some samples from the hand made fudge place :) Free samples are the best. Especially when it is really good fudge :)

Tomorrow probably won't be with coupons...we'll see...

Day 2 - Not Bad so far

Today I got up around 9:30 a.m. and so I decided to drink water until I started getting hungry. I first ate Ramen Noodels about 12:15 p.m. It was pretty good. Not really filling but sustaining.

Now, I have just eaten a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich along with a bowl of off-brand Frosted flakes without Milk. I did not know how expensive Milk was! :) The off-brand Frosted Flakes will give me my vitamins and minerals (see below):



I will make sure to include at least one serving of this in my $30 diet plan to make sure that I am getting some nutrients.

Drinking over 100 oz. of water a day. I have to make sure that I stay hydrated. Also, your hunger and thirst feelings run across the same "receptors" so if I stay hydrated, It will be easier to last until the next meal :)

Day 1 - The Adventure Begins

New Years Day. The perfect day to present a challenge to yourself.

A few rules for the adventure: (1) I cannot spend over $30 on food, (2) I cannot ask for a meal but can eat at someone's house that invites me over, (3) if I invite someone over for a meal, they have to eat from the available rations from the challenge (that should be interesting), and (4) I can work or trade services for food (the good ole barter system).

Yesterday, I visited a grocery store called Quality Foods. It's a discount grocery store here in Anderson that has of brand (and never-heard-of brands) for sale at a low price. Here's what I bought:

1. A 5 lb. bag of rice
2. An economy-size bag off-brand frosted flakes (52 servings/$3)
3. Lemon pepper seasoning (to flavor the rice)
4. Two boxes of wheat spaghetti
5. A loaf of wheat bread
6. A big jar of off-brand peanut butter (this will give me some protein)
7. A big jar of of-brand Jelly ($0.99 spent with a smile)
8. A six pack of Ramen Noodles

All this was only $17.76. I was pretty happy with that. I left myself a buffer to see how this would get me through for the first week. We will see how everything else goes but I think this will manage.

Right now, I am about to eat a meal at my parents house (who invited me for an annual New Years meal). Some say that a meal at mom's house should not be allowed to which I reply with a smile, "Did I spend anything?" :)

Dec. 31, 2008 - A Tribute

Tomorrow the excitement begins. I have been planning, researching, and thinking hard on how to stretch $30 for an entire month. From November 17, 2008 to December 16, 2008, I spent $745.31 on food! This includes a couple of nice sushi dates, coffee, going to restaurants, and grocerys. But the grocery's, restaurants and coffee are all for me :)

That means that I will be bumping my liberal food habit and trading it for spending 4% of what I normally spend! This 4% will include anything that is going to be consumed! This includes beverages, food and everything else. It will definitely be a challenge.

This blog will keep an account of the progress of the month. Wish me luck!

Feel free to leave any ideas that you have on eating cheap in the comment section. All ideas are welcome!