SNAP Challenge: Week 4

This week's soup

Here we are at the last week of the SNAP challenge. Since I bought two weeks' worth of groceries last week, I don't have a shopping trip to report to you, but I'll fill you in on my meal plan.

This past weekend, I ate:

• peanut butter toast for breakfast (I wasn't feeling super well last week and I didn't have much of an appetite in the mornings... does that make me sound pregnant? I assure you, I am not.)
• lunch on Saturday was leftovers from Thursday night (I took two of my friends out to thank them for catsitting for me) and Sunday lunch was the last of the potato chowder
• dinner on Saturday was baked potatoes topped with odds and ends from my fridge (green peppers, enchilada sauce, cheese, and sour cream) and I had dinner on Sunday at a friend's house

Additionally, I volunteered to make a dessert to bring to my friend's on Sunday. I had some leftover baking chocolate sitting in my pantry that I wanted to use up, so I started searching around for recipes. I came across a few good ones, but they would have required me to buy a few ingredients at the store. I almost resigned myself to going out to pick up eggs when I came across a recipe for vegan chocolate chip cookies that I had all of the ingredients for. Score! So, a quick tip for you: if you don't have eggs, search for a vegan version of what you want to make to see if you could make a few modifications to use what you have instead (I used butter for my cookies, so they weren't actually vegan).

My meal plan for this week:

Breakfasts: finish up the freezer breakfast burritos.

Lunches: tempeh tamale pie. There used to be a great vegetarian/vegan cooking blog called Peas and Thank You, but the writer decided to stop blogging. Luckily, some of her recipes wound up on other sites before she took her blog down, so I've been able to still cook some of them. This tamale pie is one such recipe. It's really filling and quick to make. I did a number of substitutions: I used my black beans instead of buying pinto beans, I used real cheese and sour cream instead of the vegan versions, and I used the agave syrup I already had instead of maple syrup. 

Dinners: tortellini soup with peas and spinach. Another super quick and easy recipe. I almost always have frozen peas, spinach, and vegetable broth (as was the case this time), so I only had to buy cheese tortellini. I usually don't make soup two weeks in a row, but I knew I would be cutting it close budget-wise because of the grocery delivery and was looking to use as much as I could that I already had on hand. Also, on a disappointing note, my parmesan went moldy, so I won't be able to sprinkle any parmesan cheese on this soup like I usually do :-(. 

There you have it folks: 4 weeks of SNAP budget recipes. Stay tuned for my wrap up post where I'll summarize my thoughts on the challenge as well as offer my tips and tricks for cooking for one on a budget.

Check out how I did:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3

SNAP Challenge: Week 3

Delicious homemade pizza!

Week two of the SNAP challenge went smoothly. The burritos worked out beautifully (they were smaller than I expected though, so next time I'll be using larger burrito shells) and my pizzas were delicious (I wound up using leftover green pepper instead of broccoli like I originally planned). My quinoa was a little watery due to my impatience, so my dal wasn't as good as usual, but it was still perfectly edible.

So, remember how I mentioned that I didn't think I would need to get a grocery delivery while on this challenge? I stand corrected. One of my cats is having some health issues and my vet asked me to change up his diet. New diet means needing to purchase different food and since walking or riding my bike with a 10+ pound bag of dry cat food and a dozen cans of wet cat food doesn't work out so well, I had to resort to a grocery delivery. In addition to cat supplies and a few household items, I wound up getting two weeks' worth of food to make the delivery worthwhile and to make my life a little easier. Did I manage to stay under budget despite this wrench in my plans? Let's take a look.

Safeway grocery delivery (food items only): $55.46

I still needed two ingredients, so I stopped by Trader Joe's and picked up an onion and some tempeh. I wound up getting two packages of tempeh because the price was really good, it's harder for me to get to Trader Joe's, and tempeh lasts a really long time. 

Trader Joe's: $4.67

Total grocery spend for two weeks: $60.13

I came in under budget by $2.87. I'm really surprised I was able to stay within the SNAP budget. I needed to replenish a few things (almond milk, OJ, butter) and bought a good amount of dairy items, which can be a little on the pricey side. Also, I wasn't able to use quite as many coupons and loyalty card savings as when I do my shopping in store.

Before I dive into what I'll be making for week 3 of the challenge, let me go over what I ate over the weekend:

• Breakfast consisted of eating the leftovers I had from the freezer breakfast burritos I made last week. I had some of the scrambled egg/vegetable mix, shredded cheese, and enchilada sauce left, so I made myself little breakfast burrito bowls.
• Lunches and dinners were veggie burgers, a grilled cheese, and left over frozen veggie mix. I did have lunch out with friends Sunday afternoon at a street festival.

My plan for week three:

Breakfasts: Even though I have a week's worth of breakfast burritos in my freezer, I need to use up the half and half I bought last week, so I'm going to make scones this week and eat the rest of the burritos next week. I'll be using this scone recipe, but will be replacing the blueberries with dried cranberries. I'm not sure if I'll be making the glaze. If I do, I'll use orange juice instead of lemon juice.

Lunches: Lemon Ricotta Pasta. Another super simple, inexpensive recipe from Budget Bytes. All I needed to buy was the ricotta since I bought the rigatoni last week and already had frozen peas and lemon juice. I was getting really sick of bananas after two weeks, so I caved and bought greek yogurt for the next two weeks. I'll also be having my usual granola bars.

Dinners: It's getting a little cool here at night and I love to make soups to stay warm during the fall and winter. This Cheesy Potato Chowder will fit the bill nicely. I make and freeze my own vegetable broth and have a bag of frozen broccoli that's been begging to be used, so I only needed the potatoes and dairy items.

Stay tuned to see what I make during my last week of the SNAP challenge!

Check out how I did:
Week 1
Week 2
Week 4

SNAP Challenge: Week 2

Groceries for week 2 of the SNAP challenge

Week one of the SNAP Challenge went as planned. I feel like I lucked out having pesto and tofu on hand to use so I didn't have to make very many sacrifices in order to come in a little under budget. Will I be so lucky during week two?

Let's see how I did at the grocery store:

Safeway: $22.65 (saved $6.57 by shopping sales and using coupons loaded to my loyalty card from Safeway's website)

Cash back from JingIt, Checkout51, and Snap apps: -$.90 (two were for bananas and one was for mozzarella)

Total grocery spend: $21.75

I came in under budget again this week, this time by $9.75! Even I was surprised by how well I did this week considering two things:

• As you can see, I made up for my pasta shortage and bought two boxes of pasta this week. I'm not planning on using either one this week, but I was able to get them for $.64 a box and I couldn't pass up such a good price.
• I'm going to be trying something new for breakfasts and I actually bought enough ingredients to last me for two weeks. I thought for sure this would push me to end of my budget, but that clearly wasn't the case.

Before I go over my meal plan for week two, let me tell you about what I ate over the weekend.

• I finished up my muffins for breakfast on Saturday and ate egg in the hole on Sunday.
• I finished up my broccoli rice casserole and had salad for lunch on Saturday. On Sunday, I finished up the salad and I wound up cutting a fake chicken patty in half to fit it onto the last hoagie roll I had left over from my tofu subs to make a fake chicken parm sub. Gotta make do with what you have, folks!:





• For dinners, I finished up the last of the tofu for a tofu parm sub on Saturday and kept it simple with a grilled cheese and frozen veggie mix on Sunday.

So, what will I be eating during week two? So glad you asked:

Breakfasts: I've been wanting to make frozen breakfast burritos for quite awhile now and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try them out. I'm loosely using The Simple Dollar's guide, but on a smaller scale. I'll be making 10 burritos with 10 eggs, some shredded Mexican cheese blend, green bell pepper, onion, black beans, and enchilada sauce. The enchilada sauce has been sitting in my fridge for awhile, so I'll be glad to finally use that up. I've been getting into the habit of making a big batch of black beans from dry beans instead of buying cans of black beans and then freezing what I don't need right away. I've come to the end of my frozen reserves and so I'll need to make another batch for these burritos. Like I said before, these burritos will last me two weeks, so I better like them! :-)

Lunches: Dal Nirvana, granola bars, and bananas. This lentil recipe is one of my all time favorites. It's one of those great pantry cleaning recipes since I almost always have most of the ingredients on hand. In this case, I only needed to buy the cream (I chose half and half instead of heavy cream because it was cheaper). Because the recipe is based on staple ingredients, it is very inexpensive to make. I'm going to be making quinoa (that I already had) to go with it.

Dinners: Pizza! I still have lots of pasta sauce to use up, so I figured I would make some pizza dough (I'll be using Money Saving Mom's recipe), get some mozzarella, and top it with whatever I had on hand. So, broccoli and spinach pizza it is!

Snack: air popped popcorn with butter, salt, and nutritional yeast


I think the reason I was able to do so well budget-wise for week two is because I only needed one ingredient for my lunch dish. I'm afraid I'm finally running out of pantry staples and will need to get a little more creative to make it through two more weeks. I will almost certainly be making a pasta dish next week and I'll have breakfast covered, but I'll need to do some more brainstorming to come up with another good, cheap dish.

Check out how I did:
Week 1
Week 3
Week 4

SNAP Challenge: Week 1

I went grocery shopping on Saturday for the ingredients I'd need to get me through the first week of the SNAP Challenge. Some things to keep in mind about my situation:

• I typically walk or ride my bike to the grocery store once a week. I do get groceries and cat supplies delivered about once every two months or so from Safeway since I don't have a car and cat litter is heavy! In those cases, I usually get enough food to last me for two weeks. I think I'm pretty well set on the cat supply front, so I probably won't need to order a grocery delivery while on this challenge. 
• I typically eat breakfast at home, pack a lunch to take to work, and eat dinner at home (which sounds pretty boring, but it definitely saves me money). 
• I'm a pesco-vegetarian, but usually only cook vegetarian meals at home since seafood and fish can be a bit pricey. 
• I've been in the habit of meal planning for quite a few years now, so the planning involved for this challenge is pretty old hat for me (but I can definitely see how it would be tricky for someone who isn't used to planning and paying close attention to how much they spend on groceries, how much food typically costs, sale prices, etc.). 
• I almost never buy drinks besides orange juice and loose or bagged tea. I drink water with practically all of my meals and throughout the day.
• If it wasn't obvious, I'm only shopping and cooking for me since I live by myself.

So, how did I do during my first shopping trip?

Groceries for week 1 of the SNAP Challenge

Safeway: $25.86 (I saved about $14 by shopping sales and using coupons loaded to my loyalty card from Safeway's website)
Farmers' market: $2.60 (zucchini, tomatoes, onion)
Wholefoods: $.70 (Probably the lowest Wholefoods bill you've ever seen! I needed ground flaxseed and eyeballed a 1/2 cup out of the bulk food bins. A whole package of ground flaxseed would have been at least $7- no thanks!)
Cash back from Checkout51 and JingIt apps: -$.50 (One was for bananas and one was for bread)
Total grocery spend: $28.66

Not too shabby! I came in $2.84 under budget. I should point out that I will not be further calculating the cost per day or per meal because I don't have the amounts of all of my ingredients to go off of. I feel as though the food I already have on hand and the food I buy and don't finish in one week (in this case: bread, veggie burgers, mayo, eggs) pretty much cancel either other out it terms of cost and that's why I'm continuing to use what I have already (not to mention how wasteful it would be not to use what I have). As long as my grocery bill every week is $31.50 or less, I'll consider it a job well done.

I'm planning to write a post dedicated to my tips and tricks for cooking for one on a budget, but I'll give you a rough idea of my approach here. Every Sunday, I make my food for the week. I make one big dish for lunches and one big dish for dinners. I typically pick meals that are casseroles or lend themselves nicely to being eaten over the course of a week. I know not everyone can do this because they get sick of eating the same thing everyday, but I'm usually not bothered by it, especially when I cook something I really like.

I'm usually a bit more lax about planning meals on the weekends because there are usually enough odds and ends left over from the week before for me to throw something together and also because plans with friends can cause me not to eat at home as often. The meals I made over the weekend:

• Egg in the hole (I make these almost every weekend for myself since I typically have more time to make and enjoy breakfast than during the week)
• Veggie burgers with toppings
• Broccoli Rice Casserole: I'm kind of proud of my resourcefulness with this one. Usually, I have some pasta on hand to make spaghetti or something similar when all else fails, but for some reason, I was out of pasta and all I had to make a meal with (outside of the ingredients already accounted for by the meals I was going to make for the week) was frozen veggie burgers... or so I thought. I took a harder look at what I had on hand and realized I had both frozen broccoli and rice. I did some searching and found the above recipe for broccoli rice casserole. I didn't have a can of cream of chicken (or any cream of anything), but I remembered seeing awhile back a recipe for making your own cream soup base. I Googled it and used this one, but there are many that you can use. I also didn't have any cheddar, but I did have some mozzarella for my tofu subs, so I grated just a little bit onto the casserole. Voila! Dinner.

The meals I made for this week:

Breakfasts: Zucchini, Banana, and Flaxseed Muffins. This was a new recipe for me. I usually eat cereal or oatmeal for breakfast, but every once in awhile, I like to mix it up. These muffins taste pretty good and are very moist. I had a handful of pecan pieces sitting in my pantry, so I threw those in too and I'm glad I did. The crunch from the occasional nut gave the muffins a nice change in texture. I'm not sure if I'll make this recipe again.

Lunches: Pesto Chickpea Salad on lettuce with tomatoes and flatbread for dipping. I'm too lazy/pressed for time in the mornings to assemble much of anything, so I went with the deconstructed sandwich idea here. Also, I picked flatbread instead of pita because it was on sale and cheaper. I almost always pack a granola bar and a banana or greek yogurt with my lunch entree. I went with bananas this time because I needed a banana for the muffins anyway and bananas are almost always cheaper than greek yogurt. The granola bars I got this week were less than a dollar a piece thanks to coupons on my loyalty card. I already had one can of chickpeas, lemon juice, and pesto (leftover from a shower I threw last week- not something I normally have on hand) and used dried parsley instead of fresh.

Dinners: Tofu Parmesan Subs. I had a package of tofu in my fridge from a few weeks back, frozen spinach, and lots of jarred pasta sauce on hand. I used the sauce I had instead of making the sauce in the recipe. Usually, when a recipe calls for breadcrumbs, I take a few of the bread ends I freeze from the loaves of bread I buy, toast them, and throw them in my food processor to make my own breadcrumbs, but I had an opened container of panko breadcrumbs in my pantry I decided to use instead. Also, I didn't bother dipping my tofu in egg before covering the pieces in breadcrumbs since the tofu is already moist and the egg never made the breadcrumbs stick any better on the previous occasions I've made this meal.

Snacks: crackers and peanut butter; air popped popcorn with butter, salt, and nutritional yeast


I'm already starting to think about what to make next week and I'm curious to see how I do. I have a feeling that as I go along, I'll have less on hand to use since this budget doesn't allow much room for me to throw in extras to stock up with. My guess is that I will probably have to resort to more basic recipes with less costly ingredients. We shall see!

Check out how I did:
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4

Hello again and the SNAP Challenge

by slightlyblurred via Flickr

I hope you all had a lovely summer. Mine was rather full with mostly positive things. I traveled a good amount, met someone new, discovered some health issues, became an aunt again, began a long distant relationship, and ran my first 5K.

Periods of a lot of change have always caused me to grow reflective and, predictably, I've been in a rather pensive mood lately due to the shift in the nature of my new relationship. His move has got me thinking about what, if anything, is keeping me on the west coast and if I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing with my life. I have these desires to promote my dad's artwork and to write, but I've done very little of either one and perhaps now is the time to devote attention to them. If I never really try, I'll never really now if they will give me the sense of fulfillment I think or at least hope they will. So, here I am, writing.

I discovered that keeping up with this blog has been easier if I challenge myself to do something and write about the experience, giving me that extra boost of motivation that I usually need to get through the life projects that speak to me. With that in mind, I came across the SNAP Challenge on one of the food blogs I follow, Budget Bytes.

What is the SNAP Challenge, you ask? It's a challenge to eat on $4.50 a day (or $31.50 a week), which is the allotment Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants receive. The challenge raises awareness for the cost of food and how difficult it can be to provide enough food for yourself (and potentially a family) to combat hunger. Why am I interested in participating in this challenge? A few reasons:

• First, a rather selfish one. I tend to keep a pretty close eye on my finances in general, but I have a few extra expenses to pay for (plane tickets, vet bills) that require some extra budgeting on my part. Doing a challenge like this will help to ensure I keep my food expenses low. 
• While my mother did not receive food stamps while I was a child, she did everything she could to spend very little on food. This was partially due to her low income, but also because her hoarding tendencies made her and continues to make her a rather cheap person. Additionally, my mother hoarded food and so we always had a full fridge, but one that was full of rotten food. There's little worse than looking through a fridge full of rotten food when you're hungry and trying to find something suitable to eat. 
• I thought this challenge would give me an opportunity to talk about some of the few positive things I was able to glean from living in my mother's hoard. Because of my experiences, I hate to see food go to waste and so I have developed some good methods to use up all of the food I buy. Some of my mom's frugality rubbed off on me and so I have also gotten rather good at keeping my food expenses low (within reason- I am adamant about staying well out of the realm of my mother's cheapness). I think it'll be nice to balance out a lot of the negativity written about my mother and my childhood experiences with some of the positive I got out of it all.

Like Beth at Budget Bytes, I will also do the challenge for a month instead of just a week. One of the "rules" is to not use what you already have, but I think that is unrealistic and would be wasteful on my part (why would I buy a dozen eggs and let the eggs I have go bad?). Using what you have is a big part of eating on a budget, so I'm throwing that rule out. Additionally, I previously agreed to take two of my neighbors out to dinner as a thank you for them cat sitting for me while I was out of town. I'm not going to shirk that gesture because of this challenge. I very rarely eat out by myself (and as part of this challenge, will not eat out by myself at all for this month), but do go out to eat with friends every once in awhile. I'm going to look at these invitations on a case by case basis. Because I tend to think of these types of interactions as an investment in the friendships I have and less of a ding to my food budget, I expect I will eat out a few times during the next month. 

I tend to spend in the range of $30-40 a week on groceries, so I'm curious to see if I will find this challenge difficult. Stay tuned for my post on how I did during my first grocery shopping trip and the meals I have planned for week one.

Check out how I did:
Week 1 report
Week 2 report
Week 3 report
Week 4 report

Free or inexpensive things to do in a city

by ecstaticist via Flickr

I originally wrote this post years ago for a now defunct blog. As Jess and I are starting to plan our cross country roadtrip, I thought back on this post for ideas for things to see and do in new cities. 

Watching your pennies doesn't always mean that you have to stay home all day, everyday. I live in Richmond, Virginia and the River City offers plenty of opportunities to get out and have fun without blowing your budget. I've broadened these categories so that they can be applied to most cities or larger towns in America. These ideas would also be a good starting point for inexpensive things to do while visiting another city. Always remember: it's not the amount of money you spend, but having a good, positive attitude that makes going out anywhere enjoyable.

Budget movie theatres. Never got around to seeing that big flick a few months ago? Check your local movie listings to see if a budget theatre picked it up. For a buck or two you can get a second chance to see it on the big screen.

Museums. Art, science, and history museums often have free admissions on certain days- usually Sundays. Also, if you get there a few hours or less before closing, they may waive the admission fee. Keep in mind there are a good number of well funded museums that always offer free admission. And of course, if you are a student or a member of a certain organization, you can often get free or reduced admission.

Local music scene. Shows for local bands at bars, restaurants, and venues often don't have a cover charge, or if they do, it's only a few bucks since they want to encourage as many people to come as possible. Local bands are always eager to see a few new faces at shows to help spread the word about their music. You might just be pleasantly surprised at how good some of the bands really are!

Festivals. Every city and its surrounding area usually have at least a few free festivals every summer, if not during the rest of the year as well. Whether it's a festival revolving around food, ethnicity, or a special event, you are sure to expand your world view for very little cost.

Art openings. Once a month, there is usually a designated day of the week that all art galleries in a certain area of a city stay open later than normal (for example, the first Friday or third Thursday of every month). Most of these galleries have free, light refreshments that you can munch on while you check out artwork and wander from gallery to gallery.

College speakers. Colleges and universities bring in a wide array of speakers throughout the school year to enhance the intellectual environment on their campuses. Many times, these events are open to the public and are free. Check the college's website or newsletter for announcements.

Rush tickets at theater productions. Many theatres offer a reduced ticket price, or rush tickets, for theatre goers who purchase their tickets (with no reservations) 5-10 minutes before a show begins. A cut in profit is better than a seat remaining empty. Also, high school and college's theatre productions are usually a fraction of the cost of a "professional" theatre's production.

Factory tours. Companies are usually all too eager to have present and potential customers take a tour through their factories. They should have a schedule of their tours posted on their website or recorded on their answering machine. Free samples are usually distributed at the end of the tour (especially at breweries, wineries, and factories that produce food).

Stroll through an interesting neighborhood. Whether it's for the architecture, the window shopping, or all around vibe, sometimes just hitting the street on a beautiful day can offer plenty of eye candy and entertainment.

Bodies of water. Lakes, oceans, and rivers usually have an abundance of things to do around them. Canal walks, islands, beaches, nature trails, swimming, boating, fishing... you name it, you can do it, and usually cheaply or for free.

Public parks and estates. When owners of vast estates pass away, some of them donate their property to the city and the city, in turn, converts them into museums and or public parks. A tour of the house itself may be a few bucks, but you can usually visit their gardens for free. If none of the estates are budget friendly, regular public parks are a nice escape as well. You can pick up a few items from a local market and enjoy a picnic watching kids fly kites or romp on the jungle gym. State or national parks are also good, frugal choices if they're nearby.

Dog parks. If you, a friend, or a family member owns a dog, see if there are any public dog parks in the area. Your dog will get some much needed exercise while you get to meet nice, interesting people who live in your city and share your love of dogs.

Historic landmarks. Monuments, memorials, cemeteries, battlefields, settlements, and birthplaces (just to name a few historic places) are usually free for the public to peruse. What better way to brush up on American history than to see it face to face?

Parades and marathons. Make sure you get to the route early so that you can pick a good spot to see all the action. Bring some drinks and maybe a few light snacks as these types of things seem to last a long time. Parades and marathons are even better if you know anyone who's going to be participating.

Book signings/readings and open mic nights. Independent bookstores often have local author readings and signings while chain stores usually attract more popular authors. Check bars, cafes, and even bookstores for listings of open mic nights.

Visit thrift stores and or used bookstores. Sometimes you just never know what you're going to find at an amazing price or what interesting characters you'll meet.

Volunteering. If you really want to attend a pricey event, see if they need any volunteers to usher, help set up or break down, or tend the refreshment stand. Chances are, they'll let you see/attend the event for free in exchange for your assistance. If you want more than just an excuse to get out of the house, volunteering on a regular basis for an organization or cause that you feel strongly about will not only have you rubbing shoulders with like minded people, but will also give you the opportunity to spend your time more productively than you would on any kind of entertainment.

Did I miss anything? What are your tips for exploring an area without spending a fortune?

Free and clear

by msaari via Flickr

When I graduated from college, I was in need of a new car. Big Blue, the 1995 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera that I had inherited from my late uncle, was on its last legs. A few of my family members generously contributed graduation gifts to the new car fund and I picked out a used car for myself, but I was still a way off from being able to cover the cost of the car.

Since I had just graduated, I did not have a job nor had any leads for one. I figured that the odds of me getting a car loan were pretty slim since I currently had no income. Even if I did get cleared for a loan, I didn't feel comfortable signing myself up for a monthly bill that I did not know if I could actually afford once I did get some kind of a job.

Enter my unwaveringly sweet grandma. She offered to give me a loan for the remainder of the cost of the car. No minimum monthly payment needed, no interest, and I could take as long as I needed to repay her. It felt like a dream come true.

Once I secured some income, I began to pay back my grandma in fits and starts. Despite the relaxed agreement between my grandma and me, I began to feel incredibly guilty for owing her so much money. If I had to miss a month or even more because other financial obligations crept up, I felt like I was letting her doubt and being irresponsible. The dream arrangement was beginning to feel more like a nightmare.

I had and still very much have student loans from both undergrad and grad school that were and are accruing interest, but I decided that paying back my grandma was more important than sending extra payments to my student loans. Sallie Mae is a company. My grandmother is a person. I treasure my relationship with her far more than the money I would of used to pay interest on student loans. Two years ago, I decided that no matter what, I would send her a check every month for at least $200. If I had to dip into savings, I had to dip into savings. If I had to sell unused and unwanted possessions, I had to sell them. Any extra money I got went to the debt I owed my grandma. My large tax return that would have looked nice in my savings account or shaved off of my student loans went straight to my grandma.

Last week, I wrote my last car payment check to my grandmother. Because I moved in with my dad temporarily until my next job is secured, I was able to send her much more than $200 these last few months. I am so glad that my grandma trusted me enough to lend me thousands of dollars, but I'm even more glad that the debt has been paid back in full. Now my debt elimination plan is focused solely on those pesky student loans.

I like to talk about personal finance in conjunction with hoarding and living with a hoarder because they are so often intertwined. My mother is the cheapest person I have ever met. And I'm not mistaking the term "cheap" for "frugal." I am a money conscious person with many frugal tendencies. My mother is just out and out cheap. Her cheapness has not always been out of necessity; rather, it is yet another symptom of her hoarding. I like to highlight my experiences with personal finance because money issues were commonly at the forefront of living with my mother. I no doubt learned a good number of money saving tips and tricks from her, but my handling of money is often very different from what I observed living with my mother.