345 Days of No Eating Out: Week 5

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Jan 29th (Day 27) – Bagel and cream cheese for breakfast. One artichoke sausage for lunch. Dinner at the airport – burger and Dr Pepper.

(Note: I had previously said that I wouldn’t allow days of travel TO a destination. After travelling this time I’ve realized how ridiculous this is. I had 12 minutes to check into my flight in time because of meetings at work on Friday evening. So I’m revising my rule to be that meals at airports are allowed, but not encouraged.)

Jan 30th  - Eat out. In San Diego! Breakfast at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (Chai). Lunch at my favorite taco shop – got TJ style mini-carnitas tacos. Dad bought dinner at Greek restaurant in Ventura – had flaming cheese and shared a sampler plate with my sister.

Jan 31st – (Day 28). All meals were provided by the dive boat. Ate a tiny (quite pathetic, actually) breakfast burrito. Apples before and after our first dive. Tri-tip steak with rice and ranch style beans for lunch. A granola bar (okay, two) after the third dive. Warm brownie with ice cream and chocolate sauce after the second (okay, two).  Dinner bought by dad at In and Out (single cheese burger, shared fries with sister). Note, meals bought by family don’t count. =D

Feb 1st – Feb 5th (Day 29-33) – All meals provided by conference. The food isn’t really worth noting cause it isn’t that great. I sorta get a small portion of everything on my plate and hope that something doesn’t taste too horrible.

Total Days I’ve Eaten Out in 2010: 4

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

So I’ve traveled this past weekend from the Midwest to California for a week.

One of my plane rides was 4 hours long. So they give you cans of soda on the plane. The also give you a plastic cup full of ice to drink it with.

When the flight attendant got to me I asked for my beverage in a can, without a cup. He looked at me confused. Then opened a can, poured a portion into a cup with ice and handed me the cup.

“I asked for the can, without the cup”

Him: “It doesn’t matter, we recycle the cups anyway.”

Look… people… the phrase “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” also goes in order of importance. It is better to NOT USE something first. Then if you can’t, reuse an object you have used. And if you can’t do the previous two, then recycle it. I really am starting to hate this idea that because you can recycle something that gives you leave to use as much as you want. Recycling isn’t free. It costs energy and money. No using something is far better for the environment.

So, Delta, please, when I ask for no cup – I really don’t want a plastic cup.

345 Days of No Eating Out: Week 4

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Jan 22nd (Day 22) – Bagel and cream cheese for breakfast. Quick pad thai from a box for lunch (wasn’t that great). Apple for mid afternoon snack. Peanut butter sandwich with Cheetos for dinner.

Jan 23rd  - Eat out. Continental breakfast at hotel (bagel and cream cheese, orange juice). Nice resturant in downtown Cleveland for lunch (chorizo stuffed green chili and a small spinach salad with balsamic vinegar, mushrooms and goat cheese). Chai from starbucks for mid-afternoon break. Chick-fil-A for dinner (8 nuggets and a drink).

Jan 24th  - Eat out. Brunch at Arby’s (roast burger + fries + Dr Pepper). Dinner at Starbucks (Chai again). Cheetos for a mid-drive snack.

Jan 25th (Day 23) – Bagel with cream cheese for breakfast. Peanut butter sandwich, chocolate pudding, and apple for lunch. Chips and salsa for dinner.

Jan 26th (Day 24) – No breakfast. Two artichoke sausages for lunch. Starbucks while preparing for class. (Allowed via my rules, also doubled as a date. Bonus!) No dinner. I have no idea why I didn’t eat a lot today, but I didn’t.

Jan 27th (Day 25) – Bagel with cream cheese for breakfast. Apple for mid-morning snack. Peanut butter sandwich (ran out of jelly) for lunch with a Rockstar. Orange for mid-afternoon snack. Chips and salsa for dinner.

Jan 28th (Day 26) – Bagel with cream cheese for breakfast. No lunch. Starbucks on a date in the midafternoon (allowed via my rules). Chili for dinner.

Total Days I’ve Eaten Out in 2010: 2

Wow, I really do eat very little…. I should just start adding in healthy stuff, that might be helpful, huh? Maybe I’ll make February a “love your veggies” month!

Dating = Expensive

So, here are the facts people: dating is expensive.

Even WITHOUT eating out this shit ain’t cheap.

And maybe it would be cheaper if I were eating out? (Not likely)

As I’ll probably let most of you know when I re-open my dating blog (should happen next week I should think), I’ve been going on quite a few dates. I have a new theory/philosophy about dating and am embracing it with arms wide open.

The only down side is that I’ve been on what seems like a million dates in 27 days (okay, really only 6 dates) – and I always insist on paying for at least my half (Not in a pushy way, just in a “this is our first date” kinda way). I have been bowling and to comedy clubs, to bars and to see bands and even on coffee dates. And man, I am definitely going to have to start budgeting for this if I want my money life and my social life to both work how I want them too!

Who knows though, maybe I’ll get lucky and find some really nice guy and we’ll date in comfortable frugality for the next few months to the rest of my life (don’t really want to put any hard time lines on this hypothetical man I haven’t met yet or have only gone on 1-2 dates with).

I’ll definitely have to start looking in to some free/cheap date options. Suggestions are, of course, always welcome! Especially winter suggestions, cause I don’t really want to be spending a “get to know you” date outside freezing my ass off.

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Is There More Than This?

If you can’t tell from the posts of the last month, I’ve been going through a little bit of an existential crisis. Mostly it is work based, but part of it is relationship based. To be perfectly honest, I’m not very happy with most aspects of my life right now – at work or at home. I’m not depressed by any means, I’m more stagnant and thirsting for change and fulfillment.

And I can’t help but ask myself: Is this all there is?

The truth of the matter is that I always imagined that I would be making a difference in the world. That I would be doing something each day that would help humanity.

And SURE, you can say that my science helps the world (if I were to discover or lay the foundation for something awesome) – but let’s be honest here, most science doesn’t do squat except expand what college students need to know to graduate and make it ever increasingly more difficult for me to describe to a layperson “what I do”.

And SURE, you can say that my teaching students can change their world or their life. But I’m honestly not that influential or powerful of a teacher. I’m doing well enough just now to not confuse the students with electrons and protons and keep my grading in order. I know that some people are gifted teachers, I also know that I’m not an inspirational one, I’m a DECENT one. I won’t change anyone’s life, for better or for worse.

I always imagined that I would be saving the world. Healing the sick in underprivileged countries or building water ways so that people can have fresh water. Taking care of kids of domestic violence. Or developing a drug that would save humanity. Curing the diseases that killed my family. I really had very noble goals and dreams.

And now I feel like my life is just dealing with graduate student’s bullshit, worrying about following the job trail and trying to convince undergrads that Chemistry isn’t “that bad”.

However, I can’t think of anything that I want to do, with my skills and education, that I feel would truly be helping the world. But I guess I imagine myself running into Haiti or some other stricken country and saying “Wait! No! Let me help you fix your bridges with my knowledge of Chemistry!” Doesn’t really work that way… does it?

I guess I’m just looking for a meaning to my work beyond getting grants and doing more work. Because this is all the future seems to be at this point and I think I want something more.

I Ate Out

One of my friends that I met while I was on vacation in the Netherlands in July was in Cleveland. You know, the one who just accepted an assistant professorship in Chemistry in Switzerland. He was meeting with some collaborators in Cleveland and since I live within driving distance, I decided to go visit him. Especially since I’d never been to Cleveland.

Since he was visiting from out of country and I was definitely far from home, we ate out both days I was there. I felt so guilty for it, but at the same time I knew that I had freebie days for just this reason. So Saturday and Sunday I ate out – every meal. Now it is Monday and back to the regular routine of life and cooking.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Going away for the weekend has a surreal feeling about it that makes me think about life. I went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum and one of the quotes on the wall said something like “If you aren’t doing what you love, you’re wasting your time.” So of course I thought about whether I truly love what I do.

I believe that what I’m doing can help people. But not in a tangible “now” kind of way.

I’m not convinced I’m on the path to doing what I love. But when I think about it, I can’t think of anything else that I would “love” more. Which makes me realize even more that that feeling of love and accomplishment may not necessarily come from a fulfilling career – but from a truly fulfilling life.

345 Days of No Eating Out: Week 3

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Jan 15th (Day 15) – No breakfast. Beef, broccoli and cauliflower with rice (leftovers) for lunch. Poptart for dinner. (I was a bit busy today, can you tell?)

Jan 16th (Day 16) – Poptart for lunch/breakfast (Yes, I’m addicted to Poptarts! – Kellogg’s would you like to sponsor this Challenge?) Egg drop soup for dinner.

Jan 17th (Day 17) – Two eggs scrambled (nothing added to them), two slices of wheat toast and tea for breakfast. Rockstar for lunch. Lunch of champions, right? Chili for dinner. Grape popsicle.

Jan 18th (Day 18) – Poptart for breakfast. Last of beef, broccoli and cauliflower with rice for lunch. Red curry chicken with green bell pepper on rice for dinner.

Jan 19th (Day 19) – Cinamon raison bagel with cream cheese for breakfast. Delicious eggplant/mozzerella/pesto/marinara burger with garlic fries for lunch**. Chips and salsa for dinner.

(**Note: Took a speaker to lunch today. This is a work related meal, since the only opportunity I would have gotten to speak with him was at lunch. I didn’t have to pay and it was essential for my career, so I’m not counting it.)

Jan 20th (Day 20) – Cinnamon bagel with cream cheese for breakfast. Rockstar in the mid morning. Left over red curry with chicken and bell peppers on rice for lunch. Apple for mid day snack. Chips and salsa for dinner with generic Dr Pepper.

Jan 21st (Day 21) – Cinnamon bagel with cream cheese for breakfast. Apple for midmorning snack. Two artichoke sausages for lunch. Another apple for mid-afternoon snack. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner.

Life’s Twists and Turns

We never know where life will take us, even if we plan till the very last minute.

For instance, I started my debt reduction plan in August of 2008 because I realized I had fallen into a huge money hole. I was reading PF blogs like there was no tomorrow and realized that if all these other people could take control of their finances, well SO COULD I!

A year and a half later, I’ve turned my life 180.

And a year later, as I talked to my dad on the phone in August and he told me that he hadn’t closed a deal in 8 months (at the time, longer now) and was getting by with a gig at Costco giving out samples, I realized I had another goal: My Sister.

See, my sister is 16, and a junior in high school. She’s a smart kid, but because her mother (my ex-stepmother) has never worked a full day’s work in her life (due in part to physical injury and in part to mental inability) and my dad being unable to even pay rent on an apartment – she figures that she won’t be able to go to college.

She has mentioned going to a community college for the first few years and then transferring to a 4-year school. I know this works for some people, but I also know that it doesn’t work well for science majors and it doesn’t work for most younger students. My sister LOVES Chemistry (perhaps that is genetic?) and to top if all off she is terribly good at it (even without my help!)

So I really, really, really want my sister to go to a decent 4 year school. I mean, she can’t afford the best, but seeing as her mom lives in California and my dad in Arizona, she has quite a few decent options for herself with in state tuition.

And this is one of the reasons why I really want to get out of debt so quickly. I want to be able to use that extra money that I pay to my credit card every month to help my sister go to college. I have been doing some math in the background (nothing I’ve put up on here) and I think I could be able to give her $3-5,000/semester. That should greatly help the tuition at any of the in-state schools in California or Arizona.

I haven’t thought of the conditions I would put on the money. If it would be a gift or an interest free loan. Or if it would be stipulated with grades or behavior. I may only ask that she just doesn’t open a credit card of the money goes away. This will obviously require more thought and will be contingent on me still being able to save aggressively towards my E-fund to get it to $10k and save $5k/year towards an IRA (I already get 10% of my income put into a 403(b) retirement plan automatically by my employer as one of my benefits).

And when I started out the money journey I didn’t think that I would end up paying for my sister to go to college, and I won’t be able to afford to pay for all of it, but I can afford to help make the burden less for her. And I never would have been able to if it wasn’t for this blog and for you readers. So thank you for the help you’ve given me, and my sister!

Checking the Bank

I really wasn’t sure what to expect when I started my year long challenge of not eating out. In fact, to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t sure what I would gain or why I should do it. I just FELT like this was the challenge for me. I didn’t go in to it hoping to lose weight or to save money, I went into it for the pure challenge of seeing if I COULD do it.

One this, thus far, that I’ve noticed is that a lot of people don’t seem to understand it. Which, considering how little I really know WHY I’m doing it, is understandable. When I tell new people about it the first thing they try to do is find exceptions and loopholes, which I find a fascinating thing about humans. We always want to know what we  can get away with.

The other thing that has taken me by surprise is how little I check my bank accounts. I used to check it every day or at least every other day. But since I’m not eating out, I’m also spending less at a time. For instance, I don’t need to check my account every day because I haven’t SPENT anything on it in a week. When I logged on to ING today, I realized it was the first time I had checked my account in 2010. That’s 16 days of not looking! Not because I didn’t care, but because I haven’t spent enough to justify even looking.

This was a side effect that I didn’t consider when I started this challenge. I don’t WORRY about money as much because I’m not spending it as frequently!

I’m really interested to put together a total food expenditure for January and see how that compares to in month’s past. I have a feeling that I’ll still have spent the same amount, but it will be very interesting to do the math and find out for sure.

For those of your readers who are doing the 30 day no eating out challenge, have you noticed any difference in how you handle your money since beginning?