During the summer, as I prepared to move into my apartment, I had high expectations. I looked up dinners to make for my roommates, found appetizers to make for my tailgating parties and searched desserts that I could have as late-night snacks. It was going to be an amazing year in the kitchen and I was not going to miss the dining hall.
I have yet to make enchiladas for my roommates. I still haven’t had a tailgating party, let alone made “smoked bacon cheddar cheese chicken wings.” I do not know the luxury of chowing down on a delicious yet somewhat healthy dessert of “cheesecake-stuffed strawberries.” I was doing enough to keep myself alive and making a good meal every once in a while. As for not missing the dining halls, I started taking applications for freshmen in need of a friend to eat with. Suffice it to say, I was not meeting my expectations.
It’s not as though I don’t know how to read a recipe, but there were a few things I hadn’t thought about when I got ready to cook for myself.
Food costs money. Obviously, I knew it cost money. But I wasn’t prepared for the actual cost of food. When I told my mom that I had budgeted my entire month’s worth of food at $100, she couldn’t stop laughing.
I was determined to show her that with proper planning, $100 would be more than enough. With any luck I might have enough left over to buy the newly released Magic Mike DVD.
Though I did think about buying the ingredients to make a nicer meal, I quickly ruled that out. For instance, just to make homemade enchiladas, I would need to buy olive oil, an onion, peppers, tortillas, chicken and cheese. That’s about $10 for one meal; in other words, not in my planned budget.
I decided that I wasn’t going to be fancy; I was just going to buy the necessities. I made a list for a week’s worth of food that included every meal I would eat that week. I gave each day breakfast, lunch, a snack and dinner. Because I wasn’t counting leftovers, I knew that this was going to be the greatest plan I had ever had.
List in hand, I headed to the store, ready to get food such as bagels, potatoes, pasta, ground beef and frozen meals. As I started going up and down the aisles, I realized that food is much more expensive than I was anticipating. I’m not incredibly picky so I didn’t get anything name-brand.
Meat is not the cheapest thing to eat and neither is soda. However, as necessities in my diet, I didn’t have much of a choice but to shell out the cash for them.
After getting to the register, I realized my mother was right. Each item scanned with that annoying beep as the price climbed higher and higher. I handed the lady my card, and she swiped it for a whopping $77.92.
I got excited for a moment because I was under my $100 goal.
Then I cried — only a little — as I remembered this was only a week’s worth of food.
I really think I need to register for Extreme Couponing 1000 next semester.
Mesha Baylis-Blalock is a senior studying journalism at Ohio University and a columnist for The Post. Send her your best couponing tips at mb345109@ohiou.edu.
