I've have decided to do a Beans and Rice Diet Challenge. The only food that I will buy from now to the end of the year will be beans and rice. My plan is to start off plain and start spicing it up. If I ate well prepared beans and rice now I would be disappointed. But after a couple weeks of plain beans and rice, any flavor will be great.
I do have some super healthy prepackaged food. I have McDougall's Big Cups, Spirutein Shakes, Whole Food Energy Bars and Ultimate Meal Shake powder. The stuff is so healthy that it isn't very appetizing. That's why I still have it. After a week or two of plain beans and rice, I am thinking it will taste great. I also have a great many nutritional supplements.
I have some fresh veggies and meat. To use it up today I am making Thai basil beef with chilie and garlic and Thai red curry beef. So in the morning the Beans and Rice Challenge starts. Beans and rice would be better nutritionally with some pricey fresh veggies and fruit added, but it's got to be better than the fast food I have been living on.
Since my work schedule has expanded to 10.5 hours a day (still get paid for 8) I have been eating primarily drive thru food. I haven't had time to cook during the work week. Slowly eating out has become a major consumer of my discretionary income. By not doing it until the end of the year I think I will be able to get control of my finances.
My goal is to build a YNAB (You Need a Budget) buffer of $2,200 by the end of the year. This means that the money I receive in a current month will be set aside to pay bills next month. The money can be redistributed within its assigned month to deal with the unexpected. In extreme cases money can be borrowed from the next months allocation.
I think I can save about half this with the Rice and Bean Challenge and being a extreme tightwad. I figure my house is well stocked so I can just about stop all discretionary spending without much hardship. I have done it before and the toughest part is psychological.
I get paid every two weeks as opposed to twice a month. This means that I get a couple extra paychecks a year. In December I will get three! So the other half of the money will be from the extra check.
After I get buffer in place I will start living on a more realistic budget. The extreme tightwad and rice and bean diet phase is not sustainable. I don't expect it to be much fun, and I want my ongoing life to be fun. But the financial peace of mind this brief period of sacrifice can bring will improve my quality of life from that point forward.
My goal after that will be to build an emergency fund equal to 3 months living expenses. After that I will get a debt snowball payment rolling. I think these accomplishments are the most I can expect to get done with the income from my job.
There is a lot more I want to do. I moved to the Atlantic Coast of the USA to help take care of my mother. She recently passed away. Now I want to move to the Pacific Coast. Since I started looking at my finances I am starting to realize I have been doing wishful thinking. On my income the things I dream about will never happen.
I need to figure out how to generate more income. I can figure out how while eating beans and rice, then rice and beans... but today I eat good!
Beans and Rice Diet Challenge - Inspired by Dave Ramsey
October 24th, 2010 at 02:53 pm
October 24th, 2010 at 04:50 pm 1287939059
Don’t forget to add some vegetables to make more interesting and healthy. Even a few packets of frozen mixed vegetables and can tomatoes will do the trick. Look on my blog for some recipes that I can post there to give you a kick start with this challenge.
October 24th, 2010 at 06:13 pm 1287944005
In addition to the healthy food in the post above I have 1 bag of frozen veggies, 8 bags pad thai noodles and 4 bags soba noodles. I have spices, sauces, pastes and peppers for Thai cooking and the usual American spices. I also have a small culinary herb garden. So that is all I will be eating.
I will start out bland and then spice it up. I am thinking that a flavorful healthy vegan diet after that will be easy to follow.
I am afraid I will run out of money in the next 30 days and I don't want that to happen, so no spending. After that I will be on track and will reconsider adding frozen veggies as well as garlic and onions.
October 24th, 2010 at 06:32 pm 1287945151
How to Live Well on Rice and Beans
The Beans and Rice Way to Better Health and More Wealth
Recipes found are
Cajun Red Beans and Rice
Creole Black-Eyed Peas and Rice
Creole Red Beans and Rice
Black Beans and Rice
Black Beans & Rice
Carribbean Red Beans and Rice
Brazilian Style Black Beans and Rice
Zesty Red Beans and Rice (Rajma Chawal)
Khichadi
October 24th, 2010 at 08:25 pm 1287951949
Years ago, Chicago columnist wrote a column about grocery shopping and eating. He was a single father and every week he would go grocery shopping. He would buy chicken pieces, eggs, flour, pasta, or whatever and then he'd also buy frozen pizzas and other convenience foods. He said that after a few weeks he realized that all the convenience foods were being eaten and he had a full freezer of chicken and he had onions, flour, etc. He made a new rule that no more grocery shopping until everything was eaten...his column was a humourous look at eating what he had.
October 25th, 2010 at 09:01 pm 1288040484