100 DOLLARS A WEEK - Day 24 & I Have A Confession To Make...

...And the confession is that I have been watching way too much Housewives drama on TV lately.

No doubt I am indulging in some schadenfreude, but having somewhat interpersonally sequestered myself for the past few years while reassessing the kinds of friendships I wanted and needed, I find that I get some kind of weird voyeuristic fulfillment from watching these women interact like lots of women do.

Of course the fact that they are televised magnifies the drama, but the truth is that many of us who watch do because we can recognize the interpersonal dynamics on the shows to the ones in our lives. After all, these women are cast as the archetypes most of us are or know.

Don't get me wrong - I wouldn't want to be friends with any one of these nutty broads. But in that yin-yang way that all things in life have positive and negative aspects to them, two thirds of my brain is rotting as I watch, while the other third is taking notes on how not to relate with other women.

Since I haven't called any of my friends a *prostitution whore* in the past year, or told any of my girlfriends how to have class while talking about myself in the third person, or called any of them a slut for using the word *cock*, I think I'm taking away some really good lessons.

BREAKFAST

Exhausting weekend, so easy breakfast this morning of Honey Nut Cheerios and black coffee.

   2 bowls of cereal with milk $1.00
+ 2 cups of coffee $0.40

= BREAKFAST: $1.40 total, $0.70/person

LUNCH

As we didn't have any leftovers from the weekend, and as I'm suffering female type exhaustion, ramen with poached eggs garnished with some fresh cilantro and green onion. Zipped up with a squeeze of lime and some sriracha.

The Man, who works 5 minutes away from home, came home for lunch rather than spend 8 bucks for Panda again.

And the other half of that cantaloupe too...

   2 packets of Maruchan ramen $0.40
+ 2 eggs $0.35
+ misc. garnish $0.15
+ 1/2 a cantaloupe $0.50

= LUNCH: $1.40 total, $0.70/person

SNACK

The last piece of coffee cake and some coffee, shared.

   1 piece of coffee cake $0.50
+ 2 cups of coffee $0.40

= SNACK: $.90 total

DINNER

Angel hair pasta with a fresh tomato and ground beef ragu. Salad of romaine and sauteed mushrooms dressed with balsamic vinaigrette on the side.

   1/2 a basket of cherry tomatoes $0.75
+ 6 Roma tomatoes $1.20
+ 1 pound of ground beef $2.50
+ 1 head of garlic $0.20
+ 1 onion $0.20
+ some olive oil, oregano and crushed chili flakes $0.50
+ 1/2 a pack of angel hair pasta $0.50
+ a few leaves of romaine lettuce $0.30
+ mushrooms $1.00

= DINNER: $7.15 total, $1.80/serving (4 servings total)

SNACK

The Man wanted to test my poached egg instructions, so he poached two eggs for the first time in his life and was generally happy about it.

SNACK: $0.35

$11.20 spent today with leftovers for lunch tomorrow. YAYYY!!! I just hate myself when I don't have leftovers to pack for the Man's lunch.

Saturday:  $18.15
Sunday:  $17.30
Monday:  $11.20

$47.00 spent with 4 days left to go in this week and this project.

Now for a beer to take the edge off of dealing with things. You know, those *things* in life that come attached to people who create *things* that need to be dealt with.

Cheers.  :[

shinae