#belowtheline, the preparations

on sunday, tyler and i grabbed a quick lunch from trader joe's. without too much thought, i picked out the southwestern pita wrap, tyler instictively chose the bbq chicken wrap. we grabbed a bag of veggie chips to split and cashed out at $9.56.

not too bad for the two of us. but when you only have $1.50 to spend on food per day, you find yourself being a lot more thoughtful when you walk around the trader joe isles. 1.4 BILLION - that's over 4 times the population of the United States - live every day in extreme poverty. for five days, tyler and i (as well as 12 of my colleagues&family) will live below the poverty line by spending only $7.50 on food. after intently searching at three local stores, here's where we landed for the two of us for the week:

$0.19 /each Bananas (6) from Trader Joe's
$0.38 /each Potatoes (2) from Trader Joe's
$1.29 /32 oz Pasta from Safeway
$2.00 /26 oz Tomato sauce from Safeway
$1.59 /dozen Eggs from Trader Joe's
$1.79 /1/2 gallon Vitamin D milk from Trader Joe's

What we thought we could afford but couldn't:
$0.79 /16 oz Carrots at Trader Joe's
$0.69 /each Sweet Potatoes at Trader Joe's

 in addition to our own shopping, we met with some colleagues to discuss group purchases to save money. mentally, this was the most challenging part for me so far. i began to panic - what if they spend too much of my meager allowance? what if they don't buy enough? what if they buy foods i don't like? ...what if i get hungry?

that's the point isn't it? to experience the attempt of trying to survive on not nearly enough.

as a group, we managed to purchase the following for $2.09/per person:

2.5 cups of rice
1.25 cups lentils
2.5 cups oats
9 tbsp peanut butter
1 head of garlic ($0.20 extra - luxury item)

this means, so far, tyler and i have spent $12.95 out of $15.00 for the two of us. perhaps we could buy a few more bananas. well, 10 more bananas to be exact.

moving on.

moving has been such an interesting process. you pack things you like. you throw away things you hate. you give away things you hate but someone else may like. and it all really boils down to the fact that we all have a lot of stuff.

i am included in this generalization. i have a lot of stuff. when tyler and i were given the choice between a 1 bedroom apartment or a 2 bedroom apartment for $50 more, we went with the 1 bedroom. why the heck would we do that?

do YOU have a room you really don't need but you use to store stuff you like/hate/should have given away years ago? should ty and i really have more than "1 bedroom" worth of stuff when we both will (eventually) be sleeping in that 1 bedroom and living in the 1 living space, cooking in the 1 kitchen, walking down the 1 hallway?

i am not passing judgement on folks who have more bedrooms, square footage, or even more money than tyler and i. simply, i wonder if we'll look back and wish we would have taken the 2 bedroom. or perhaps we will love what we have with no looking back?

as of now, we have yet to regret simplifying. it felt amazing to sell things on craigslist, make goodwill runs, and essentially get rid of 2 dumpsters full of garbage. the extra $50 a month doesn't suck either.

are you content with the space you have and the things you've filled it with? is less truly more?

i hope so. we signed a 1 year lease. :)

started with a steno

i'm a journaler by nature. I've kept a diary since i was in 3rd grade. it's still in my closet in San Jose -- a black and white steno notebook (no spiral, obviously.)

I also read my sister's diary when I was in 5th grade. (Sorry Shari...)

Then my mom's friends daughter (yep, I just said that like a true valley girl) sent me a journal my freshmen year of college. She sent it to my on-campus mail-stop box and I opened it in what felt like slow motion, running my 18 year old fingers over the Monet painted cover. I could could hardly imagine all the thrilling love stories I would write in it over the next four years at LMU! All the adventures I'd have. All the friends I'd make. Classes I'd conquer.

But over the past 3 months, I've stopped journaling?

Why?

Maybe this will help.

Here's to you.