• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

  • DC Guides
    • DC Events
    • DC New 52
    • DC Rebirth
    • Batman Guide
    • The Sandman Universe
  • Marvel Guides
    • Marvel Events
    • Captain America Guide
    • Iron Man Guide
    • Spider-Man Guide (1963-2018)
    • Spider-Man Guide (2018-Present)
    • Thor Guide
    • X-Men Reading Order
  • Indie & Licensed Comics
    • Spawn
    • Star Wars Guide
      • Expanded Universe Comics (2015 – present)
      • Legends Comics (1977 – 2014)
    • Valiant Guides
  • Drag
    • Canada’s Drag Race
    • Drag Race Belgique
    • Drag Race Down Under
    • Drag Race Sverige (Sweden)
    • Drag Race France
    • Drag Race Philippines
    • Dragula
    • RuPaul’s Drag Race
    • RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars
  • Archive
  • Contact!
You are here: Home / Personal / off-topics / budget / The Cost of Maintaining Me

The Cost of Maintaining Me

December 2, 2008 by krisis

One of the pitfalls of working in the middle of a major city is that it’s easy to blow your paycheck before it ever makes it into your bank account.

Since I don’t take actual lunch “breaks” too often (and because there is no guitar store in easy walking distance) I’ve stayed relatively insulated from midday shopping. Where I’m at risk is food.

When I first started working after graduation I was in the early throes of my obsessive budget-keeping, and I figured out quickly that the breakfast smoothies and muffins I had been accustomed to ordering every day during my internship added up to a bank-breaking amount over the course of a year – I wouldn’t have had to borrow money from my mother for a down payment on our first apartment if I had gone smoothlieless as an intern!

On my first day of full-time work I showed up with my own homemade smoothie and bagel, and continued to do so for several months, until finally my slothfulness caught up with my budget. Rather then blend up a confection every morning, I opted to allow myself a fixed weekly lunch budget to use however I pleased – buying groceries, eating modestly every day, or starving myself all week to go out for one big lunch.

Over four years of employment I’ve hewed pretty close to the budget, which rendered my $5 a day smoothie habit an obsolete luxury. The casualty was breakfast – I altogether stopped eating it, which made me a ravenous beast around 11:15 a.m.. I shrugged off plenty of health-concious co-workers bugging me to start my day with a meal, but when I began working on our healthy living initiatives earlier this year the message was drilled home by project after project: I was wrecking my naturally awesome metabolism, and I needed to eat more fresh fruit.

So, this summer when I found a nearby fruit cart that made $3.25 16oz. smoothies I was ecstatic – $16.15 a week was only a portion of my food budget, and it meant I’d actually eat my daily recommended servings of fruit. I immediately became a daily customer, and they’d have a smoothie ready to be blended when they saw me coming from a block away!

Two weeks ago my precious cart disappeared like clockwork on the first near-freezing morning, and without thinking about it I retreated to my four-year old smoothie/bagel habit. By the end of the week I had racked up $30 in spending – a huge chunk of my weekly food allowance, and over $1500 over the course of the year!

I had to put a stop to it, but I had become addicted to the energetic, breakfast-eating me I rediscovered over the summer. Could I produce my own smoothies and bagels for the convenient $16.25 I had been spending weekly over the summer?

The first hurdle was that I’d have to buy my supplies at the supermarket most convenient to me, which meant a slight markup. Five bananas came out to between $2-$3. Over the winter I’d rely on frozen organic strawberries, which were $.218 an ounce, and I’d need 50 oz. a week, for a total of $11. I’d also need a carton of off-brand OJ to fill out my concoction ($3), and a can or two of coconut milk to sweeten it a little (less than $2).

That’s a total of $18 for smoothie ingredients, proving the value of my cart-bound friend. Add to that a six-pack of everything bagels for $4 and $.90 weekly for my share of non-hydrogenated buttery spread for a total of $22.90 a week – a scant $7.10 savings over my gourmet breakfast. It would net me $555 in savings a year, but it still cost a bank-breaking $1195! And, that’s not including my time expenditure of thirty minutes of grocery shopping, plus 15 minutes a day of preparation.

No matter how I slice it, my morning smoothie is a major budget hit – a significant detraction from my ability to acquire new gear, my potential to pay off credit cards, my plan to save for a house.

Yet, what’s the comparative value of starting every day with a healthy breakfast, and getting my daily fix of fruit? Not to mention that my bagels and butter are healthier than the ones I’d be served in town. Sure, the monetary expense seems steep, but in the long term is it costing me less than the effects of eschewing fruit and starting my day with lunch?

Since the answer to that is unknowable at the moment, I’m going to have to find another way to justify my smoothie-enabling weekly shopping trips. Next steps? See if I can score my ingredients more cheaply elsewhere, or create a better economy of scale by also rolling in shopping for my lunch rather than buying it.

Related posts:

  1. Crushing On Crushing Krisis

Filed Under: budget, corporate, shopping

Previous Post: « a little ocd is still ocd
Next Post: Prop 8 – The Musical »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mit says

    December 3, 2008 at 1:26 pm

    cold cereal … +/- $4.00 per box and 1 gallon of liquid = $4.00. $8.00 per week breakfast expense.

    But I understand your real goal was to add more fruit – so quit making smoothies out of it. Eat one banana – or apple – or a handful of berries – and save on the other ingredients.

    But DON’T stop eating! (says she who could stand to eat less)

  2. rabi says

    December 3, 2008 at 7:39 pm

    maybe this is really stupid, but do your smoothies really need to include so many ingredients? I get that it is more satisfying to have a smoothie than to eat a banana, but is there something bad about a frozen banana blended with some orange juice? then you could have smoothies for six dollars a week…. I mean, I assume you have already considered this, I’m just wondering what your objection to the simpler smoothie is.

    I often eat leftover vegetables for breakfast.

  3. krisis says

    December 3, 2008 at 8:57 pm

    Both – I’m certainly making it much more complicated than it needs to be. The number one goal is find a way to eat fruit, which I don’t do at home, and which super-energizes me.

    (The number two goal is to find a way for it to be somewhat portable, so I will actually finish it even if I have meetings. This is where a banana + yogurt or granola + fruit plan has failed miserably in the past. Fruit salad has worked, but I certainly don’t have enough time to do that on my own.)

    Mit – Between the bagel, lunch, and an after dinner snack I have *way* too many grains already. Plus, portability.

    Rabi – I could probably cut down on the amount of OJ I need and/or make them with less strawberries. However, a sub-goal of the fruit goal is to eat a few different fruits so I get different nutritional benefits. Also, I tend to let bananas pile up at work.

    All that said, I might be ignoring something that’s way cheaper than strawberries – apples or pears, maybe? – which is what’s killing the cost.

  4. rabi says

    December 3, 2008 at 11:06 pm

    fruit all by itself is sort of like the ultimate portable food. do you not like eating oranges / apples / whatever on their own?

  5. krisis says

    December 3, 2008 at 11:24 pm

    I do, but at work that leads to sticky fingers, which does not lend itself to blueline reviews or handshaking. Also, if I put it down and it begins to be covered by papers I might not see it again until the next day.

    I am really looking for a fruit that can be supplied solely via straw. I am always thirsty.

  6. Amanda says

    December 4, 2008 at 12:58 am

    One of the pitfalls of working in the middle of a major city is that it’s easy to blow your paycheck before it ever makes it into your bank account.”

    Ya, I live in the middle of nowhere. It’s difficult to spend my paycheck. I keep trying to get people to take my money but they just refuse.

    “Nope, we don’t do that out da country dear. *spit* You’ll havta go to da big city to spend your money”

    I guess there’s big city bigots as well as small town, huh?

  7. krisis says

    December 4, 2008 at 1:35 am

    I think my meaning is pretty clear in the post – I’m talking about the temptation to walk out of my workplace and spend my earnings mid-day in the various department stores, boutiques, and 4- and 5-star restaurants within blocks of my building. If you live and work in the middle of nowhere the effect probably isn’t the same.

    If you’d like some tips on saving money (and the earth) this holiday season, please scroll down two posts.

    Otherwise, thank you for reading and commenting.

Primary Sidebar


Support Crushing Krisis on Patreon
Support CK
on Patreon


Follow me on Twitter Contact me Watch me on Youtube Subscribe to the CK RSS Feed

About CK

About Crushing Krisis
About My Music
About Your Author
Blog Archive
Comics Blogs Only
Contact Krisis
Terms & Conditions

Crushing Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Events Guide

Spider-Man Guide

DC Comics

  • New Comics & Collected Editions: Marvel Comics – September 20, 2023
    Catch up on newly-released comic books and collected editions from Marvel Comics September 20 2023, with guides to every title & character! […]
  • New for Patrons: Guide to Monica Rambeau – Photon, Spectrum, & Captain Marvel
    It's time to shine a light on a Guide to Monica Rambeau. She's been Photon, Spectrum, & even Captain Marvel. Read EVERY issue in order. […]
  • Guide to Avengers (1963-1996)Updated: Guide to Avengers (1963-1996)
    Happy Anniversary to Marvel's Avengers! To celebrate I rebuilt my definitive guide to Avengers (1963-1996), including EVERY issue & collection. […]
  • Silver Age X-Men GuideUpdated: Silver Age X-Men Guide
    I've updated my definitive Silver Age X-Men Guide to collected editions of the earliest X-Men comics, including a new Penguin Classics & Taschen editions. […]
  • Guide to Conan the BarbarianUpdated: Guide to Conan The Barbarian
    I've overhauled my Guide to Conan the Barbarian to celebrate the release of Titan Comics' new Conan the Barbarian series written by Jim Zub. […]
  • Avengers Inc. (2023) #1 by Al Ewing & Leonard Kirk, released by Marvel Comics September 13 2023New Comics & Collected Editions: Marvel Comics – September 13, 2023
    Catch up on newly-released comic books and collected editions from Marvel Comics September 13 2023, with guides to every title & character! […]
  • Guide to Birds of PreyNew for Patrons: Guide to Birds of Prey
    Who are the Birds of Prey? Learn what cast members define one of DC's signature team with my Guide to Birds of Prey! […]
  • Fantastic Four (2022) #11 released by Marvel Comics September 6 2023New Comics & Collected Editions: Marvel Comics – September 6, 2023
    Catch up on newly-released comic books and collected editions from Marvel Comics September 6 2023, with guides to every title & character! […]
  • It’s gonna be May! Oh, wait, it’s ALREADY May…
    Hello, friends! Unfortunately, my non-CK life and […]
  • Drax GuideDrax Guide – now available to the public!
    Learn how the MCU merged several incarnations Drax into Dave Bautista's hyper-literal warrior with a vendetta agains Thanos in my Drax Guide! […]
  • Guide to GamoraGamora Guide – now available to the public!
    My Gamora Guide will help you find every Marvel comic starring Thanos's adopted daughter and the most dangerous woman in the galaxy! […]
  • Drag Race España Season 3, Episode 2 – “Drag Vision” Review & Power Rankings
    The queens of Drag Race España Season 3 make a collective stumble in this "Drag Vision" choreography challenge, earning the ire of the judges (though it's the kindest ire you'll ever see). […]
  • Star-Lord GuideStar-Lord Guide – now available to the public!
    Get ready for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 with my Star-Lord Guide, including every comics appearance of Marvel's TWO distinct Star-Lords! […]
  • Drag Race Sverige Season 1, Episode 8 – Sweden Grand Finale, “Queen Delicious” runway, & season retrospective
    It's the Drag Race Sweden Grand Finale! Our final three queens put their spin on an original song and walk a final "Queen Delicious" runway alongside their eliminated peers. […]

Content Copyright ©2000-2023 Krisis Productions

Crushing Krisis participates in affiliate programs including (but not limited to): Amazon Services LLC Associates Program (in the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain), eBay Partner Network, and iTunes Affiliate Program. If you make a qualifying purchase through an affiliate link I may receive a commission.