Day 07: More Apples & Less Sweets

Today's meal is quite predictable, with the instant cup noodle, which I bought yesterday, being the main meal, two apples as snacks, and a pack of salted peanuts as dessert.

The apples down in the supermarket were down to the last ten, so I decided to buy an extra apple for tomorrow's meal just in case they stop selling those cheap NZ Fuji apples. There was also a slight deliberation between buying honey coated peanuts or salted peanuts but the salted peanuts came out on top in the end.

I've had my eye on a packet of sweets which was on "promotion" while waiting in line at the cashier. I'm so tempted to buy it but I've promised myself to reduce the amount of sugar intake. I hope I am able to keep my sweet tooth in control tomorrow.

One thing I've realized from shopping in a few different shops is that 24 hours convenience stalls are the most overpriced, followed by chain supermarkets, and the cheapest is still the tiny little tuck shop run by an old couple.

Today's expenses:

1. Main meal - Instant cup noodle, from yesterday's purchase

2. Snack - NZ Fuji Apple x 2, RM.080 each

3. Dessert - Salted peanuts, RM1.60

Total spent = RM3.20

Total savings = RM1.80

Day 06: Instant Noodle & Sweets

This is it. 

The start of the second week of this challenge. 

In an effort to be more creative and daring, I've decided to purchase a cup of instant noodle for lunch. However, fearing that a simple meal like that would not be enough, I also bought a meat bun just in case. So for today, I've actually bought two main meals, a snack and no dessert. The reason why I've not bought any dessert is because I still have a stick of Sugus from last Friday's meal waiting in my drawing. 

The thing about today's meal is that I've managed to save more in one day than I ever had compared to what i've bought last week. Plus, I did not open the cup of instant noodle and that will be my first stockpile of the week.

Today's expenses:

1. Main meal A - Instant cup noodle, RM1.50

2. Main meal B - Meat bun, RM1.30

3. Snack - Sponge cake, RM1.00

4. Dessert - 1 stick of Sugus sweets (apple flaovur), brought over from last Friday

Total expenditure = RM3.80

Total savings = RM1.20

On another note, I've tried very hard to stop my sweet tooth. Quitting alcohol and cigarettes is easier than stopping my love for sweets. I'll need a new alternative to dessert other than sweets and chocolates from tomorrow onwards.

Rewind: Week 01

The first week of this experiment is over and I'm glad to say that it has been a very educational week. Below is a list of what I've learnt over the week:

1. It is possible to live on RM5.00 a day for lunch.

A lunch meal in Kuching would cost around RM3.00-RM5.00 depending on where you eat. Of course, coffee shops would be much cheaper while restaurants, fast food chains, and food courts would easily cost you RM10.00 and above just for a simple meal. But the goal of this experiment is not as much as to see if you can get a decent meal for less than RM5.00, but to be able to eat healthily by having a variation of food rather than a single dish and overpriced drinks. So far, I think I have managed quite well. I've had surplus food despite spending less than RM5.00 and having fruits and nuts as part of my lunch is pretty healthy as far as I know. However, I should cut back on the dessert and probably replace it with something healthier instead.

2. Three course lunch is too much on some days

I know I've set the rules to 3 items each meal but on somedays, 2 items are more than enough and I end up spending on buying extra food just to meet the challenge's criteria, rather than saving money. On a non post-workout day, my appetite is small enough that a simple popiah and an apple is enough to get me going for the rest of the day but there are also my post-workout days where I just feel hungry the whole day and am glad that I bought some extra food from the day before to control my hunger before lunch time. That said, despite my hunger, the 3 items are still enough to fill my stomach and keep me up until dinner.

3. Its good to plan your meals

Before this challenge, I've never planned for my meals. Everyday for lunch, I'll just pop down to the shops below and have a random meal without giving much thought. Now, I'm learning how to piece my meals together to make it more balance and interesting everyday. I'm actually having fun with this experiment. Sure, there was one time that I failed but I'll take it as a good lesson in planning and maths. 

Those were the main points that I've learnt over the week. I'm sure theres more to that than those and I hope to learn more as I continue on with this challenge.

Day 05: A Sneeze & The End of The Week

It's Friday, which means it is the end of Week 1! It has been a very educational week. I'll probably do a summary of what I've learnt over the week this weekend. So far, I'm quite happy with what I've managed to achieve this week.

Today's meal is quite similar to Monday's meal except for the slight variation of fruit and dessert. I've been really hungry the whole morning because of last night's super exhausting 10km (nearly!) workout on the rowing machine so I decided something with more greens and a bit of meat, hence I opted for the popiah. So I hopped onto the lift and went down to the restaurant on the ground floor to pick up a popiah. While I was waiting in line to pay for my food, the man in front of me let out a huge sneeze away from his food on the counter towards my direction, which was behind him. I got worried about my food being contaminated as it was not fully wrapped in plastic. Both ends of the wrapper are open. Also, not to mention that this was in a restaurant that had food exposed on the shelves. If that did not put you off your meal, I don't know what would. Due to my severe hunger, that thought quickly faded out of my mind and into the call of replenishment.

The apple is a natural choice as I've procrastinated on buying it yesterday, and to add a bit of glucose into my diet, I bought two packs of chewys. I've decided to put one pack aside for Monday. I'm beginning to like this idea of purchasing slightly more for the next day but then it does mean that I'm saving less than what I would like to.

Yesterday, I mentioned that I had some leftovers which would be incorporated into today's meal. Well, that didn't really work out as plan. I was severely hungry today that I ate all my leftovers, and a bar of Weet-bix for morning tea and I was still famished by lunch.

So, that's the last meal of the week and I can't wait to start the next week although I am still deciding if I should cut the length of the experiment from 20 days to 10 days. I'll have to make that decision over the weekend.

Today's meal breakdown:

Main meal - Popiah, RM2.30
Snack - NZ Fuji apple, RM0.80
Dessert - Sugus stick x 2 (Blackcurrent, Apple), RM0.90 + RM0.80
Total spent = RM4.80
Savings = RM0.20

Day 04: Shortchanged & Leftovers

Note: I apologize deeply if today's post doesn't make much sense. I'm extremely exhausted and just trying my best to keep awake to finish this post. I'll see if I can improve on it over the weekends. 

Learning from yesterday's mistake, I decided to take things one notch down and shop carefully. I've been feeling really hungry and exhausted this morning due to the intense workout I had on the previous night. In order to keep myself awake and energized, I decided to have a bar of Weetabix. These bars are almost magical as a serving was enough to keep me active throughout the morning without feeling fatigued, but the side effect from that is the feeling of dizziness by lunch time. I knew I had to have a hearty lunch in order to survive the rest of the day. 

I had my mind set on a cheap snack from 7-11, which was below RM1.00. In fact, it's the only few items you can get from 7-11 for below RM1.00. The reason why I wanted to get this blueberry roll was because I ordered a simple onion and egg canai, which I thought was scarcely enough for lunch. I couldn't have been so wrong again. However, lets get back to the story of the blueberry roll and 7-11. After I paid for the item and as the cashier returned my change, I was confused as why he gave me 5 cents less than the correct amount. Politely, I told him that there was a slight mistake in the amount returned and he explained that they were out of 5 cents in the till. I was quite surprised because this is only the middle of the day and this shop is operating for 24 hours everyday. I felt terribly shortchanged as I imagined the total amount of 5 cents they could have accumulated for the rest of the day by telling customers that they're out of them. 

After I picked up my order of egg and onion canai from the stall, I went down to the supermarket to buy myself an apple but I ended up buying a packet of roasted peanuts instead because I needed something that can provide me with some energy for tonight's gruelling workout. 

Then, it was time to dig in. As hungry as I was today, after finishing that piece of canai, I felt comfortably full and opted to have some peanuts instead of the blueberry roll. Now, I have leftover food for tomorrow and this would then allow me to spend comfortably on tomorrow's main meal and dessert. 

Main meal - Egg & Onion canai, RM 2.50

Snack - Blueberry roll, RM 0.85

Dessert - Roasted peanuts, RM 1.30 

Change - RM 0.30, short of RM 0.05 due to lack of small change in the cash register.

Day 03: The Case of The Fuji Apple & The Miscalculated Crown Pear [FAIL]

That's right, I failed. Three days into the challenge and I've already failed. Slow clap, please, kill me softly.

When you thought that this would be a walk in the park, BAM! FLYING LARIAT! FOLLOWED BY A GERMAN SUPLEX! To be honest, it was really a case of miscalculation or perhaps being overly ambitious.

After purchasing my main meal for the day, I had RM3.00 left for the snack and dessert. The supermarket was selling Fuji Apples at RM0.80 each, which is quite a bargain, but I opted to take the riskier option of purchasing a Crown Pear that costed RM9.29 per kilogram. Despite my vain effort to remove the soft polystyrene sock from the pear to reduce the total weight of the fruit, it still cost me RM2.90.

Reflecting on today's meal, despite the failure to meet the 3 components criteria, I don't think that today's lunch is any worse than the previous two days. Perhaps, its even better because I manage to avoid buying some very bad candy. Nevertheless, today is counted as a fail day and I'll have to try harder tomorrow.

Lesson of the day — Sometimes, failures are necessary to keep things interesting. Learning from failure is just as good as learning from success.

Meal breakdown:

Main meal - Pork & egg bun, RM2.00

Snack - Crown Pear, RM2.90

Dessert - None

Day 02: Fears & The Dark

Day 2! Unlike yesterday's meal, today's meal was slightly too much for me to handle. I have not taken into account that this may be one of my fears throughout this challenge — excessive food. However, I do fear that I may be taking into way too much carbs during this challenge and today's meal may just prove that.

Main meal - Roti canai (2pcs), RM1.00 each

Snack - Sponge cake, RM1.00

Dessert - 'Choco Mucho' chocolate wafer bar, RM1.20

As you can see from the list of food, there's been an overload of carbs in this meal. I actually had a hard time finishing that sponge cake. As I was trying my best to stuff that piece of cake down my throat and into my full stomach, a thought popped into my head. What if I bought excess food, such as that chocolate bar. Am I allowed to bring it over for the next day? Because the goal of this challenge is to eat healthy with a very low budget and not so much as eating until you're too full.

Hence, I do believe that this is enough chocolate for the week.

Spending wise, today's meal is much cheaper and filling compared to yesterday's meal as the total amount spent is RM4.20.  There's no receipts to go with today's purchase as I bought the cake and chocolate bar from a very old convenience shop tucked in a corner, which I have almost forgotten about until yesterday, and the roti canai from a nearby coffee shop.

However, the conclusion for today is that despite today's meal being very substantial, it is not as balanced as yesterday's meal and I shall have to think carefully about my purchases for tomorrow's lunch.

Also, I am literally in the dark. My room's light just went kaput while I'm typing this.

Day 01 - Cheesecake & Weetabix

Today is the first day of the challenge and I've already started it on a wrong foot.  In order to avoid having a heavy meal during lunch, a big breakfast is necessary to keep me going for at least half a day. 

However, because it was Mum's birthday yesterday, all I had for breakfast was a slice of cappuccino cheesecake.

Later this morning, temptation struck. The furniture guy came over to unlock my mobile pedestal (I lost the key about a week ago) thus freeing the box of Weetabix that has been waiting for me. I knew that if I had taken a piece, it would be counted as cheating as having that as morning or afternoon tea would just defeat the whole purpose of this challenge. Hence, I have decided that Weetabix shall be only consumed as emergency rations due to extreme hunger and unless I am able to justify my hunger, that day will be nulled and counted as a failure. I've not thought about the consequences of a fail day but I hope I won't have to go through that anytime soon.

Perhaps, I'm being too harsh on myself. I have a bad feeling about this. I'm gonna die.

Anyway, here's what I had for lunch today:

1. Main meal - 1 Popiah (spring roll)

2. Snack - 1 Royal Beauty Apple

3. Dessert - 1 pack of Cream O Sandwich (vanilla)

Despite starting off with a bad breakfast, this meal managed, albeit barely, to get me through the afternoon without having to dip into the Weetabix box of shame. Also, today's spending is RM4.80 in total, RM0.20 below the set limit.

I hope tomorrow will be a better day. Come on, 19 more days to go!