A Week in the Life of Lecki- Eating, Spending, Traveling!

A Week Eating and Spending in the Philly Burbs

Refinery29 has been running this series where they cover costs and what a salary can get you in various areas, and what various women with various salaries in various cities spend their money on-and they add up the expenses at the end. 

I’m going to try it too, see how long I can stick with it and be truthful about how many cookies I eat. It’s all out there for y’all now!

I’ve also been feeling like my skin could look more hydrated and nourished, so in hopes of eating more nutrient-rich food, I hope my skin looks better!

I also came in under budget last month with my fabulous LearnVest software to keep track of my spending, so I wish to continue in that vein. Where there is $0 spent, that means I already had that food or item in the house. It was spent on at one time, but not for the duration of this exercise.

April 6

Wednesday: Got our Door to Door Organics last night and have a ton of great food for the coming week. This was around $165, and also included a lot of frozen items – salmon, organic burritos, mushroom mix- for coming meals in the next month.

5:45am: Getting ready: Lemon, Turmeric, Honey and ACV in warm water to start the day while I feed the cat, water the doggie, and smooch the hubs.

7:15am: Breakfast: Coffee for the 76 expressway nightmare – was able to scoot ahead of the traffic and arrive at 7am. Oatmeal at Work w fresh Blueberries, Walnuts, Honey and Cinnamon, and strawberry tea. $0

10:45am: Duel Shots Protein bar that was sent to me for a story, and a strawberry from home. Yum!

1:30: Lunch. I went downstairs to the café  (where they portion out everything)and got a bit of seafood salad, a half of a chicken patty w spinach, and 2 small slices of Stromboli (I caved when I saw the cheese). However, I got full pretty quickly and am putting away the chicken and bit of broccoli and other slice of Stromboli for tomorrow’s lunch. An hour later, ate two strawberries I brought. Spent: $5.48

2:35: Realized I left my ‘cookie ambassador’ Goodie Girl cookies in the car. Damn..
Made another cup of strawberry tea and the last strawberry. $0

3:30- in the car. I ate a cooky.

4:45pm: Home and trying not to graze because my best friend asked me to dinner at Joe’s. Can we say crab pots!? We usually go out for seafood or sushi every week. I ate a pretzel rod and some garlic rye chips. Bought the new Marcia Clark book for a steal on my Kindle. Spent $1.99

6:45pm: Time for crabs! I eschewed the apps and got water with lemon and a glass of wine. All you can eat crabs! We had a blast altho in talking, when I mentioned my right side/ back pain, my best friend mentioned it could be a gall bladder attack of sorts. I’ve had a couple issues before and this is the second time this week I’ve felt uncomfortable. I enjoyed my crabs but used very little butter and vowed to eat better this week. Mindful Eating is what I’m aiming for. Spent $49.82

Thursday:
5:30am: dang it time to wake up. Coffee en route. $0

7:15am: Breakfast is a small bagel and cream cheese from my work stash with coconut water. $0

10:20am: Feel a little punk again, drinking water with a bite of raspberry fig bar from home. More water. This impending rain storm is hurting my head. Bland and non-spicy foods and no cheese or garlic chips is what I need to do! And more fruit! $0

NOTE: Haven’t really realized that I feel yucky recently, so it’s obv food related! And I def eat way too much food. Or do i?? What do you think, readers? Is this a typical day?

1:30pm: Lunch. Minute Rice Wild Rice & Brown Rice Cups (from Office stash) with yesterday’s half chicken patty, a sliver of leftover Stromboli and water. Taking time to mindfully chew. $0

3:00pm: Snack: Strawberries from home. $0

5:30pm: Home. Don’t graze! Vacuuming and having a large mug hot water w lemon juice and honey and ACV. $0.

7:00pm: Dinner: Out with the husband and friends. I made these plans like the first week of March. Well my horoscope DID say I’d be a social star...! Love catching up w these special people! Went to Buffalo Wild Wings, which I’ve never been too, and with me trying to eat mindfully, I bypassed the wings and booze and got a seltzer with lemon and we got fried cheese curds and fried corn bites for the table. (let it be noted I did not order an app. But I partook in them!) Yum cheese. No bad cheese! Ok, just a few.

I got a pulled pork sandwich which came with coleslaw on the sandwich, fries and a huge bun. I ate the pork and a bit of coleslaw for crunch and it was really good! Plus, ok, a bunch of fries, but no bun. Steve had the chicken taco wrap, and saved one for his lunch today. Spent $40 (for both of us for dinner)

8:83pm: We are planning a tiki party for my dad’s birthday tomorrow night, so we quick zoomed to Goodwill and bought the most delightfully loud shirts, plus we each got a fun summer tank top (mine from Eddie Bauer! And his from Polo!) plus a Danskin workout shirt for me,  and I got brand new never used still in the packaging hair clips bc I keep one in every bag. Spent $19.81.

9:15pm: We then zoomed to Dairy Queen for a small dessert because I had a $10 gift card. We both got medium blizzards, and each ate half to save for tomorrow. Two treats in one! Plus…the bill was $9.95! boom! Spent $0.

Friday
5:35am. Cat actually let me sleep. Up and at them. FriYAY! Coffee enroute.
7:30am: Breakfast: Oatmeal from work stash at work w coconut milk, blueberries, walnuts, cinnamon, bee pollen, and flaxseeds.

10:00am: Snack:  Apple. Water. $0.

1:00: Lunch. Headed downstairs to the café. Mini meatball parm (with just a small slice of cheese), mushroom, eggplant, a slice of potato and a sliver of broiled chicken. I can’t even eat it all. Too much food. I’ll snack on the final third later. Spent $5.48.

2:30pm: Strawberries & water. $0

6:30: Dinner. Tiki Party! Dad’s Birthday Party! Mom had asked me to contribute soup and salad for this family dinner of 9 people, so I got lettuce from Target (99 cents) and Steve grabbed croutons and salad dressing ($6). 

We also had wine, shrimp scampi, lobsters, linguine with white clam sauce, shrimp cocktail, coleslaw, and cake that everyone contributed too. My mother truly outdid herself with this meal. Soup at Legal seafood for the family cost $103.51, but we got to go home with a quart of soup and leftovers! It was a glorious night with family! 
Happy Birthday Dadu!
Spent: $110.48

Saturday
9:00am. Oh blessed weekend! Headed out to get my bread from the farmers market (I won a charity auction in January so I get a loaf of bread every weekend for ‘free’ for the next year and I always freeze half). Today I got jalapeño cheddar, plus a ham & cheese croissant for me later on and a sticky bun for Steve. Spent $7.75 (no charge for bread, saved $6.50)

9:30am. Waxing appt at Glow. My eyebrows need to be ‘on fleek’ tonight because I’m doing a few You Tube videos at this cool museum overnight. I’m supporting my local community business! Saved 15% because I booked with the new beauty artist. Spent $12.75.

10:30am. To the Acme for cat food. Oh, Stouffers lasagnas are on sale 50% off (got two little ones) and some rice. Home for the afternoon. Lunch was some bread and soup and then I took a nap because it’s lazy Saturday and later I’m staying up all night with the dinosaurs! Spent $18.20.

5:15pm: On our way! Jill and I are off to the Academy of Natural Sciences to sleep under the T rex and have an awesome time with our fellow adults. Since I’m writing a story on the overnight for my blog, Jill and I were comped and only had to pay for parking. Coffee, drinks, 2 alcoholic beverages each, snacks, and dinner- fajitas and churros- was part of our dinner in between tours. Then, off to sleep around 3:30am! Spent $20.

Sunday

7:00am. Oh it’s so early! However, sleeping in the Grand Hall was awesome, and we slept up on the mezzanine and had a fantastic view of Logan Circle to see all the patrons headed to the starting point for an early morning half marathon out the window. We packed up and had coffee, mimosas and oatmeal for breakfast, then checked out the butterfly exhibit. $0.

10:00: Now over to Reading Terminal Market! My favorite place! Perfect at this hour, it’s not crazy crowded yet. Walked around and got some yummies for an early lunch, then some groceries (nutty pumpkin bread, loose leaf jasmine tea, honeydew melon, OJ, trail mix, zucchini, and mint). And coffee. Did I mention coffee?
Spent $25.00.

12:30pm: Back home and it’s time for an epic nap. I wave off my fellow explorer and head inside.

5:30pm: Dinner: Seafood leftovers for Stephen and I: linguine & clam sauce and clam chowder (thanks mom!). $0.

Awesome butterfly exhibit at ANS.

Monday
6:00am: Breakfast: Coffee and Ham & Cheese Croissant from the other day. Apple. $0.
10:30am: Water and Wegman’s Raspberry Fig Bar. $0.
1:00pm: Lunch: Avocado on small onion bagel, banana, water. I’m mindfully chewing and reading about organized people. $0.

5:30pm: Dinner: Stephen made me a very small grilled cheese with our jalapeño bread and some Trader Joe’s Gruyere. I can’t eat a lot before class because it doesn’t bode well to be digesting and teaching.
6:30-8:30pm: Teaching Sell That Sizzle© Social Media Bootcamp.
Stephen went food shopping and got some dog food, milk and frozen mini pizzas. Spent $15.
9:00pm. Home, shower, trail mix, bed.

Tuesday

5:30am. Raining, driving, coffee, Goodie Girl To-Go-Pak of quinoa chocolate chip cookies. $0.

8:30am. Breakfast. Suddenly starving so I went to the café and got a spinach, mushroom and ham omelet with rye toast. This will carry me thru lunch, maybe I’ll have a yogurt later. Money well spent. Well, okay, it’d be better spent it I used the spinach and mushrooms and eggs in my own house  to make a yummy omelet. Spent $7.10.
9:00am. Conference Call. My stomach hurts. I do not want to finish that omelet. Raining outside still.

1:30pm: Lunch. Oh man. I am not winning today. As I’m writing this I just finished a small serving of corn chips with corn, onions, cheese, tomatoes, salsa, ands 2 teaspoons of ground beef. It’s Taco Tuesday, and I’m reading about detoxing to clear your skin, and I’m eating chips. Drinking lemon water tho!!! Urg. Spent $4.12. (No spending tomorrow!!)

3:00pm. Slice of pumpkin bread from the market. $0.

7:00pm. Pizza. I am eating pizza, I asked my awesome husband to get us pizza and then we watched the OJ show. A nice night in, bed early. Goodnight. Spent $20.

Wednesday
5:30am. Yes, yes, I’m up. ugh still feeling full from last night. Coffee.

7:30am: Breakfast: Oatmeal w cinnamon, blueberries, bee pollen, coconut milk, flaxseed, and walnuts. Also toasted a small bagel, but tossed the cream cheese, and the bagel isn’t too appetizing right now- Toss. Water $0.

10:30am. In studio with Marilyn Russell of Ben FM, talking up events and saw CaseyBoy from the WMMR Preston & Steve Morning Show  on the way out, so we had fun chatting. I love going in there, I missed (one of) my calling- I love radio!

12:30pm. Lunch: STARVING! Headed downstairs w a co-worker to the cafe. I need protein! Got a chicken breast, zucchini, a bit of risotto (this was not a winner, glad I only got two teaspoons), 3 raviolis- these were good, and a teaspoon of seafood salad, with water. Spent $4.37.

1:30pm. Still hungry. Noosa Yoghurt. Work Webinar. Writing. Too full now. Should have waited a bit longer. Water. $0.
My husband texted he was going to get our 1^st Anniversary Wedding Cake from The Master’s Baker in West Chester…and it looks stupendous!  And I asked him to prep and start a mushroom beef stew in the crockpot, so I am excited for that tonight for dinner!

6:30pm. Dinner. Fantastic- amazing beef & veggie stew and the cake - strawberry parfait- was glorious. Bedtimes soon after!

So what do you think? Is this normal spending? Too much on food? A good balance? Why don't you try this exercise? I'll be doing it once a month!