This is a catchy and fun idea for me. As I mentioned in a previous posting, I’d really love to implement this if I were ever a registered dietitian. (Which, for the record, I would totally love to pursue. Unfortunately, I’m not willing to relocate for the program.) I’m so excited to share my idea but I’m also a little nervous that it will be stolen from me! Nonetheless, if it helps you maintain a healthy diet, by all means, steal it!!
Here’s the basic idea spelled out in an elementary budget for a hypothetical child to manage her money. Thanks to my parents, I have a solid foundation in basic economics which I will now demonstrate.
Sally earns $20.00/day from working as a checkout clerk. Because she lives in poverty she has specific needs that must be met with her money and must not squander it. Neither loans nor debt is permitted in Sally’s budget. Her $20.00 could, in theory, buy a chocolate bar, a pack of cookies, a hot dog from a street vendor and then her money would be gone. She would then likely be hungry by dinner time, yes? She must therefore invest in longer lasting, better quality food for less money. Products such as dried beans, lentils, eggs, root vegetables, rice, oatmeal will do the trick. If she spends her money wisely she will not be hungry.
In case you haven’t gotten it yet, here’s the conversion factor: 1 calorie = 1 cent
If you are striving to maintain a 2,000 calorie/day budget, use each calorie wisely and don’t squander a bunch on silly things like fancy coffees with syrups because they won’t last you. Your calorie budget should not allow you to go into debt. When those calories are spent, they’re gone. Too bad if you spent them all on french fries. I guess you might do better tomorrow!
In case you’re interested, I have another blog that is basically a foody blog. Recently I have been logging every single food that I consume in a day in a photo type food journal. It’s called Stirfried Pickles. Someday I hope to get hubby to mash these two blogs together into a giant mammoth.
