Day Five

Today's challenge: It is a special occasion. Plan an outing with friends. You need to pay for yourself.

I only have $4.80 left and I wanted to go to my daughter's hockey game tonight (which cost $5.00 to get in - I have a pass, but if I didn't that is what I would have to pay). When I got to the game, I asked at the door if they would take my $4.80 as that is all I had and I really wanted to see my daughter play. They did and were very understanding!

I have no money left to plan an outing that has costs. Things I could do instead are to go for a walk on tunnel island (if my friends would pick me up of course), the library is open until 8 tonight so we could go there and read together (I also learned that the library has a homebound service where they will deliver books to people who aren't able to make it to the library who are members of the Kenora Public Library), and I checked the events calendar on the City of Kenora's website and there weren't any free events tonight (although this coming Monday there is a free swim and skate at the Rec Centre from 12-3 p.m.). If my friends wanted to go out for dinner or to a movie, I would have to decline.

Today I had the exact same meals as yesterday with a few treats given to me by students. Our Valleyview Public School family were very generous today with all of the non-perishable items donated, and we are very grateful!


This has been an eye-opening experience for me and I am really grateful for it! It has made me very appreciative for what I have, and inspired to do more to help in our community.

Today's meals were exactly the same as yesterday's. I am really wanting more variety in my diet. I was a lot more tired today, and find myself hungry at bedtime. I usually have a glass of water to curb some of the hunger so I can fall asleep.

I have been thinking a lot about simple things, like haircuts, getting to and from appointments, dentist appointments, etc. and how I would manage these with a small budget. What would I do? Walk to appointments or try to take the bus? How would I afford the medicine I or my family needed? What about eye glasses? Fortunately, there is a program for junior kindergarten students who need glasses called Eye See...Eye Learn. There is also free dental programs for children 0-17 years through the NWHU called Healthy Smiles Ontario (HSO).

Then I reflected on what we have to offer at school. I am so thankful for our partnership with Northwestern Health Unit (NWHU) for supporting our nutrition program and the Northern Fruit and Vegetable program that allows us to offer our students a serving of fruit and a serving of vegetables each week. I am also thankful for other programs and partnerships we have, like the dental screening program (NWHU), immunization program (NWHU), and vision screening program (Lion's Club) just to name a few. This reduces travel costs to these services for families.

Tomorrow, in support of Action Against Poverty Week, we have asked Valleyview Public School staff and students to wear red and to donate a non-perishable food item to the Salvation Army food bank. I will post more about this tomorrow.

Good night day four, looking forward to day five. 

Day 4

Good morning! Today's challenge: Every girl in your daughter's class got an LOL doll this Christmas except her. She wants to know why Santa didn't bring her one. How do you explain this to an 8 year old?

This breaks my heart and hits home for me. It also makes me reflect on the activities we do with our students after Christmas break. We often ask students to write about activities they did over the holidays, and try to steer away from what students received as gifts.

I would tell my daughter that she is unique and special and that is why Santa brought her different gifts. I would acknowledge and empathize with how disappointed she is. I would then try to scrape together as much money as I could each week to save for a doll. Maybe I would have enough save by her birthday.

I will reflect more on this today.

Day Three

Today's Challenge: Look at the local bus schedule and try to map out a route that will get you from Lakeside to your place of employment. Will it be possible to take public transit if you did not have a vehicle?

I looked at the bus routes online today. It is possible for me to get to work at Valleyview from Lakeside, however I would be late everyday. If I got on at the Kenora Rec Centre at 8:12 a.m., I would need to take it to the Market Square stop at 8:15 a.m. to transfer to the Pinecrest Route. I would walk to the Matheson St S and 1st St stop to take the 8:22 a.m. bus. I would arrive at the Valley Dr and Doner St stop at 8:28 a.m. and then walk to Valleyview. School starts at 8:50 a.m., and I need to be there much earlier than that. Not to mention, it costs $2.50 per ride, meaning that it would be $5.00 per day to take the bus. There is the option of purchasing a 22 ride pass for $50.00 which would get me to and from work for the month. That would mean I would need to budget $12.50 per week to pay for the upcoming month, and this would only allow me to take the bus to and from work. Part of the reason I would be late is that the Lakeside Route service doesn't start until 8:00 a.m. If it started earlier, then I wouldn't have any problems getting to work on time, as the Pinecrest Route starts at 7:00 a.m.

Today's meals are the same as yesterday. Breakfast was apple pie oatmeal and tea with honey, lunch was two boiled eggs, veggies (peppers and carrots) and dip, yogurt with strawberries and blueberries; and dinner was chicken marinated in balsamic dressing with salad. I had water to drink today. Although I am eating quite healthy (which was one of my goals), I am really starting to crave variety.

I realize I didn't take into account the cost of toiletries. For my toiletries - shampoo with conditioner, which will double as body wash, dish soap (which will also double as soap to hand wash clothing), etc. I will deduct $10. Now I only have $4.80 for the next two days.

Other items that I have taken for granted are things like a warm coat, boots, mitts and hat, and wonder how I would afford these if I only had $63 per week to spend. I could cut costs by buying more pasta instead of fresh foods and vegetables. Fortunately at school, we have hats and mitts donated to us each year that are available to all students, and our students really appreciate this!

Day Two

Challenge for today: You have a nasty cold. Purchase some items to curb the symptoms.

Off to the dollar store I went. My comforts for when I have a cold are tea and honey, and sea salt for gargling salt water and my Neti Pot. $6.50 for all of this today. I have to admit, I have had a headache for the last two days (probably the result of no sugar or caffeine!) I am quite excited to have tea and honey tonight!

Breakfast today was apple pie oatmeal (yesterday's meal made four servings) and hot lemon water. For lunch I had two boiled eggs with peppers, carrots and dip, blueberries and strawberries, yogurt and water. Dinner was the same as last night, leftover chicken (I didn't eat the entire chicken breast last night), two chicken wings, and salad with peppers, carrots and balsamic dressing. I also had a class of water.

Today is our Soup Day at work. Several staff each week take turns making soup for staff. The staffroom smelled so good today, and I was a little sad that I couldn't try the scrumptious smelling soups (I couldn't afford to take it out of my budget). I smelled each one several times!

My challenge today: You lost one mitt. Spend the day without it.

I'm back from grocery shopping and am pretty proud of my purchases. I spent $41.70 on groceries plus $3.00 for gas. I have $18.30 left for the rest of this challenge.

So far I've eaten Apple Pie Oatmeal for breakfast (I substituted more oatmeal for wheatgerm) and hot lemon water. For lunch, I had scrambled eggs, carrots and dip, and water. Dinner will be a chicken breast (I cut up the whole chicken I bought today) and salad with Balsamic dressing, and a glass of water.

Fortunately today is the day I lost my mitt (and not tomorrow when I am outside with students for supervision). I have a lot of work to do, so I will be spending most of the day indoors. If I had lost my mitt on a day when I had to spend a lot of time outdoors, I would put my hand in my pocket or up my sleeve. I could also use a sock if I needed to use both of my hands for a long period of time outdoors!

Day One

Good morning! I am excited and nervous to start this challenge today. I've scanned the flyers and made a menu and shopping list for this week's groceries. I am hoping to come within the $45 range so that I have some money left over for unexpected expenses. Eating healthy is important, and I am trying to follow Canada's Food Guide. I know this will be a challenge, so I plan to shop the 50% off items in the produce aisle. I have also looked into the community food programs offered in Kenora. I live out of town, so the option of walking or taking public transit isn't there. Each time I go to town, I will need to spend $3.00 for gas, so I need to decide if taking advantage of these programs will be cost beneficial. I'm off to town now to grocery shop!