Even the hugely rich have to follow some kind of budget. That can mean only one sparkly new Rolls a month for the super monied, or eating out less than once a month for "normal" people.
I haven't been following my (unofficial) budget the last couple days. It's not something I *have to* follow, after all. There's more money coming in. I just feel the need to hold back some cash. It's the responsible thing to do. And if I were cooking for myself it'd be no problem. One meal of pasta and veggies isn't that much less expensive than two. But I'm eating out every day, every meal. I don't have a knife or plate (both cheap, but too much effort to track down and bargain for) so even breakfast of fruit involves paying someone for more than just the mangoes. Lazy, right?
Now, if I were staying in the "local" part of town, and eating animals, I could stuff my face two or three times a day for 20Q, or a little less than three dollars. Because I'm down in tourist-land, I'm stuck paying gringo price. If I really cared I'd hike up the hill to town for cheaper food.
Instead I have a running dialogue in my mind. It goes something like this:
"Hmm, I'm not hungry, but I'd like something to munch on. I bet pizza would taste good about now."
"you fool, you just had a huge bowl of soup. you even admitted that you aren't hungry. you don't need pizza"
"Yeah, but I want pizza."
"it's 5 dollars, and the size of a super cheap frozen one back home. you are not paying 5 dollars for a tiny pizza."
"Yeah, but I want pizza. And it tastes good. And it'd be hot, and it's cold now."
"but you aren't hungry, and if you're cold you can damned well go inside. Besides, you just had pizza yesterday. If you keep spending $8 a day on food there won't be any extra money left for eating out in antigua."
"But the less-rip-offy shop is closed today, so I can't go get a bag of chips."
"YOU AREN'T EVEN HUNGRY! SHUT UP ABOUT THE FOOD ALREADY."
At which point I order the pizza. Impulse control will be, I suspect, the last thing to come fully back on line as I re-drug-ify myself. Most of the rest is wandering slowly back in.
Meanwhile, if you've never had pizza with fresh sliced garlic tossed on as a topping, zomg are you ever missing something good. They don't even fry it first. Sooo yummy. Sooo good I'm not kissing anyone. Or breathing on or near them. I get fewer mozzie bites, though, so it's all good.
So yeah, budget+food=diet. I've been supplementing with chips, but really can't wait to get to antigua and one of the three places I've hunted down that have guest kitchens.
Now, My Mommy
My Mommy has a new blog. She's just getting started with it, and hasn't got pictures yet, but I think the meat using types (and anyone who isn't offended or too disturbed by meat recipes) might enjoy it. She's much more with the fancy food than I am--she's cooking for more than herself, so she has a reason to cook better stuff.
She's calling it An Inexpensive, Healthy Food Adventure
And for those who might be interested I suspect Bear the Dog will show up from time to time. I know he wanted to help kneed the dough she was working with last week... With his teeth.
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