CONCLUSION

Well, my personal challenge -- at least the documented part -- has come to an end. If you're curious, I spent approximately $1800 the month of May.

That includes close to $400 on pets alone (Sheba's diabetes will put a dent in my budget), $100 on bar/dining (that was pretty low compared to month totals in, say, law school), $250 on groceries (surprisingly low), $331 on a plane ticket to a wedding in Des Moines (necessary), $375 on rent (necessary), $50 on internet (necessary), and the rest divided among prescriptions, clothes (only $40!), transportation, and coffee and snacks. While being pretty thrifty I need to do better: no clothes, and only $200 on groceries...and no more visits to the Plaid Pantry! The good news is I only spent $80 on gas which was only due to hiking trips and driving around Mt. Hood. I am actively trying to sell my car to supplement my savings and pay for all things feline diabetes. I only make like $2200/month after taxes (Oregon has a high income tax to make up for the lack of sales tax) so spending $1800/month leaves little for the savings.

Due to Sheba's diabetes and the blow my roommates and I received yesterday (we have 30 days to vacate*) my personal challenges for June have changed. My quest for fresh food is the same, but the search will be limited to Safeway -- not more expensive food co-ops (unless I can find some cheap items there). I think this will be a better challenge: how to eat healthy and environmentally-friendly on a shoe-string budget. In addition to finding good, inexpensive food my challenge will be finding a new place to live...and creative ways to make money (spoiler alert: I'm doing some preliminary research into grant writing).

*We have a month-to-month tenancy so our landlord is only obligated to give us 30 days notice. He lives in the basement and wants to move back upstairs. We were hoping for more notice...but instead we got a letter. Sweet.