This Is Why I'm Broke

I am a 20 year old graphic design student at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (represent!), and this blog is an ongoing diary and log of the things I "consume" everyday for one of my design classes. Whether it be things I buy, things I see, hear or read, I have to record it. Hopefully this project will help me become more conscious about my habits as a consumer, and what ultimately drives us in our decisions as one. So, here we go!

[mack-adamia]

ALL DONE POSTING FOR 1 MONTH!

Will this continue? I'm not sure!

[mack-adamia]

Whoops...

I went grocery shopping last night at CBS because I wanted pasta!

I bought:

2 boxes of pasta

2 bags of chips

1 bag of bagels

1 box of crackers

Literally ALL of the carbs, but I feel like I need them to enjoy other foods with them, so it's not too bad. Also, never go grocery shopping when you're hungry/with a friend/or right after a workout.

[mack-adamia]

2/19/14

Really the only spending I did today was at Subway for lunch.

I got:

Turkey & Ham sub

SunChips Harvest Cheddar

Coke Zero

All together for $6 at the St. Paul Student Center. Not much thought went into this, This is an example of those meals I go to when I don't have a whole lot of time to devote to eating, so I pick something fast and at least a little tasty to compensate.

[mack-adamia]

These guys opened for the Arctic Monkeys at the Valentine's Day show, and I cannot stop listening to them. Thankfully I love the album and cycle through that whole thing as opposed to just one sone, but "My Type" has to be one of my favorites. It's just so catchy!

[mack-adamia]

Flexdine

I think Flexdine acts as a an easy rewards system for our wanting of food. It is so easy to just look up a place that delivers, or is a close walk that allows Flexdine. I get that we pay for it at the beginning of each semester, but it feels like imaginary money!

[mack-adamia]

2/18/14

I had Erbert & Gerbert's for lunch on a whim.

I really wanted a sandwich, and Subway just doesn't cut it anymore, I wanted something with substance.

So I walked into Erb's & Gerb's and got:

A flash

Chips

Coke zero

All for around $8 via Flexdine.

[mack-adamia]

2/17/14

I had another late-night snacking attack!

I felt stressed and hungry, so I ate:

1 bag of Cheetos

1 Kit Kat

1 Starbursts Sleeve

1 Coke Zero

I know I don't always decide to snack under the right circumstances, but it always tastes delicious, and sometimes to hit some spot for me.

[mack-adamia]

The Blood Drive

Blood drives are a really good thing to consider doing, especially because we currently have a blood shortage for those who need it desperately, but also free snacks.

I gave blood in the late afternoon, so I was a tad hungry. I always pass out or get light headed when I give blood too, so the nurses give me juice. When I was done, I sat at a table filled with snacks and ate:

2 bags of fruit snack

3 Keebler fudge sticks

1 and rainbow cookies

1 bag of pretzels

I probably ruined my appetite for dinner, but it was delicious and worth it!

[mack-adamia]

Lazy Sunday

I've noticed that I always feel unnecessarily hungry on Sundays. Sleeping in, lazing around, and not moving much all seem to combine to give me this feeling that I absolutely need food or I'll starve. Maybe it's because Sunday is like our hibernation period.

[mack-adamia]

2/15/14

Things I've consumed today:

Tofu stir-fry - free

Noodles & Company - $8

Dairy Queen Blizzard - $4

Rice kris pie treat - free

a pretti big day in consuming as opposed to normal. I had stir-fry at my friend Maggie's apartment since she offered to make us dinner. Later, I still gelt hungry so we went to Noodles where I got mac & cheese. Then we both decided on Blizzards because I had a coupon.

[mack-adamia]

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is rolling around and guess what I got in the mail! 2lbs. of Fannie May chocolate! I'll try to pace myself, but not promises.

Today was also a bog music consumption day too, I saw the Arctic Monkeys at First Avenue!

[mack-adamia]

I have an addiction...

As of last night (2/10/14), I have consumed a total of 24 cans of diet soda since the start of this project. That's 2 12-pack cases of Cheery Coke Zero, and Diet Sunkist. I just wanted to make a note since I think I'm going to use the can tops as my material for the installation project.

[mack-adamia]

OMG PACKAGING!

So while at CVS, and wondering though the haircare products, I stumbled upon these bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and leave-in cream. Did I need any of these things? No, of course not. But their bottles look so cool! I literally sat there for a good 10 extra seconds looking at the items simply because they were visually appealing. I didn't even realize what they were at first.

On another fun note, although it was still in essence the same product, I consciously chose one can of hairspray over another simply because of its outside appearance. I mean, they were both Bed Head brand hairspray, they were the same formula, same price, and they both even came in exposed aluminum cans, but only ONE had illustrations on the front. Guess which one I chose? The one with pictures, because it looks cool. At least I relayed what why I was making the decisions I did. So perhaps this is a step in the right direction?

[mack-adamia]

2/10/14

So I took a trip to CVS to pick up a prescription, and why not get some groceries while I'm there! After some perusing, my spending came out to:

$14 - copay

2 bags of chips for $2.37 each

$17.99 - hairspray

I bought 2 bags of chis because they were advertised as 2 for $4, and then by the time I got to the checkout, I realized you needed an ExtraCare card to qualify for the sale. I was too lazy to put one bag back, and hey, more chips! I also "needed" the hairspray. It's one of those things where I can definitely live without it, but I use it so frequently that it becomes necessity. As an end thought, copays will be the death of me!

[mack-adamia]

2/8/14

Totally struggled with breakfast this morning. I woke up at noon, and I had absolutely NO energy to schlep myself to the dining hl=all, so I stayed in my room and watched cartoons instead. While I watched stuff on Netflix I ate:

2 single serving cups of Danimals strawberry banana Greek yogurt (no shame, they're delicious)

1 Kind granola bar that I stole from study night at WAM

1 sleeve of pumpkin pie flavored PopTarts with the crusty part broken off

This is what happens when I try to feed myself, I revert back to child mode. My thinking was really just eating what I could find, and thankfully I scrounged up some relatively decent options.

[mack-adamia]

2/6/14

Thursday night brought on a case of late night snack cravings. Because of a later class, I eat dinner fairly early, and then after the 3 hour lecture and homework stresses I feel starving. Unfortunately I had no snacks in my room and a few singles to spare, so I took a trip to the vending machined in the lobby. BAD IDEA!

I bought:

KitKat - $1.50

Starbursts - $1.25

Cheetos - $1.25

So $4 got me immediately satisfied with my salty and sugary snacks. I have this really bad habit of craving awful-for-you foods whenever I feel stressed or "starving". I need to get some healthier options like cheese and crackers or fruit, hopefully that will help.

[mack-adamia]

SPLURCHASE!!!

So this is my splurchase. I bought a box of strawberry Pocky at the Gopher Express in Coffman. It was $2.09, so I just made the cut! It was weird, I kind of expected surprise in paying with a $2 bill, but the cashier just took my money and wrung it up.

Pocky is this tasty cookie stick-type treat from Japan that I really like. It's nice that the Gopher Express has its "Little Asia" section with all of these cool snacks. When I was younger, it was always really hard to find Pocky anywhere else besides local Asian markets. Now you can find it in Walmart!

Although I've had Pocky before, I've never tried strawberry before, and the box looked very pretty, so that basically steered my choice. I didn't really notice much else that might have affected my decision. It was during lunch hour, so Coffman was fairly crowded and loud, and music couldn't really be heard. The space was interesting though. I always feel cramped and rushed in the Gopher Express, regardless of how full it is, or how many other people are in the surrounding rooms. It's just so tiny, I always want to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Well, at least I got Pocky!