13

13

As I was thinking about potential blog topics today I was preparing food for all my meals this week and it dawned on me:  I should figure out how much money I’m saving by packing breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day (I pack dinner on school nights) versus eating out.  Stick with me because you may be surprised.

So I started by breaking down “typical” meals I pack for myself including breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I’m a creature of habit and generally stick with a simple approach for each meal so this was not very hard.  In many cases a single purchase lasts over several servings so I tried to break out the cost for 1 serving for the related meal.  For example, I am assuming I use 1 of 10 servings from my milk carton.  Since milk costs me $3.00/carton, each serving costs $0.30.  Okay, so let’s get to the details.  I will start with breakfast.

Breakfast			Total Cost		% of Total		Serving Cost
	Milk		$        3.00		10%		$0.30
	Cereal		$        2.50		13%		$0.31
	Banana		$        0.75		17%		$0.13
	Coffee		$        9.00		4%		$0.36
							$1.10		vs.		$4.00	Tim Horton's

If I didn’t pack breakfast (or eat at home), I would stop at Tim Horton’s (for those not familiar, think Dunkin Donuts).  When I pack, I usually include a glass of almond milk, a bag of cereal, a banana, and a 20oz thermos of black coffee.  If I stick with my usual brands, this costs me $1.10/day versus the $4.00 I would likely spend at Tim Horton’s.  Only 1 meal down and already big savings!  Keep in mind, I costed out my meal components assuming I paid full retail for everything, but I’m a coupon cutter and probably do even better than what I have in here.  On to lunch! 

Lunch
	Chicken		$        6.00		38%		$2.25
	Salad		$        6.00		7%		$0.40
	Clementines		$        4.00		13%		$0.50
	Mixed Veggies		$        7.50		13%		$0.94
	Chips		$        2.00		10%		$0.20
	Granola Bar		$        2.50		17%		$0.42
							$4.70		vs.		$7.00	Work Cafeteria

If I don’t pack a lunch, I’m usually stuck eating from our work cafeteria.  Don’t feel bad – it’s actually quite good, but we just don’t have good alternatives outside our building.  At the work cafeteria I would probably get a grilled chicken salad, a side of fruit, a bag of chips and a bottled beverage.  This would run me about $7.00 vs. the less than $5.00 from packing.   And as you can see I’ve got a pretty good, healthy line-up in my packed version!  And, more savings J  Now for the all-important third meal – the one that needs to carry me to my bedtime.

Dinner
	PB&J		$        8.00		5%		$0.41
	Grapes		$4.50		10%		$0.45
	Mixed Veggies		$        7.50		13%		$0.94
	Chips		$        2.00		10%		$0.20
	Cookies		$        3.00		7%		$0.20
							$2.20				$10.00	Panera

 

I calculated this as if I were going to class after work.  Class runs 6-9:15pm so I have to pack or grab something on my way from the car to my building.  The only close alternative is Panera which usually runs me $10.00 after I get a you-pick-two (extra charges for the “specialty” items I tend to pick, plus a drink).  If I pack a pretty standard lunch-style dinner, I can get to some totally huge savings on dinner!  Sometimes this meal doesn’t last me through the night, but it really should so I just need to be more cognizant of eating when I’m hungry vs. eating when I’m bored.

So there you have it – if I pack all 3 meals vs. not packing, I save myself $13.00.  That’s just for 1 single day!  Imagine extrapolating those savings over 50 5-day weeks – it would save you over $3,000 in 1 year.  That’s a vacation! 

Now let’s put some context around these calculations.  I tend to buy generic brands vs. name brands.  For example I buy Kroger brand cereal vs. Chex and Kroger brand chips vs. Lays.  Also, I snack from time to time, and that’s not included in this math.  If I pack my snacks, though, I am sure it would be cheaper than swinging through a fast food restaurant for a quick fix.  Also, keep in mind that being a “packer” involves some planning and preparation.  Anissa and I plan out our grocery list carefully each week and we spend a couple hours chopping veggies, cooking chicken/turkey for the whole week, and doing other food preparation to ensure we are set for the week.  One benefit besides the money savings is the wellness aspect.  Getting into the routine took me some time, but now that I have it down I am realizing some health benefits from making good choices when it’s easier (packing the meals) vs. making poor choices in the moment (eating out at Panera and getting chips and fountain pop instead of carrots and water). 

There you have it – all the evidence you need to start packing your meals.  Get to it people!

Cleaned and cut fruits and veggies

Individual servings of grilled chicken - ready to pack!

 

1809

1809

This entry will be spent reflecting on my four years at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.  Miami was founded in 1809 and has come to be a very well-respected school, ranked among the best for business.  When I was deciding where to continue my education, it came down to Miami and Xavier University.  It was essentially a toss-up but I ultimately chose Miami for it’s reputation in business. 

Freshman year was a total blast.  The independence was liberating.  Classes were tough – I had to balance requirements for two different Honors programs which was not an easy task.  This was good though; it kept me in check when I needed it.  I was truly blessed to make incredible friends that year.  In fact we remained very close all four years and many of them are in our wedding this summer.  Some highlights from that year were learning to play disc golf (aka Frisbee golf, or frolf), watching Ben Roethlisberger destroy the competition, the worker’s union (food, cleaning) going on strike, and going on Spring break to Texas (we visited Dallas, San Antonio, the beaches near Corpus Christi).

We camped right on the beach on the Texas gulf coast.

Sophomore year brought a lot of the same.  Great friends, tons of studying.  I remember starting to really like school at this point because my classes started to become concentrated in business as I had finished a lot of general education requirements Freshman year.  I was also king of napping.  I usually napped from 2-4pm which left me with plenty of time to get some schoolwork done before hanging out with friends.  One highlight of Sophomore year was sledding.  We had a huge hill behind our dorm and with my extensive sled collection we were set!

Junior year was when things totally changed.  Thanks to some of my sister Mo’s friends referring us, we landed a killer off-campus residence that was 100 yards from the bars and less than a 10 minute walk to classes.  Score!  We spent a lot of time visiting our friends at their houses since that was the cool new thing for everyone (not being in dorms).  School remained tough as my focus in Accounting ramped up and classes got very technical.  Throughout college I always worked, so that also took a lot of free time.  Thanks again to Mo for a great reference, I landed a job at the bookstore (free books!).  I also kept working at the Columbus Zoo on school breaks. 

Senior year I stayed in the same residence with the same guys (1 of whom was my randomly assigned roommate Freshman year and now will be my best man).  I was loaded up on hours trying to get 150 credit hours to meet the requirement to sit for the CPA exam, but that didn’t stop me from living it up.  And senior year was the one year I let myself take a “real” Spring Break.  We went to Panama City.  Fortunately there were enough of us that we could afford to rent an entire house for the week and didn’t have to stay in a dingy hotel.  We had direct beach access, our own volleyball court, multiple patios/deck, grills, etc.  It was just a total blast on the cheap without the downsides of cramming 12 people into a single hotel room.  Graduation from Miami was definitely bittersweet.  I’ll never forget, my roommate and I ditched the big University graduation ceremony to get in another round of frolf.  I remember being underwhelmed by the Business School graduation (the one my parents came to).  I guess I just didn’t want to let go.

When I reflect on Miami and think about what makes it so special for me, I think about the hockey games, playing broomball (look it up) with the same guys and gals all 3 seasons of all 4 years, the amazing beauty of the campus, the best friends a guy could ask for, a stellar education that has propelled me into a successful career, and the best dining hall food any college student could ever want.  I’m very thankful for my parents who made a sacrifice to help me pay for school, and I remind myself of these fond memories every time I make a payment on my student loan. 

 

I dragged Anissa to Oxford so we could get some engagement pictures there.  It's a beautiful campus even when it rains!  And it's funny to see how some things change (new buildings) and some don't (the landscape, the feel of the campus).

P.s. One other big memory from my college years was studying in Luxembourg for six weeks in 2006.  This needs to be an entry unto itself so keep your eyes peeled.

8

8

 

This blog entry is not about the record-breaking cold, but it is inspired by it (remember, I’m a huge nerd when it comes to the weather!).  Well today is officially the start of Spring Semester for Ohio State (enter irony at “Spring”), and the temperature is so low that combined with the wind it is unsafe to be outside.  Therefore Ohio State cancelled classes for today and tomorrow.  I think it’s legitimate and smart of them to do this.  I still have to go to work and, having walked a good distance to/from my car to get in and out of the building, I can attest that it is indeed dangerously cold (I just checked and the actual temperature right now at 9:30pm is -9 and the wind chill is -35). 

For those of you who have attended a college or university, you understand what a rare occurrence it is to have classes cancelled.  Given the size of Ohio State including all the students and employees, it is definitely a very rare occurrence.  I have been very sick the past few days (I always seem to get these major sinus attacks around the turn of the new year) and I desperately needed a delay to the start of classes.  As I was chatting with Anissa today, she suggested I write about the hours I got back from not having 2 classes I otherwise would have had this week.  I could talk about how I am spending/intend to spend the actual time I would have been in class (watching the BCS National Championship, drinking wine, blogging, going to the gym), but instead I will talk about what I could do on any given day if I was given the gift of 8 extra hours. 

 

 

The 8 hours come from my 6 hours of actual class plus the time to/from campus.  Eight hours is a lot of time.  Allegedly it is a full work day, but I’m sure we all know that is more of a myth these days.  One thing that comes to mind when I think of big chunks of time is training for the marathons I’ve run.  Major runs usually took 2-4 hours each.  All of my marathons took me between 4 and 5 hours to complete.  With this gift from Ohio State I could run a marathon and still have 3 hours left to spend!

Another thought that comes to mind is how long it takes to do the menial tasks of a normal weekend.  I’m talking laundry, cleaning the house, taking care of the yard, etc.  With 8 hours I could clean the whole house, do 3-4 loads of laundry, mow the grass, weed the gardens, clean out my car, grab some groceries, and get to the gym.  If I slept in, that would be an entire Saturday of errands!

Okay, so moving onto another thought (you may notice my mind scatters erratically, so bear with me).  I love roller-coasters and thrill rides.  Having been to both Cedar Point (Sandusky, OH) and King’s Island (Mason, OH) more times than I could reasonabley count, I have become a veritable wizard when it comes to maximizing ride time at amusement parks.  If you need evidence, just ask my family how I am at Disney World (it’s a blessing and a curse).  At King’s Island you could probably hit up every major coaster in under 8 hours, including some non-coasters and lunch at 1 of the 3 La Rosa’s (yummm!).  At Cedar Point you could probably squeeze in 6-7 major coasters – more than enough for the first half of the day if you don’t want anyone to get sick.  That’s a whole lotta fun!  Thanks for the bonus time Ohio State!          

One year I went to King's Island on Memorial Day.  They had a paraglider fly in the flag as they sang the National Anthem before letting guests enter the park.  It was a very cool start to a great day!

 

Two quick asides to the previous paragraph.  One summer Cedar Point introduced a new coaster that set the world record for height (420 feet) and speed (120 mph).  Me and 2 friends waited in line (mostly waiting out maintenance delays) exactly 8 hours to ride this coaster.  And it was so worth it!  No regrets.  Especially because when it got up and running every other person in the park got in line and freed up lines at other rides.  Cedar Point has the policy of letting anybody in line for a ride at the park’s closing time the opportunity to get on the ride before they leave.  At 10pm the line for this coaster was 4.5 hours long.  Yes, Cedar Point had to operate the coaster until 2:30am that day.  The second aside is that one summer I got inspired to engage in a vigorous writing campaign with the executives at Cedar Fair (owners of Cedar Point).  This netted me (and my party) the right to skip the line for 2 rides of our choice during our next visit.  Moral of the story here – persistence pays off!

I digress.  So what else for 8 hours?  Let’s see …you could fly from Atlanta to Brussels (Belgium) – I did that in the summer of 2006 when I studied in Luxembourg.  I don’t recommend getting on a flight like that just for fun.  It’s not fun.  You could also drive from Columbus to Syracuse with a 1 hour stop for lunch along the way.  You could probably complete a jigsaw puzzle.  You could spend a day at the zoo.  You could go golfing (with time to spare!).  You could watch 2 football games (hello college football Saturdays!).  The possibilities are seemingly endless.

In the summer (2013) Anissa's family (siblings, parents, nephews) came up to Columbus and we spent the day at the zoo.  These are the boys getting to see a kangaroo up close!

I hope that with this post I’ve given you some food for thought about how you might spend a gift of 8 hours.  And remember what a precious gift time really is the next time you receive it.  Lastly, there’s a lot to be said for just chilling out, vegging out, or catching up on sleep!