How much do you currently spend per week on food? What’s a typical day’s worth of eating, for you?
Currently I have budgeted $200 a month. $100 per 2 weeks, split $50 per week (if that makes sense). I don't spend that much though. I just wanted something to work with until I figured out how much I really do spend and where I can cut. It's every 2 weeks based soley on my paychecks. I have a paycheck where I have a bigger haul (remember I will go every week and split the $100 budget to $50 a week). I meant to land that in the paycheck I'm not paying rent on but either way, I have budgeted $100 each paycheck. On the bigger hauls I can spend anywhere from $50 to $80 for the 2 weeks, depending on if i'm needing to buy meat, how much meat, and what kind of meat. If I spend that much the next week is maybe $15 for here and there things. Then the other paycheck is more of a fill in haul and will spend about $30 for that entire 2 weeks. So, say the most on each that would be $120 to maybe $150 a month if I'm buying a lot of meat that month. I know I can cut that down with meal planning. That's without meal planning. I'm trying to rough draft a meal plan now for my trip to Aldi tomorrow and see if I can get some receipts bought and preped.
I'm eating some fruit (some premade and a bit pricer like fruit cups but mostly it's an orange, a banana, an apple) and then for lunch I have instant oats with a banana cut up in it. I have to eat fast at lunch as its only a 30 min lunch where almost half of that time is spent in the bathroom trying to pee, then getting a few puffs of the vaporizer then making my oats at the coffee machine where there's boiling hot water and ice cold water but no microwave. I eat and walk to the break room where I rinse the bowl and spoon and then get ice for my canned coke. I bring 2 canned cokes with me a day. I have a large thing of water as well. Not sure I can cut the coke out but whatever I bring to lunch has to be quick.
I'm not eating a lot when I come home. Certianly not a meal. Not yet anyway. I tend to snack on some fruit or veggies and maybe a bowl of cereal. Yep, horrible for me but fast. Im hoping that with less prep and no personal cooking, the crock pot can help a lot. It will just take some time to gain up all I need to start using it though. I'm hoping that the food bank can help with some of the staples that's needed to start cooking real meals.
Do the food banks have email addresses? Try asking Second Harvest for an email contact. That’s another option other than calling the churches.
I did email Second Harvest via an application and they emailed me back the names and phone numbers (no addresses) of 2 churches that give out food in my city. Second Harvest is in Orlando. I'm in Altamonte Springs. Which is the Orlando area but they gave me churches in Altamonte Springs. This area is rather sectioned. Even many pizza deliveries are secontioned in small areas. They go to Apopka but not Altamonte though Apopka is less then 8 miles down the road. Same with Longwood or Lake Mary. I can search on the church site for an email address but even being on the church site is a trigger. The email Second Harvest sent me was due to the application I sent on their site. Second Harvest doesn't have contact info on their site. Just an application. My therapist said they are a big warehouse that stores food and then gives the food to the churches where you go to pick the food up at the church. They dont give out food themselves. They are a distrubuter
Congressperson or Senators
Hmmm. Could I call them and ask for assistance in general? I almost feel like they would just point me to food banks and charities and housing assistance and what not that's already in place. I don't know. Will have to research that one.
Looking up the churches online so you can at least see the outsides of the buildings would also give you a good step, in terms of exposure therapy preparation.
My therapist said next week we'll do a google earth tour or whatever to the two churches and do EMDR as well. He says EMDR can help make the anxiety not so hot. Not near as high. Just talking about going there to him caused a panic attack in his office. It's very hot. He said that I could google map it alone (I do need to google them enough to get their address) but if I hadn't done it by next week that we'll do that in session next week. I'm scared to do it alone as it seems to be pushing my brain to a very scary familiur place and I don't want to "relasp" (if you will) with rituals and stuff. That's where it's sending my brain instantly and I feel like I could start going down that path super easy. Its a very slippery slope and it scares me so he said we'll do it in session where he can help me ground and he's good at helping me center a bit and not go to those super extreme places.
