Come visit the new Whole Foods here in Oakland with me! I am telling you, it is INSANE in there. I always experienced Whole Foods as an upscale, schmancy place, but I did not know how far they could take it. Look at their bathrooms:

Even after I started working on my money issues, I had trouble with overbuying. There were all the things that I didn’t need or want but held on to “just in case”: weird flavors of Top Ramen that I bought out of curiosity, interesting jam that I had no particular use for, cookies or cereal that I didn’t want to eat but didn’t want to throw out in case I woke up with a craving for them one day, canned soups and chilis that I never really wanted to eat because they contained something or other that I didn’t want to eat in my soup - sugar or meat - but would eat if pressed….

I have noticed that a lot of the resources strewn about the internet around meal planning are... well... frugal. Penny-wise. Thrifty. That is to say: for me, they cross the line between living abundantly within your means and living in deprivation.

I'm hosting a challenge! I am SO excited about this.

If you needed any proof that it is possible to eat luxuriously on $40 a week, look no further: This is a serious splurge dish. What you are seeing is a martini glass filled with cubes of sashimi-grade tombo and salmon roe. An ounce of roe set me back $4; I chose the tombo because it was on sale, so half a pound cost me about the same amount - roughly $4.14. And all of that went into this dish. That's nearly a quarter of your budget for one meal! Awesome. (Continued....)