Last week, I wondered what kind of asshole couldn’t survive on a $50-a-week food budget. Turns out I’m that kind of asshole. At least when I’m traveling. I packed up and took off for Bonnaroo, a music festival in Tennessee, on Thursday and because I was camping on site for three days, my options were overpriced vendor fare or a backpack full of non-perishables including—yes—peanut butter. Considering I’d already spent $25 on my CSA for the week it was going to be a challenge, anyway. I stayed pretty close to $25 when I hit a big box store I’d rather not name (out of shame) for my camp food, but what really got me was the coffee. Because I was too lazy to boil my own water at a campsite, I allowed myself to go over budget to keep caffeinated. At $3 each, two coffees a day, I ended up sending $18 alone just to stay awake. And we won’t even count what I may or may not have spent on magic brownies.

Not only did I go over budget, I did not eat well (even though other people at Bonnaroo managed to). So I’m considering last week a major FAIL. But it taught me something very important, at least something very important about this project. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: bonnaroo, budget analysis, camping, coffee, CSA, drugs, grocery store, non-perishable food, pot, pot brownies, pre-packaged food, tennessee, travel, vendors