Coffee Dates?

So I didn't find it so hard to eat for $3 for one day - it helps to have a kitchen and a car. I shopped at Price Rite in Hamden (great place, very cheap, nice people) and made a big pot of red beans and rice on Sunday. The whole pot probably cost $2.00, and I only ate about a third of it on Monday, the day I took the Challenge.
So I ate:
oatmeal with peanut butter for breakfast - probably less than $.50
Red beans and rice for lunch and dinner - about $.75
leftover cabbage and onions and string beans with lunch - about $.50
an apple - about $.30
ice cream before bed - it was on sale, $2.99 for a 1/2 gallon, and, although I ate more than I should, I didn't eat all that much, say, $.35 cents worth.
That's about $2.50 for the day.
But the day was pretty low on veggies - if I'd eaten a salad, I'd certainly have gone over $3.00. And I didn't have coffee or tea - homemade or store-bought.
And I didn't try to feed my kids on this food. Most of them don't want to eat red beans and rice. And they don't eat oatmeal, either.
And I'm getting pretty tired of that pot of red beans and rice.
I also had a coffee date with a student on Monday morning and was unsure what to do. If I had coffee, would that count? I decided it would, and just bought her her chai latte (which cost $3.59 - more than the allotment).
I was very aware how much people and events revolve around food - I avoided all the free food opportunities here, feeling that that would be cheating.
It takes a lot of attention and resources to keep within such a budget, and it's one thing to do for a day and another for months or years or a lifetime.
Rabbi Lina