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Bummer, No Kitchenette

May 21st, 2017 at 10:44 pm

My husband has found out his room while he is away for three months of training is a fairly basic hotel room. It doesn't have the stove and kitchen supplies we were expecting. It does have a microwave and a very small dorm refrigerator.

The good news he does get 'free' breakfast everyday. I hope it is somewhat decent as some of those breakfasts can get old after awhile. There may be a manager's reception/weekly social at least one night a week.

He will be back home for Memorial Day weekend, so we might have to figure out some options for food he can buy and eat from the commissary without eating out for every meal.

He is getting per diem to cover meals. Originally we were told it was $69 a day, but it is 75% of that because of the length of the training. That works out to $51.75 for each day. For thirty days, that is $1,552. I think the man can eat decently for that, even with some eating out.

The truth is I would love to keep as much of that money as possible. Even half or 2/3rds of that amount seems possible. I guess we will know more as it all plays out.

13 Responses to “Bummer, No Kitchenette”

  1. snafu Says:
    1495405392

    If he is willing to buy bagged salad and favorite bottled dressings, he can likely create decent dinners with aid of a microwave safe 'picnic' set, paper plates . With breakfast taken care of...What ever your DH chooses from his list for dinner forms the basis of his take-a-way lunch the following day!

    what do you think?

  2. snafu Says:
    1495405591

    rats...try #2

    f he is willing to buy bagged salad and favorite bottled dressings, he can likely create decent dinners with aid of a microwave safe 'picnic' set, paper plates . With breakfast taken care of...What ever your DH chooses from his list for dinner forms the basis of his take-a-way lunch the following day!

    what do you think?

  3. creditcardfree Says:
    1495405615

    Yes, you do have good ideas snafu! I appreciate the thoughts and will pass them on. He has been big on salads lately and has been prepping them for the week on Sunday nights. We did both say that could continue, but with the use of smaller containers for storage in the mini fridge. He may need to bring some kitchen ware from home when he returns to visit next weekend.

  4. LivingAlmostLarge Says:
    1495407451

    I lived like that for 2 years and rarely ate out. I lived in bachelor apartment while going to school while DH lived in our condo. DH and I would prep food in tupperware for the week and I would eat b,l, and dinner from my planned meals. I bought yogurt and granola for breakfast. I would drive down monday morning with food in cooler and then rest of the week eat preplanned meals. I bought salad to have but I mostly lived with whatever he prepared. Then Friday night drove back to him. I used take out containers from chinese restaurants black and washed and stacked them. I took it to school and heated my lunch and spent like no money. He rarely came up because it was so small the space 150 sq ft that we didn't really have cooking utensils. If I wanted a snack I tended to eat chips or something.

    You don't have to live so frugally though. We were making very little money in a HCOLA. And money was very tight. Our meals over all was really cheap too. Not the healthiest.

  5. jokeabee Says:
    1495407598

    I find that microwavable veggie/black bean/quinoa patties go great in salads-they also aren't so bad on their own with or without a bun. Also, avocados and hard boiled eggs make them more filling. I also use lunch meat in my salads for protein. I didn't think I would ever enjoy eating salad every day, but I have been experimenting with more "fun" ingredients and have enjoyed the variety.

    There are microwaveable rice packets that aren't too expensive for packaged food. I don't know if crockpot or induction cookware is a possibility, but he could cook some meat over the weekend in one to have for at least the beginning of the week.

    We would make our own pizzas using garlic naan from Kroger and heat it up in the microwave.

    We spent a couple of months without a kitchen while renovating recently (and truthfully, even though we now have an oven we don't have full use of the kitchen) and that's how we tried to get around eating out for every meal.

    Does the commissary have frozen read made meals? From Sam's we also bought mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, pulled pork, tortellini, etc that just needed to be heated in the microwave.

  6. ceejay74 Says:
    1495412618

    That is a bummer, though people have some good ideas here! I bet there are some things he could do with a hotpot, too.

    At some point we'll be renovating our kitchen, and even though we'll be able to "borrow" our downstairs neighbors' from time to time, we won't want to do that too often. So I think we'll be brainstorming meals that can be made without an oven too.

  7. Amy Says:
    1495417648

    Pulled pork or pulled chicken can go a long way. Make in the crockpot and store in the fridge. Use it cold on a salad or warm to make a sandwich or wrap. The salad idea is wonderful.

    We moved and lived in a hotel room for a month. We used a crockpot and quesadilla maker to survive.

  8. LuckyRobin Says:
    1495441131

    A lot of hotels don't like people using electric appliances, so if he does take a crock pot or an electric skillet, he'd not want to leave them out in the morning for the maids to see.

  9. scottish girl Says:
    1495448038

    Those are all good ideas. Hope you figure something out. It'll all count towards the Big Goal, right?

  10. crazyliblady Says:
    1495500333

    When I was in college, my best friend had one that you could put one of those noodle side dishes into and warm it up a bit and add something like chicken or tuna. It was not the best eating, but it was great for a college student who could not afford to eat out.

    How about if you got him some gift cards for favorite low cost places to eat and get coffee, soda, snacks to give him some options so he is not eating frozen meals or something all the time?

    Also, I don't know how far away he will be from home, but if it is close enough, what if he or you were to make up some serving size meals ahead of time and him take them with him back there? I am thinking of something like chili, soup, casserole, macaroni salad, etc. Ones that would go bad quickly would have to go into the freezer until ready to heat up and eat.

  11. Kiki Says:
    1495571616

    A small toaster oven to use in the room?

  12. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1495984179

    Would he go for sandwiches? A loaf of bread, peanut butter, jelly, cheese slices, meat slices, etc...

  13. crazyliblady Says:
    1496003825

    I would think sandwiches might be okay sometimes, but that gets old quickly. I would opt for some variety: perhaps frozen microwave meals, sandwiches, salads, and maybe gift cards for lower cost places to eat.

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