I blew my budget three ways to Sunday last month, so this month I'm trying really hard not to eat out at all. To help with this goal and hold myself accountable, I'm blogging each week about how I did.
So the past week wasn't the worst in terms of my spending habits, but it wasn't the best either. I've been using the Notes app on my phone to journal my progress. Here's what I wrote over the last seven days:
Friday, Oct. 4, 12:42 pm
In my rush to get out the door this morning, I didn't pack enough food for lunch. Thought it would be enough, but I was wrong. Bought a small order of wings from the cafeteria--nothing else. $4.50. Realized halfway through that I wasn't that hungry after all. New goal: Wait 20 minutes after eating to buy more food, to give my stomach time to realize whether it's actually hungry.
Sunday, Oct. 6, noonish
Didn't get a chance to eat before running some time-sensitive errands. Wanted Panera for lunch, but settled for a $1.06 bagel (free butter, not cream cheese) and ate lunch for real when I got home.
Tuesday, Oct. 8, 10:30 am
So my biggest foe seems to be breakfast. The thought of eating within the first hour or two of waking up makes me physically nauseous, so I usually skip breakfast in favor of a cup or two of coffee. And of course by this time, I'm starving. This morning I tried Sydney's trick of making a breakfast smoothie, downing it pre-coffee as I packed my lunch and wiped down the kitchen. My stomach still is making the loudest grumbles you've ever heard. I'll give the smoothies a few more days (made a big batch of pre-mix), and maybe see how the Noble Pig's suggestion of adding quinoa works out, then I'll try my backup: packing breakfast.
Wednesday, Oct. 9, 10:24 am
Running errands on my morning break and I'm starving. Pop my head into Starbucks for a breakfast sandwich, but the line is a dozen people long. Take it as a sign and leave. There's a granola bar in my desk.
Same day, 10:30 am
Granola bars make me sad.
Thursday, Oct. 10, 10:25 am
Didn't have time for a smoothie this morning. I'm grumpy, tired, and hungry. Whatever, I'm getting cheese fries. (JK, I just couldn't resist the Mean Girls quote. I got bacon and eggs from the cafeteria--$3.30. They were completely unsatisfying, as I got the leftover bacon crumbles from breakfast service. Part of me feels like I deserve this for cheating. Womp womp.)
Total for the week: $8.85. Not bad. I managed to pack my lunch every day. Considering that the average cost for lunch downtown is anywhere between $8 and $10, I've actually done very well compared to the buy-lunch-two-or-three-times-a-week habit I was in last month.
A mashup of style, food and anything else that interests me right now.
Ohhh I like this "new goal" thing for some of the moments of weakness! I'm into that!
ReplyDeleteIf it helps, I'm the exact same way with nausea with food in the AMS, I usually wait like, two hours until after waking up to have my smoothies lol. I have giant cups of coffee (yolo) first thing when I get up (i'm going to die in my placement) and then drink my smoothie when I get to work/school. This usually sees me until about noon.
Good for you for cutting down spending so much!! This is keeping me going girl!
I love the idea of being accountable to your paycheque and ultimately balancing the books. I recently got an app called mint.com (for the iPhone) and its really been helping em track how much I am spending and where I am spending it. my biggest foe is not packing my breakfast and lunch beforehand. If I don't do it the night before, im bound to be stuck in buying something at work. This week I was able to keep it down to one lunch and one breakfast outside....next week hopefully itll be none!
ReplyDeleteI do the "sacrifice eating out so I can justify my shopping budget" thing too! Making lots of lunches & snacks on Sunday evening really helps - but I hear ya that my grumbling belly can make me do things I regret too. Good luck with your goals!
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Oh this is awesome! 8$ for the week is a sweet deal. You've been awesome at sticking to the goals from what I can tell. I mean, there are bound to be slip ups every once in a while but you've handled them like a champ!
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