I realized last year that I'm an adult and I should probably put actual work into paying off my student loans and putting money into savings. Part of my plan of attack was to keep track of my spending for every month.
I figured that my weakness was online shopping and entertainment, I wasn't too worried about groceries because I shop at bulk food stores and aldi, never eat fast food, and very rarely buy namebrands. When I started crunching numbers I was surprised at how much I spent going out and on groceries, but food and drinking is my love so I wasn't going to change even though it was averaging about $500 a month.
I'm very social so I go out with friends a lot and have a beer or 4, and I love cooking so I was often at the grocery store buying stuff for one particular recipe...plus a bunch of cookies and chips and wine for snacking while preparing food.
Then, as it turns out, all this wining and dining was making me fat (gasp) so I hit the brakes and decided to become deliberate with my food and social choices. I started utilizing my freezer for large cuts of meat that I divvied up into individual portions instead of random yummy Trader Joe's goodies. I started eating seasonally and stopped buying overpriced veggies and treats that would sit in my fridge and rot (looking at you organic spinach and tub of garlic butter). I stopped drinking at home because I didn't want to budget the calories, and when I go out I buy $5 worth of craft beer instead of $20.
What has shocked me is that I wasn't deliberately buying cheaper. I expected to spend more because I started buying things like low cal bread and salmon, but 3 months have gone by where I am saving hundreds each month. Just by planning more and eating less I am saving, even though I still go out and still make elaborate, pain in the ass meals.
TL;DR : booze is expensive
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2CcWnRi
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