No Spend Challenge
Towards the end of last year my spending on food was out of control. I used my busyness and tiredness as an excuse to eat out. I have reduced it somewhat in January but decided that a no spend challenge for the month of February might just be the thing to get me back on track.
For those of you new to the party, a no spend challenge is a period of time in which you abstain from non-essential spending. I tried a week and it was easy to defer purchases for 7 days. A month makes it more of a challenge. And for someone who socializes by eating out this is going to be a bit more difficult than I’d like it to be.
The plan is to cook enough on Sundays to carry me through most of the week. Last week I tried it out. I am in need of practice as I burnt myself and managed to make a big mess by spilling grease on the floor.
The food lasted longer than I intended as I ate out for lunch on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday, we had the last hurrah at lunch for me. We usually eat sushi every Friday and since Feb 1 was Friday we moved it to Wednesday. Thursday, I went out to lunch with a coworker who looks like he was at the end of his rope. Working at my company is not for the week. Friday was the sous chef’s last day. She makes the best fried chicken and I was not going to miss out, so since the menu is posted every Monday, I gave my coworker the price of the meal on Monday. So technically I did not spend on Friday. 😉
The roast and chili were the only items that were finished last week, so I froze the rest. I intended to cook pork chops, a one pot rice dish and soup but since I have so much food left over I only made the rice. I will bake the pork chops on Thursday and it should be enough to get me through the week.
I’m excited to be focused on getting my self together. I’m hoping that all these new habits take shape and stick.