Another Almost No Spend Day & Step Down Budgeting
I’ve been really good this week and yet, really bad. Thursday was another Almost No Spend Day. I forgot to mention that I do spend money daily on tolls to and from work. But that doesn’t really register since it’s automatic. An overview of teh week.
The Bad:
I bought an “In Your Face Dave Ramsey” $4 Pumpkin Spice coffee at Starbucks yesterday.
I also bought a $2 tea at Starbucks while I was knitting.
I had to buy gas ~$25, but I chose not to fill up at the super expensive station near work.
I ate at the new cafeteria at work since we relocated and wanted to check out our dining options. $15.33 for two meals with extras like snacks to take back to my desk.
The Good:
I went to a concert and dinner for free, courtesy of my laddie.
By not filling up my gas tank completely, I waited to fill the rest of the way at the really cheapo gas station near my house. I see they dropped their price by $.02 a gallon this morning, beating the station near work by $.07. (On a full tank, that’s nearly a dollar. So mental note, the best buy really is near home.)
By bringing sandwich fixings and drinks to work, I could choose to eat in the cafeteria, but lightly. I also fixed myself something to eat so I wouldn’t buy dinner at Starbucks or the expensive but delicious Italian restaurant next door.
Through a volunteer gig I have, I am learning about “Step Down Budgeting”. This means easing into budget changes and building better spending habits. For instance, I really dislike sandwiches for lunch. I prefer hot meals. By trying to bring my lunch to work once or twice a week, I’m not going cold turkey on buying lunch every day, nor am I feeling deprived because I’ve cut myself off the hot-turkey-open-faced sandwich-with-gravy gravy train. Currently with turkey sandwich fixings in the fridge, I can choose to buy lunch or choose to be frugal and fix lunch. When I am motivated to keep practicing frugality, I can pack more lunches and cut back on buying lunch even further. Step Down Budgeting is about making choices and moving towards cutting the budget gradually so you don’t feel the pinch and do a 180 on budgeting. It’s to keep you from setting up for failure because it’s all too easy to say “I hate budgeting because it doesn’t work for me. I can’t keep a budget.”
Oh, so how did I do this week on lunch? Well I got the bread and turkey cold cuts on sale. The Muenster cheese wasn’t on sale though, but my co-worker likes it and sometimes I share my food so it doesn’t go to waste. I ate all the turkey and cheese and have half a loaf left of bread waiting for next week. I plan on having a PBJ today for lunch. I also had about a quart of potato soup from earlier this week. I brought in some Pepsi I bought on sale and a can of tomato soup, which was a very nice add-on to the cold turkey sandwich. (Did I mention I like hot food?)
Food is the bane of my budget. But slowly, with Step Down Budgeting, I’ll get there.
Do you have any examples of stepping down slowly to hit your budget targets?
Mrs. Micah wrote:
The hot tomato soup w/turkey sandwich is making my mouth water.
I mostly bring leftovers to work in a little insulated lunchbox. Then I stick it in the fridge (because I don’t have a coldpack) and microwave it for lunch. Is that an option for you? Today I’m having stirfry, for example, all warm and happy.
Posted on 12-Oct-07 at 11:28 am | Permalink
Leanne wrote:
I started a $10/week autotransfer into my ING savings and haven’t noticed the hit at all. I think in a few weeks I will bump it up to $15/week and then maybe even $20/week later. Savings account is growing nicely, yet I don’t notice the hit in my checking account.
Nice to know the money will be there in the event of an emergency. Great post!
Posted on 12-Oct-07 at 11:31 am | Permalink
Him wrote:
I’m not usually a coffee drinker, but the pumpkin spiced latte is the only thing I ever buy at Starbucks. It’s pretty popular - you can even buy the syrup on eBay.
Posted on 12-Oct-07 at 11:37 am | Permalink
Her wrote:
Um…the “In Your Face Dave Ramsey” coffee doesn’t hurt him in the least. You’re the one with $4 less in your pocket!
Posted on 12-Oct-07 at 1:09 pm | Permalink
Vixen wrote:
What type of volunteering gig do you have?
Posted on 12-Oct-07 at 2:35 pm | Permalink
plonkee wrote:
I struggle to do the packed lunch option as well. Perhaps I’ll try and set my sights a little lower and do it gradually.
Posted on 12-Oct-07 at 3:50 pm | Permalink
dimes wrote:
My husband is doing the packed lunch thing, but I think he’ll backslide, because he’s going to get very tired of having the same thing every day.
I’ve switched from drinking mainly sweetened beverages to drinking more water, but it’s bottled water (our local water has impurities that even water filters won’t remove, unless you have a reverse-osmosis machine, which we don’t). Still, the water is cheaper than Gatorade and it’s in larger packages as opposed to handy-yet-expensive bottles of Aquafina or whatever.
Posted on 13-Oct-07 at 6:08 pm | Permalink
Wylie wrote:
I actually have folks at my office all riding each other about how we can make lunch cheaper. I’ve seen one colleague cook food and bring in leftovers for others, and now when one of us gets invited to a work lunch- one that our company is paying for, we try and get each other invited along. It is kinda funny but it has had amazing results. Since we are working as a community, we constantly turn each other onto new tips. We have a trader Joe’s nearby- $2.49 for two hot chicken chimichangas! Not exactly bringing your lunch from home, but cheaper than buying a burrito from Boloco for $6! So I guess my tip is to approach saving as a team because you never now what strategy someone else has that will be more of a ’stepping down slowly’ tip for you, unless you ask. Which is of course what you did on your blog!
Wylie
http://wyliemoney.blogspot.com/2007/02/living-below-your-means.html
Posted on 13-Oct-07 at 6:51 pm | Permalink
john pepper wrote:
hey guys,
i’ll help you out here a bit… send me your mailing addresses and i’ll send some Burrito Bucks your way… can’t do it forever, but at least for the next week or two you can do better than $6 at Boloco (not that $6 is too terrible for what you get… but trust me, i understand your dilemma!)
Cheers!
John Pepper
Co-Founder
Boloco
Posted on 13-Oct-07 at 11:54 pm | Permalink
john pepper wrote:
woops… forgot my email… buzz at boloco.com.
hope to hear from some of you, and hope this helps the budget!
Posted on 13-Oct-07 at 11:55 pm | Permalink
Dory wrote:
Yes! I, too, have been wondering why food costs so much, so I’ve taken lengths to take my lunch to work. I try to give myself a few options. Here’s what’s in the fridge RIGHT NOW at work: Bread, mayo, cheese (marbled colby-jack), roasted chicken pieces (roasted at home - do not buy the rotisserie stuff from the market! It’s a waste!), coleslaw shreddies (lettuce, cabbage, carrots, etc), balsamic dressing in a spray thingy, a large, green, granny smith apple, soy nuts, M&Ms, yogurt.
Out of this, I can make…
- Apples and cheese with toast pieces (much healthier than crackers)
- Sandwich and salad
- Salad, apples, and chicken
- Soy nuts, yogurt, sandwich
…and so on. I like to call it my mobile nibble pantry. A handful of M&Ms when I get a sweet craving, and I’m set!
Oh, and I only drink water, or the provided cider/cocoa from work.
Posted on 14-Oct-07 at 4:52 pm | Permalink