Saving Money The Realistic Nutritionist Way

I just posted about goals. Here is another goal idea for ya that I recently imposed on myself.

After examining my bank statements for October and November, I realized (DUH!) that I spend a lot of money on food and drinks away from home. This included a coffee while meeting friends at the coffee shop, a diet coke from the machine at work, a bagel from Mickey D's, a lunch from Noodles, some candy, etc etc etc.

I made an excel file and looked at exactly how much I had spent on legitimate groceries (TJ's, Harry Peet, Papa Spuds, etc) and how much I had spent on food from all other sources.

I didn't think it would be that much, but it was! And I bring my lunch most days. And I don't ever order anything too pricey. But all those small charges really added up.

Plus, let's be honest, it was all stuff I could live without. I mean, there are some days when I don't have a lunch with me and I need to get food, but otherwise it was extra junk and neither of my bottom lines needed it, if ya know what I mean. ;)

So I decided that for the month of December I would not spend money on food, drinks, snacks, etc outside of grocery shopping unless I really had too (ie when I traveled for work and had no kitchen or fridge). And so far I've stuck to it. It's been hard at times. Some days I didn't feel like packing a lunch. But I did. Some days I really wanted a diet coke, but if I didn't bring it from home, I didn't get one. Some days co-workers went to get coffee and I...ok, I did break down and get one cup of coffee. It was one of those bone chillin' days a few weeks ago and it smelled so good and I only got a small cup of black coffee. But otherwise, I've stuck to it.

And I know I've saved a lot of money. And I know that I'm eating better because of it. True, I wasn't usually eating anything that bad, it adds up.

I'm not saying that we should all forgo our beloved, overpriced coffee from the shop that shall not be named, our lunches out with friends or treat now and then. But if decide to cut back just a little, I think you will see some more money in your pocket, more than you think, and you may even be able to cut some calories without even missing them.

So why not make this one of your new year's goals?

• You could go cold turkey for a set amount of time like I did (with reasonable but enforced exceptions, of course.)
  
• Or you could set a dollar amount limit for each week.
• Or you could specify the one thing you will allow yourself and cut out the rest. Although I would encourage to TRY to cut out that one thing or try to find other ways to get your fix, because that is probably the one thing costing you the most.
  

Get creative! You may find you like cooking at home or bringing your lunch. You may feel better without all that caffeine. Or you may find you like homebrewed coffee better. Or you may find you feel better without as many diet cokes each day. Or you may find you don't hit that afternoon slump quite as hard when you don't hit up the snack machine. Or you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack. You may find yourself in another part of the world. You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile. You may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife. You may ask yourself: well... how did I get here?