If you read my post on March goals, you would know that I have resolved to not eat out during weekdays for the entire month of March. The first few days were easy as they are in any resolution. But Day 4 came along and the craving for my old ways crept back up. I had to get creative and I had to do it fast because quite frankly I hadn’t really formulated a plan of action for how I was going to accomplish this. Bad idea! So here is how I conquered one of my March goals (I’m not jumping the gun – I got this in the bag!) and my hunger at the same time.
Day 1-3: Packed my lunches with leftovers. Everything was grand. Until… I ran out of leftovers. Busy me had no time to go to the grocery store and instead went to work on
Day 4: Being a rather tall and active individual with a metabolism that is still kickin’, I tend to eat alot. Or maybe that’s just what I tell myself. Regardless, when lunch times rolls around, I’m usually extremely hungry and the most convenient thing to do is to step away and grab food somewhere fast. To stay true to my goal, I went to the local grocery store instead and picked up an array of snacks that would get me through what I thought to be a few days. Well, it turns out when I snack throughout the day on healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, etc, I actually eat way less and feel fuller for longer, and have way more energy. GO FIGURE!
With my new found energy, time, and money I have been using my lunch break to either
A. work and impress the ol’ boss
B. Go to the office gym
Why didn’t I think of this before?! By looking at my CC statement from prior months, I was also able to tally up how much I typically spend a month on eating out. By not going out for lunch alone, savings in food alone is $200+ not considering the gas and lost time that I could be using to do something else (like work out!).
I took this challenge a step further and stocked my office drawers with breakfast items too(for me that’s a tub of oatmeal and dried fruits to mix in). This has saved me 15-20 minutes in my morning routine which for me equates to extra ZZZ’s. It’s really a beautiful thing.
nine to FI 
Woah, how many days a week were you eating out before?
Yes it is indeed shocking. I’m usually pretty on top of how much money I spend in different places but I never really delved too deep into the food section-I always justified it as a “need”. I’ve been paying a premium at the office cafe 3-4 times a week for the convenience(it’s definitely not the food quality that I’m paying for). Aside from that it’s saying ‘yes’ to more upscale lunches with coworkers as well as the occasional happy hour after work. It has definitely been a wake up call. I’m curious to see what other areas that I consider needs I can eventually cut down spending in – utilities, gas, grocery store trips, etc
I always brown-bag, and we only eat out on the weekends or when we’re on vacation. That helps us save a tooon of money.