I will use myself as an example. Being a 35 year old bachelor, much of my social interaction is at lunch time and evenings out with friends. I will stick to lunch for this example. If I go to a non-fast food restaurant, on average I will spend roughly 12 dollars including tip. If I do this 3 times a week, that is 36 dollars. Multiply that times four weeks and  is just under $150.00. This is really a conservative number too.

You can see from the previous example how eating can really blow a whole in your bottom line. Discipline is key, but if I cut eating out to lunch to just one day a week I am saving an extra $100. a month. That could go towards savings, or paying down debt. This is just another example of how you can save money.

I average spending about $11.00 a day on lunch or roughly $220 a month. That is just on lunch. This is completely ridiculous. In all honesty, it is a bit embarrassing for me to admit that I do this! So how am I going to deal with this monumental waste? By planning ahead.

I have a rough budget that I follow, and yes I factored in this current cost. What is going to happen is the following. First, each Sunday I will sit down and plan out what I am going to eat each day for lunch. Seriously, I am writing down a list for Monday-Friday. One of those day will be a day where I eat out. The reason for this is social/networking. The current job I have is through networking and staying in contact with old coworkers and friends. Next, I will take that list to the grocery store and buy what I need. Finally, I will post on here about it on Saturday as a way of accountability to see if I stuck to my budget. For the moment, I am scheduling $30.00 for lunch money through the week.

This is part of the battle. Identifying where my week areas are and fixing them one at a time. I know there are plenty more, but this is the next step. Once this is under control, I will improve another area. Keep in mind, I am still paying down debt so every improvement is speeding that process along.

-Kevin