This post is part of my ongoing “Get Fit” series, an effort to lose a little weight/tone up, and save money by reducing the number of meals I eat out.
I officially started this series on November 20, and want to give you an update as to how it has impacted my financial life.
First, let me backtrack a bit.
In late November I decided to start tracking my eating out expenses using FinanceWorks, a great money management tool provided through my credit union. When I saw that I’d spent $718 eating out in the month of September I nearly fell out of my seat… and I’m dumbfounded by simply typing that figure.
The amount dropped a bit in October, and in November I still managed to spend $615 eating out, which is still an insane spending level for a single guy that doesn’t drink alcohol. Thankfully in November I started the “Get Fit” series and really became committed to eating out less and getting in shape.
Note: Keep in mind that I ran for political office last year and was hardly ever at home – one of the many reasons I ate out so much.
My eating out expenses since September.
As you can see by looking at the chart above, I have nearly cut my eating out expenses in half since September. I currently budget $350 a month for eating out, and have gone over just a bit the last two months, but I’m committed to hitting the goal in February (one out of town trip might mess that up slightly).
If you consider $350 a month a lot for eating out, keep in mind that I only budget around $200 for groceries. My lifestyle simply doesn’t permit me to eat at home every night (three to four nights a week at best).
So, is the “Get Fit” series helping me accomplish my goal of toning up and saving money? Absolutely.
Thanks for reading and I hope you find this series to be helpful.
Feel free to connect with me on Twitter and Facebook. Subscribe to the blog via RSS or click here to have new posts sent directly to your Inbox.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
We’re getting ready to launch FinanceWorks at Columbia, so I’ve had the opportunity to test out the product this week. I tend to lose track of my dining and grocery spending, so I absolutely love how easy FinanceWorks makes it to track spending and set up goals and alerts. Because I’m a credit union nerd, I took my average Starbucks spending over the past few months (calculated so effortlessly by FinanceWorks) and crunched the numbers in a savings calculator with a 6% return. A pretty tame average of $33/month turns into $63,000 in forty years. Ouch. Frothy coffee doesn’t seem so comforting anymore….