I have a big problem with eating out and saving money. I impluse buy a lot and just as an example of how my finances go its like this.
say i make 1000 dollars biweekly, ill pays bills first, after that im left with 700, then ill throw 500 into my savings account. I end up easily spending the 200 on food, vending machines(energy drinks and snacks when im hungry), and other things i dont need.
After that inevitably dissapears i easily convince myself its okay to pull out of my savings and spend some of that too.
The eating out is stupid bc im in the military so i have a chow hall i can go to 3 times a day. Problem is, it fucking sucks, its the same boring shit dry chicken, cheeseburgers, fries, pizza. And i hate it.
The only good thing there is the breakfast. So if i have a shit day which is almost everyday im not gonna punish myself by forcingthe food in there down.
How do i make it harder to pull out of my savings, and break tha habit of unnecessary spending, any methods that worked for you guys?
Stop unnecessary spending and impluse buying.
byu/notsosmarter inpersonalfinance
Posted by notsosmarter
14 Comments
> So if i have a shit day which is almost everyday im not gonna punish myself by forcingthe food in there down.
In this very post you’re already making excuses for your spending habits. Address this first.
Haha that’s so me to the T I also need help
Go to the commissary and buy stuff instead of using vending machines and restaurants. A Digiorno pizza is amazing and cheap compared to fast food. Get a 12-pack of cokes and put it in an ice chest in your vehicle. Learn to cook and make it your hobby. You can feed yourself and others super cheap compared to Burger King!
The trick is to get ahead of it. You like energy drinks? Buy a case at Costco for when you just have to have them. They will be half the price and the cost can be budgeted. You hate the food at the chow hall? Buy a hot plate or something to make something you can stomach. Plan ahead for when you are hungry so you don’t have to make an impulse decision between something you hate and something you don’t hate. Add another option to the mix, because you are always going to make the wrong decision if the options are simply terrible and good. You need an alternative middle ground. And then you are eating out less, but happier. If you still want to splurge on eating out, budget for something you can reasonably manage and allow yourself this when you want it.
Not sure if this will help, but try to “season” the dry bland food with your mind. For example, instead of thinking of it as dry chicken, think of it as a burger and $5 bucks. Pizza and $5 bucks. If you’re familiar with mario or sonic with their coins and rings, but imagine that in your head as you’re eating.
Another example is how I get my kid to eat oatmeal for breakfast. We try to spruce it up a bit with frozen berries and other fruit, but it still isn’t that good. I tell my kid that by eating a healthy meal in the morning, he is banking points to get treats later. And I’ll make a point to emphasize it when he does get a treat or we eat out and there are no vegetables in his meal. Sometimes I’ll have to waste a few bucks and actually order a side of veggies when he didn’t have oatmeal, but he gets it now. I tell him thats how I chow down my bland old man food too. Sure, I could have a fat burger and pizza, but I look at my plate full of broccoli and chicken that has a side of more years making oatmeal in the morning.
I mean is the food worse than no retirement? Tons of people who are way less fortunate eat way worse and have nothing in the long run. If I got a chance to stock away cash and get free food I’d be all over that.
Learn how to cook. You can watch tik toks and learn how to make some pretty great meals for cheap. Also stop feeling sorry for yourself. I know that’s harsh but it’s the truth. If you get some discipline $1000 bucks saved a month is $12,000 a year. Thats good money.
Discipline is the number one thing that separates people who grow and people who are stuck in cycles. You don’t want to look back in 5 years and go man I could have $60,000
Are you in a barrack? Do you have a full kitchen (Im assuming no)
Just start eating at the chow hall.
Think of all the things you want.
Think of the thing you want most in all the world.
You put all the money you can on what you want most in the whole world, and all the things you want.
My guess is takeaway is fairly low in priority to the thing you want most in the world, and vending machine snacks even lower.
At the same time, finding a waterbottle and some dried fruit or nuts, or eating dry cafeteria chicken is probably a very small sacrifice for getting what you want most in the world.
Also, don’t compare apples with apples, compare the money you are spending on apples with how much it could contribute to what you want most in the world.
You give yourself a token treat budget (but like, $20 not $200), that you buy little things like a can of energy drink with this week, but you put your money on the things you *really* want.
Just cover everything in hot sauce of some kind.
Chow hall 5 days a week, no exceptions. Weekends or 2 other days reward yourself with 4 meals out. That would be instead of 6 because breakfast is doable all week.
There’s another options besides the chow hall…
Make your own food.
Do some meal prep and bring a good home-cooked meal. Get to eat what you want and it won’t cost an arm and a leg.
Also, change your relationship with food. It’s fuel. It doesn’t always have to be a religious experience. The shitty chow-hall chicken will sustain you just fine – get over it and eat it.
Thank you for serving. Also, many Americans derive some semblance of joy from food as do many cultures. Eat whatever at the chow hall you can stomach or take it with you and eat it somewhere while you do something you enjoy. I know you probably need to eat but instead of eating I used to just drink a bottle of water when I was low on money. So for a couple of days I might eat a biscuit or some eggs or somethings small once a day then everytime I felt hungry I’d drink water. I know nobody else is going to tell you that and this isn’t advice, you do what you want, this is just what I did. I’m not saying I’m tougher or whatever because I practically starved myself but I swear after a couple days it just became normal and I didn’t really feel hungry for the rest of the day. They say you’ll get weaker or whatever and yeah I lost a lot of weight but man I’ve almost never felt better since then. I started eating a couple times a day and drinking stuff other than water and now I feel like crap and get hungry throughout the day and I’m like 100lbs heavier. In a year I lost 100 lbs and kept it off for another year then gained it all back in about six months cause all my habits changed. If you don’t weigh very much already and you just have a high metabolism then this would probably kill you lol.