Groceries: $142.79 (up 16.54%)
Unnecessary Outside Food and Snacks: $204.19 (up 631.6%) !
Total Spent On Food for April 2016: $346.98 (up 130.66%)
Wow. I didn’t know just how much I spent on food last month until I did these calculations. That is a ton of wasted money spent on outside food, man.
The drastic increase of outside food is directly related to having my weekends off in April. I really underestimated how amazing it felt to go out on Saturdays and Sundays to do whatever I wanted. It took me completely out of my routine and that somehow made it okay to buy outside food. Crazy, isn’t it? Maybe not so much, as it’s completely natural to do crazy stuff once taken out of routine. Still though, $204 on outside food?! Ugh! I really miss those months where I spent under $200 consistently.
I noticed something interesting on my first weekend off. I made my weekend rice like normal, and got ready to make it with the chicken. I looked at the pounds and pounds of rice and realized that it was just too much food. There was no way I’d be able to finish all that food in one weekend. But how was this possible? How is it that I can eat five pounds of rice and chicken when I’m at the shipping depot, but not when I’m at home? I think it’s a mental thing. When I’m at the shipping depot, I’m in an environment where I can’t access more homemade food. In my mind, I have only one thing to eat for a 12 hour shift so it needs to be a lot. When I’m at home, my mind isn’t concerned about having enough because my refrigerator is stocked with all different kinds of foods. Home is my comfort zone, my safe haven where I have multiple sources of food to eat at any time. I didn’t realize how a change of location can have such a drastic effect on the amount of food I eat. I ended up having to throw out 4 pounds of that rice. What a waste of money!
It’s now May, and I highly doubt I’m gonna go over $200 this month. I doubt this because I don’t think I’m gonna HAVE $200 to spend on food. The repairs of what is now Property 4 is gonna break my wallet, to the point where I’ll feel like I’m back in those two-figure bank account days. My only new focus for food purchases is an emphasis on protein. Brie, my personal trainer at the new gym, told me that I should take in 300g of protein a day if I want to get the best results out of my workouts. She said that 60% of workout results come from food, 30% from the workouts, and 10% is simply having the drive to do what's needed. I can agree with those percentages. But 300g of protein a day? A DAY?! I barely did 100g of protein a week back when I was using the LoseIt app, so how am I gonna increase it by that much? And how can I afford such an increase in foods without completely obliterating my monthly budget? I have some ideas that I’ll try out this month, and we’ll see how things go. I may have to use the LoseIt app again, though.
All in all, April was the worst month I’ve had since I started tracking my monthly food costs. Not going to the shipping depot on weekends had a major effect on my culinary behavior, but there is some good news. As the weekends continued, I started making food at home. Last weekend I didn’t have any outside food. Before I left the house, I made sure to eat a huge breakfast. This made it impossible to buy outside foods and that felt really good. I’m sure I would have gotten the hang of the new routine with time, so I’m not worried about what will happen when I quit the shipping depot for good. All new routines need time to establish themselves.
Unnecessary Outside Food and Snacks: $204.19 (up 631.6%) !
Total Spent On Food for April 2016: $346.98 (up 130.66%)
Wow. I didn’t know just how much I spent on food last month until I did these calculations. That is a ton of wasted money spent on outside food, man.
The drastic increase of outside food is directly related to having my weekends off in April. I really underestimated how amazing it felt to go out on Saturdays and Sundays to do whatever I wanted. It took me completely out of my routine and that somehow made it okay to buy outside food. Crazy, isn’t it? Maybe not so much, as it’s completely natural to do crazy stuff once taken out of routine. Still though, $204 on outside food?! Ugh! I really miss those months where I spent under $200 consistently.
I noticed something interesting on my first weekend off. I made my weekend rice like normal, and got ready to make it with the chicken. I looked at the pounds and pounds of rice and realized that it was just too much food. There was no way I’d be able to finish all that food in one weekend. But how was this possible? How is it that I can eat five pounds of rice and chicken when I’m at the shipping depot, but not when I’m at home? I think it’s a mental thing. When I’m at the shipping depot, I’m in an environment where I can’t access more homemade food. In my mind, I have only one thing to eat for a 12 hour shift so it needs to be a lot. When I’m at home, my mind isn’t concerned about having enough because my refrigerator is stocked with all different kinds of foods. Home is my comfort zone, my safe haven where I have multiple sources of food to eat at any time. I didn’t realize how a change of location can have such a drastic effect on the amount of food I eat. I ended up having to throw out 4 pounds of that rice. What a waste of money!
It’s now May, and I highly doubt I’m gonna go over $200 this month. I doubt this because I don’t think I’m gonna HAVE $200 to spend on food. The repairs of what is now Property 4 is gonna break my wallet, to the point where I’ll feel like I’m back in those two-figure bank account days. My only new focus for food purchases is an emphasis on protein. Brie, my personal trainer at the new gym, told me that I should take in 300g of protein a day if I want to get the best results out of my workouts. She said that 60% of workout results come from food, 30% from the workouts, and 10% is simply having the drive to do what's needed. I can agree with those percentages. But 300g of protein a day? A DAY?! I barely did 100g of protein a week back when I was using the LoseIt app, so how am I gonna increase it by that much? And how can I afford such an increase in foods without completely obliterating my monthly budget? I have some ideas that I’ll try out this month, and we’ll see how things go. I may have to use the LoseIt app again, though.
All in all, April was the worst month I’ve had since I started tracking my monthly food costs. Not going to the shipping depot on weekends had a major effect on my culinary behavior, but there is some good news. As the weekends continued, I started making food at home. Last weekend I didn’t have any outside food. Before I left the house, I made sure to eat a huge breakfast. This made it impossible to buy outside foods and that felt really good. I’m sure I would have gotten the hang of the new routine with time, so I’m not worried about what will happen when I quit the shipping depot for good. All new routines need time to establish themselves.
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