I hate budgeting. I don't want to think about which of the six stores in my town has the cheapest hotdogs-I just want to go to the store and buy hot dogs! As a working mom, my time is precious. The idea of spending hours coupon clipping, bargain shopping, making all my own food . . . it's not only overwhelming- it's unrealistic. I know some people look at it as a challenge and even-gulp-fun, but not this girl. It's another chore that ranks LAST in my list of priorities.
That being said, some changes in my husband's and my financial standings made me have to reevaluate how I spend our money. One of the biggest drains on our finances has been our monthly eating expenses. Thinking through our habits, I feel I have identified what Our Top 5 Money Suckers are:
5) Making meals with too many ingredients. I am a food magazine junkie. I love reading through recipes and imaging my families faces as they ooh and ah at my impressive meal (It doesn't matter that there is a whole lot more "ughs" and "what is that?". It's my fantasy!). So, I make the choice to go buy things like $11 blackberry vinegar that I will use 1 tsp of and never think of again. Not financially responsible is it?
4) Too many choices! I will stock our fruit bowl with 5-10 different kinds of fruits. At this moment I have nectarines, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, oranges, watermelon, plums, apples, cantaloupe, and bananas. I mean, really? Do we need that many options? I'll tell you what that many choices leads to- it leads to #2!
3) Processed foods- the easy prep, box-to-table type of products comes at a price-a big one! But when it's 5:10 on a Tuesday night and my daughter's day care closes at 5:30 and my son still has his homework to do and the kids have to be in bed by 8:00 because I have an early meeting and they need to be up by 6:00 and . . . well, you get the picture. The pre marinated chicken breast at $10 a package start looking like a necessity.
2) Remember the issue of too many choices? What it leads to is waste. Moldy fruit, stale crackers, expired yogurt . . . when I buy without planning, or stray from a preset plan, it more often then not leads to bad food. And that's painful to watch as you literally throw money away.
1) Eating out!!! This is no surprise, right? $4 Starbucks drinks, $25 Taco lunches, $50 Red Robin dinners: It adds up quickly!! Eating out is the pinnacle of convenience food. Quick, easy, can be relatively healthy- and completely overpriced! Oh, but to say goodbye to my lattes . . . sigh.
So, my hope is to start curbing some of these habits, and develop new ones. But like anything, it's baby steps. To try and change everything at once is too difficult. So I am working on a plan, changing one thing at a time. Maybe I'll save cutting out my Starbucks for last :)
No comments:
Post a Comment