HOW MUCH I SPENT WEEK-4, DECEMBER 2016

From 12/19-12/25 I have spent a total of $81. Shit, that’s pretty good, I expected it to be higher. I have 1 more week left, hopefully I can maintain this streak. Below is the details of my lean december 2016 challenge.

Week-4 Of December

I worked about 25 hours this week. I did a few 4 hours shifts, some 3 hour shifts and one longer 10 hour shift. I made most of my food at home and didn’t have any social events, those are always the times when I spend a little more.

It was a busy work-week, I normally don’t do this much work, especially now that I’ve cut back a lot on work. I still was able to go to the gym, I had my regular cafe escapades and helped my buddy move some brick at his house – it came with free beer and a delicious vegan burger from Ecliptic Brewing.

What Was Hard

When I’m walking around Portland, I tend to have the urge to want to hop into a new cafe and get a cup of coffee or grab a snack to eat. I may suddenly think of something that I “need” just because I saw it in a window-display.

Or let’s say I’m at home watching a great movie, I get the craving for a vegan pizza from Sizzle Pie, it’s so hard to not spend that money. I have all sorts of reasons to want to spend it:

• I can afford it
• it’ll help the business owner
• I believe in their product
• I get to tip someone who is trying to make a buck
• it’s fun to eat pizza while watching a movie
• I deserve it

My other half, the one that is trying to undo some of that big-baller spending from back in the day, doesn’t quite think I need to spend $30 on delivered pizza:

• it’s not sustainable unless I decide to keep working
• if I give in to all my wants, I’ll be a wage-slave
• I don’t need the calories
• delivery=driving=gas=bad for environment
• I would rather save the money and maintain my freedom

What I Did Well

I spent around $65 on another grocery run, bringing me up to around $194 for the month. My usual grocery spending is around $400, so I’ve done well by being a little more conscious about spending in the store.

I still buy only vegan and organic groceries (when organic is available), so it’s not like I’m skimping on quality.

For the days that I had to go into work, as opposed to working from home, I prepared food ahead of time. I’ve actually figured out some even easier recipes for myself which are fast to make, healthy and delicious.

Looking Ahead To Week-5

I have a busy work-week ahead, working 32 hours in the urgent care and another 3 hours on the phone. The holidays are always busy for my medical group, I try to help out as much as I can.

For the days that I’m working in-person, I need to prepare my meals ahead of time. It’s critical that I don’t let myself get caught up or stressed out. Whenever I get stressed everything goes out the door – frugality along with patience.

I know I need to plan out my days a little so that I get enough sleep, eat healthy, get some exercise and also have time to prepare the meals that I want to prepare.