With every kind of habit or task you are trying to conquer, there are always ways that it can get thrown out of whack. This comes to be expected with every kind of journey you try to take, whether that be mental, emotional or physical. This has been very true for me over this past long weekend. The weekend isn't even over and I already feel guilty enough that I had to write.
With the journey of personal finance, or specifically trying to be a millionaire in my case (just a tiny goal.. haha), it is very tough to remember the long term result sometimes. I get caught up in the drama of life that I forgot where I'm supposed to be headed, but that is the challenge of anything isn't it; staying focused.
Already this long weekend, I have gone out to eat on 4 separate occasions. Now that's only out of 7 meals so far this weekend. To me that's horrible. But as I was saying, I got caught up in visiting friends, going out for drinks, and picking up a quick meal as I'm headed out somewhere. All which lead me to spend about $100 on just those 4 meals alone. Which is crazy in my mind when I normally spend less than that for a week and a half worth of food when I go grocery shopping. Just today I sat back and reflected on everything I've done so far this weekend. All the laughter that was had, the great times with cherished friends and the gorgeous weather was well worth it, but expensive. I could have easily had the exact same experience all weekend, but paying attention to my spending at the same time.
I definitely went off track this weekend and I'm upset about it, but it's okay. It's not easy to live on a budget all the time. Although, I'm not on an extremely tight budget and I have a bit of flexibility, that doesn't mean ruin all the success I've already had. It just reminds me to tighten up again, remember what I'm trying to achieve, and get back on track.
Do you find yourself getting off track sometimes?
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I definitely run into the same issue. I want to hang out with friends (especially when you get to eat outside), but spending all that money is ridiculous. I've been trying to invite friends over more often. I've got a deck, so sometimes we just chill out there, which is a ton of fun. I think as a rule of thumb, it's about 4X as expensive for a group to dine out than it is to cook at home.
ReplyDeleteThat's definitely a great rule! To be honest, I would much rather just spend time outside on someones deck then go out!
DeleteI used to have trouble not going out to eat when I wanted to see friends. But now I have a husband who helped me say no... but not to seeing my friends! I now ask them to come over instead and bring something we can share. It's so much more fun and we don't feel like we have to leave so the waiter can get another group of people in our table. Same goes for getting drinks. Practice your mixologist skills and have people over for drinks instead of going out. It's way relaxed and cheaper by far.
ReplyDeleteYeah that's a good point! I actually have a wicked drinks book but haven't put it to use yet!
DeleteI think you have to cut yourself some slack you can't be on a crazy frugal budget all the time... you will burn out. Maybe you should think about adding a "fun" category into your budget. Balance is key
ReplyDeleteIt's true! That's definitely something I've been learning, I have to balance it all and not burn myself out. Need to add a bit more money to my fun category for sure!
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