The financial diet-ers have survived yet another month. While February only lasted 28 short days, it was filled with the challenge of Valentine’s day, four complete weekends, a three-day weekend for some and the unfortunate mind game that “Hey, there’s only 28 days… I can’t do that bad.”
For me, it has definitely been a learning process of what’s realistic for my eating-in goals. I took my January analysis to heart and made sure I didn’t spend more because I was eating out less. After reviewing my register, I actually ate out the same number of times in February as I did in January, but the cost of each individual meal was considerably lower. I didn’t spend more than $8 on a single meal! Instead of splurging at a restaurant, I took more care in the quality of groceries I purchased and saved the “fancy meals” for my own kitchen at home. I’ve even started doing a dinner exchange with a friend of mine— he cooks a meal on Tuesday, I cook a meal on Wednesday. It’s like eating out because of the change of scenery and menu, but without the hassle of a bill, tip, waiting list, ripped booth cushion, wobbly table or empty ketchup bottle. Plus, we watch T.V.
To sum up, this was my strongest month by far, but not everyone had quite the same success. We’re chugging along great though, because even if the percentage saved isn’t changing dramatically, I think everyone participating can say that they are certainly more aware of their spending habits since beginning the financial diet.
So now, without further adieu…
| THE BEGINNING | FEBRUARY | |||
| Participant | Avg. Spent | Spent | $ Saved | % Saved |
| Amanda C. | $166.96 | $29.06 | $137.90 | 82.59% |
| Cate R. | $150.00 | $201.92 | -$51.92 | -34.61% |
| Amanda R. | $104.63 | $89.36 | $15.27 | 14.59% |
| Aaron U. | $96.48 | $143.31 | -$46.83 | -48.54% |
| Scott R. | $40.57 | $35.05 | $5.52 | 13.61% |
| Ashleigh F. | $118.70 | $147.98 | -$29.28 | -24.67% |
| Megan M. | $183.34 | $158.01 | $25.33 | 13.82% |
| Jordan A. | $145.09 | $92.38 | $52.71 | 36.33% |
| Janet L. | $600.00 | $388.83 | $211.17 | 35.20% |
Entering our third and final month, I wish all public and private particpants good luck. My word of advice? Be proactive! If you’ve got travel plans or a big event or a hectic school schedule approaching, plan ahead so the thinking is done before life gets crazy. My weakness for eating out comes when I’m least prepared. So, be proactive, plan ahead and give your kitchen a little TLC this March. Best of luck to all!
OMG! I did not expect February to be so hard! I improved by 14%, but was hoping to do better than in January… not the case! We”ll see how March goes… now that I”m boosting my efforts by keeping lots of food in the break room at work (and non-perishables in my desk drawer). So far that”s helping with lunches.
Yeah, February was rough for me as well. In my defense; I was spending for two. What can I say, she had a healthy appetite.
February was a rough month for me. I think I had the mindset that Amanda touched on. I thought it would be easy because February was a short. Not so true for me! I guess we will have to see how March goes!
My February totals were a bit shocking. It”s the shortest month, yet it was the month that I did the worst in. I like to think that for a college student I do a pretty good job of saving, but compared to my monthly averages I did not do as well as I could have for the month of February. One way I am working to save a couple bucks a week is my routine Friday morning pit-stop to dunkin donuts for coffee.. it”s amazing, but that alone could cut my monthly total by $15-$20. I also could do a better job of planning ahead, one week in February I ate four or five meals out in one week simply because I didn”t have enough time to make it to the store between work and school. We”ll see what March totals bring.