CELESTE GIVES UP

Forty pounds.
Feeling sorry for myself.
Eating crap.
Being lazy.

I'm Celeste, a magazine editor living in Phoenix.

Get ready for a lot of fitness, a lot of sass and a lot of froyo.
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I’m conducting an experiment. In general, Josiah and I handle money well. We don’t leave beyond our means. We have no debt (which is pretty impressive considering we have three degrees combined and Josiah’s almost done with his Master’s). However, we’d like to buy a house and car in the future, so it’s time to start paying more attention to our spending habits. I’m starting with food. I have no idea how much money I spend on food—whether cooking, eating out, daily indulgences, etc. I am a daily grocery shopper to a fault, and I know it leads me to make purchases that are unnecessary and wasteful. My BFF Sara inspired me to make a meal plan. She plans out dinners for two weeks and accounts for leftovers and eating out. She does a massive shopping trip every two weeks. Every day, she (or her hub) picks out dinner for the night, then crosses it off the list. It’s structured, but still offers flexibility. So I copied her. Here’s my plan for the next two weeks. My shopping is done. Receipts tracked. Ingredients catalogued. I’m excited to discover our spending (and eating) habits in these next two weeks. Wish me luck!

I’m conducting an experiment.

In general, Josiah and I handle money well. We don’t leave beyond our means. We have no debt (which is pretty impressive considering we have three degrees combined and Josiah’s almost done with his Master’s).

However, we’d like to buy a house and car in the future, so it’s time to start paying more attention to our spending habits. I’m starting with food.

I have no idea how much money I spend on food—whether cooking, eating out, daily indulgences, etc. I am a daily grocery shopper to a fault, and I know it leads me to make purchases that are unnecessary and wasteful.

My BFF Sara inspired me to make a meal plan. She plans out dinners for two weeks and accounts for leftovers and eating out. She does a massive shopping trip every two weeks. Every day, she (or her hub) picks out dinner for the night, then crosses it off the list. It’s structured, but still offers flexibility.

So I copied her. Here’s my plan for the next two weeks. My shopping is done. Receipts tracked. Ingredients catalogued. I’m excited to discover our spending (and eating) habits in these next two weeks. Wish me luck!

#food  #meal planning  #Budget  #money  #cooking  
11 months ago on June 15, 2012 at 11:09am with 7 notes

CGU week 6: Spending Money recap

Week 6 Challenge: Don’t spend money

$61.24 on groceries (allowed)

$3.05 on a diet Coke and Sunday paper (not allowed ha)

I made this challenge a bit easier on myself than it could’ve been. I spent almost four days being pampered at my grandparents’ house in Colorado. I definitely didn’t have much opportunity to spend money eating out and shopping. Regardless, it was tough and I consistently had to remind myself to not buy things this week.

Like with eating, I have a habit of making small, trivial purchases. If I kept myself in check with this “mindless spending,” I’d have a lot more money!

I think it’ll be easier to save now that school’s about to start. I’ll have less free time, which means fewer trips to Target and coffee shops. Being busy has its benefits, I suppose!

A few people have mentioned wanting to take part in this challenge. Go for it! Seriously, it’s like logging calories … for your checkbook. Except no one uses checkbooks any more. 

#CGU challenge  #week 6  #Budget  
1 year ago on August 14, 2011 at 09:24pm with 7 notes

6: Celeste Gives Up … Spending Money

Week 6 Challenge: Don’t spend money

So. I’ve spent a lot of money this summer. Eating out, buying myself a new wardrobe, going on vacation. Josiah and I can be thrifty in many ways, but there are things I splurge on.

I want to pay better attention to what I’m spending my money on. Maybe I’ll even create a budget some day? In the meantime though, I’m going to cut back on needless spending like…

  • Diet cokes from gas stations
  • Frozen yogurt 38 times a day
  • Eating out in general
  • Random shirts on sale that don’t match anything else
  • Exorbitantly priced groceries
  • Library late fees

Obviously I will spend some bills at some point. Grocery shopping is allowed. Also, considering I’m going to Colorado, I will probably have to get something to eat during my eight-hour travel adventure (thank you, flying standby). Otherwise though, I’m going to try my damnedest to be a penny pincher extraordinaire. 

Wish me luck! 

#CGU challenge  #week 6  #budget  
1 year ago on August 07, 2011 at 07:32pm with 10 notes