• What would you do with $610?

    Posted on November 28th, 2008 Saver Queen 4 comments

    Lately, my partner has been working two full-time jobs, sometimes working up to 22 hours a day.  This has been rough on both of us, and I look forward to it being over.  However, I thought it was a good opportunity for a little experiment.

    Since he has been working so many hours, my partner has been unable to come home for dinner.  He also uses his brief lunch breaks as a few minutes of refuge and goes out frequently for coffee breaks to keep going. 

    Hence, he has been eating out for nearly three meals a day for the last month. We both agreed this was a “necessary evil” that comes from working such excessive hours. Meanwhile, I have been eating at home and taking my lunch and coffee to work almost 100% of the time.   I thought I would use this as a demonstration of how much you can spend or save on food.

    My partner, relying on the cheapest food available to him (cheap lunches like 6″ subs, simple coffees, no lattes at Starbucks, etc.) still spent over $650 within one month on food and coffee.  Thank God we don’t do this every month - that’s $7320 a year!

    This works out to $21.67 a day, or $162.50 a week.

    I, however, spent approximately $20 a week on grcoceries.  This includes breakfast, lunch and dinner, and snacks (and believe me, with him gone, I really relied on the snacks.)  It seems almost impossible, but I here’s how I did it: I ate insanely cheap lunches and breakfasts.  I used up leftovers, pulled the frozen chili I had made out of the freezer, ate up our dried soups that we had purchased at a discount, and made simple meals out of what we had, like veggie whole wheat pasta, tuna casserole, homemade pizzas, etc.  I took coffee to work and bought $1 coffees only twice.  

    I should also mention that my grocery bill was low because I used coupons and PC points.

    So, my partner spent $610 more than me on sustanence  - in just one month - by eating out.  See what a difference it makes?  Let’s consider what that $610 could buy you:

    A 32GB iPod Touch, with anywhere speakers and a dock

    A ticket to Orlando, Florida

    Three leather purses at Roots

    A typical monthly car payment, debt repayment, savings or emergency fund

    What would you do with that monthly $610?  And do you know how much you spend every month on food and coffee? You might be surprised!


    Groceries
     

    4 responses to “What would you do with $610?”

    1. Cara November 28th, 2008 at 13:26

      Hey, great post! I would put $610 extra dollars in my emergency fund for sure!! I am trying to build that up right now!

      I don’t know exactly how much we spend on groceries but I do know that I would love to get that amount down by using coupons, PC points and airmiles! Using what you already have is a good one too. I have noticed that our pantry is quite full but we keep spending about the same on groceries instead of using what is already there! I could probably be saving some extra cash by paying more attention to the grocery bill!

      Because we are paying down debt and saving eating out is conflicting with our goals, so we are trying to avoid that right now!

    2. Amber November 28th, 2008 at 13:40

      See, now, this is why I don’t drink coffee. ;-)

      Well, that, and I just don’t like it. And I live in Vancouver, believe me I’ve tried my share of Starbucks. But I can pretend it’s a money-saving decision, right?

      And I’m amazed by your grocery bill. I can point out that I’m feeding a family of 4, but it’s sort of a justification. I spend more than 4 times what you do, and the baby’s still breastfeeding.

    3. Cara November 28th, 2008 at 14:54

      I spend about $120-150 a week…:( and that is for a family of three. This cost includes laundry soap, diapers and toiletries…but I really feel I need to do better!!!!!!!!

    4. MoneyMateKate December 3rd, 2008 at 02:50

      I’m single and living in Manhattan, and I try to keep my total food budget (take-out, restaurant, groceries) to $400/month. I know that sounds pretty high, but I’m working on it. My downfall is messing up my planning and suddenly finding my fridge empty of semi-prepared meals. Oops.

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