I’ve always spent money on food, but it’s especially bad when it comes to buying lunch for school. I’ve realized how much money I’ve been spending on food recently when I realized how my bank account would always go down as soon as it just got up. I’ve always been too lazy to pack my own lunches; I found buying food just quicker and easier. It became such a habit for me to always buy lunch that I never thought of packing my own.
Once I sat down and made the approximate calculations of all the money I’ve spent on food from my sophomore year till now I realized how big of a problem this truly is. I spent around $5,500 on food alone in the last 3 years of my high school education. I could have saved all this money up and used it for college. This number not only surprised and scared me but also was one of my biggest motivators to complete this challenge.
I knew when Mr.Lee announced the 7 day challenge of breaking our bad habits that now I truly had to try.
The first couple of days of this challenge were the hardest for me; I would crave certain foods I used to buy and would not know what foods to pack myself. If there were no left overs from the day before I would just grab myself a bowl of ramen. The bowl of ramen would tend to not make me full, so I started making myself actual food like sandwiches. Once I got into the habit of packing my own lunches I saw how easy it was and how I was just letting my laziness get in the way of me saving money.
Throughout the challenge my friends would still go out and buy food that would tempt me but I wouldn’t give in because I wanted to stay committed to the challenge. Not only did I want to stay committed to the challenge, I also didn’t want to waste the food I just packed myself.
One problem I had though was the food I packed wasn’t always as good as the food I bought. My packed lunches would be sitting in my bag all day and I’d have to reheat them in a microwave which just doesn’t taste the same as freshly made food.
But I slowly started to realize the benefits each day of this challenge. I realized how much I really don’t need to be spending money on food. I also realized how going off campus for lunch made me often late for 5th period. Packing my own lunch and staying on campus not only helped me with my 5th period tardies but it also helped me save money. On average I would spend $10 a day on food, so by the end of my 7 day challenge I saved around $70 that I can now save up or spend on things other than food.
Even after the 7 days I still kept going for 27 days straight.
This challenge has helped me control my money spending habits. I also feel healthier since I’m making my food. I now know what’s going into my food and I can make the portion of food I know I will eat and finish. It’s good for a person to challenge their bad habits so they can understand how unnecessary those bad habits really are
