This hack could save you $200 per month on food

Hi it’s Matt here, I’m flying solo today as I wanted to share with you a struggle I’ve been having recently, and how we worked through it as a family. I’m kinda embarrassed about it, but I felt this story needed to be told. In a way, it’s cathartic. Anyways, enjoy!

Admitting I had a problem

I love coffee and I love banana bread. But sometimes they don’t go together well. This is my story.

On most days of the work week, I’ll take my breakfast from home (usually made by the amazing Natty). However on days when we ran out of food, I found a cafe that did a gluten free banana bread and coffee combo (very hard to come by if you want gluten free options). Sounds great right…

Well, when you buy it once in a while, it’s pretty harmless. But for me, there was no safe limit of consumption. Sometimes I’d buy it even when I’ve already had breakfast. Sometimes I would even buy it twice in one day. Then I may even buy lunch.

Not surprisingly, the expenses crept up, and suddenly I was spending nearly $200 per month on this stuff ($187 to be exact)! That’s $43 per week, which works out to be $2242 per year!!! OMG what?!?! This habit lasted for 5 months, so the total damage was actually $934. But geez, how did this happen? …

Worse still was the impact on my health. There was something in the banana bread that made my stomach rumble. Did that stop me? It should have!

Why was I doing this?

I think it was a comfort thing and a habit thing. I’d look forward to walking up to the cafe, placing my order and having it handed to me. Then there was the excitement of taking the bread from it’s bag and taking a bite, and taking the first sip of coffee.

I say it’s a comfort thing because I know when I get stressed, I often turn to food to ease my worried mind. But as the habit grew bigger, it no longer served me and I had to change!

Nat and I are big believers that why you eat determines what you eat. So when I started to eat the banana bread when I was stressed, I started to associate it as my ‘comfort food’.

My Cashless Solution

Nat and I spoke about this, and agreed that it was best for my stomach, and our bottom line, that I go without money for a little while. That’s right. I now go to work each day without any money I can draw upon! No cards, no cash. Nada!

“Won’t this piss off your inner rebel?” I hear you say? This isn’t a permanent solution of course, and I still have the ability to have Nat send me cardless cash using my phone if there’s something I truly ‘need’.

You may be also wondering how I get through the day without having money to spend? Well now it’s my responsibility to prepare and take enough food to last me the entire day. Here’s a breakdown of what I’ve been preparing:

Food

For breakfast, Nat or I will bake a loaf of banana bread (Funnily enough) for me to eat for breakfast at work. I toast the bread in a sandwich press at work, and take a tub of nut butter to spread over the top. Delish and healthy!

Lunch consists of leftovers from last night’s dinner as I would normally do. It’s great to buy just a little bit extra when you’re planning your meals so that you do have enough for lunch the next day. It saves you money in the end.

Drinks

Coffee is a major issue for me, so I’m giving it a rest for a while. Instead, I’m drinking something a bit different: A ginger and turmeric latte, courtesy of our friend Keren at Beyond Latte. I just add a teaspoon of the mixture with a small amount of boiling hot water, then add coconut milk (brought in from home) and heat it up. It’s a great alternative to coffee. I get a mild pick-me-up, but don’t get the heart-racing or jitters that coffee brings me.

Snacks

I love to snack between meals at work, so this is what I tend to bring:

1. Fruit
2. Mixed Nuts (cashews and brazil nuts are my fav!)
3. Homemade paleo crackers (sesame seeds + LSA meal – recipe to come soon!)

What I’ve learned from this experience

1. I am such an addict! I can’t trust myself to just treat myself to the occasional breakfast. No, I take it to the max! 
2. Food doesn’t really comfort me – it’s all lies
3. Coffee makes my stress worse
4. Even though something is gluten free, there are other things like sugar and processed ingredients that made me feel sick – totally not worth it!
5. It’s amazing the things you think you can’t go without, but you actually can!
6. Remember your why – eating well is a core value of mine, and we’re a family managing on a single income source. These kinds of habits were simply not serving me or my family well. Plus I am worth so much more than to eat crummy food.

Do you have something you need to confess?

Having little indulgences like mine got worse because I wasn’t upfront about how much of a problem it was. But airing it with your partner or friend is a great step in making a positive change. Leave a comment or contact us if you’d like to share your story and what you did to overcome it.

Nourishing Your Essence – always!

Matt