Today is the last day of May...and it's been a faaaaaaantastic month!
We've realized the biggest lesson we have learned is how excessive our spending can become...and how easily we can normalize this. I'm notorious for always having to buy something from the impulse section of any retail store and Makoto can't go into any hardware store without picking up a new gadget for the house....we've cold-turkeyed this behavior. It's refreshing to not have little piles of gum, magazines and random treats and knick knacks that we've bought during the week. Our recycling bin is no longer overflowing with the take-out coffee cups from our fave coffee shops.
I can't believe it's already the middle of May! So far, Makoto and I have been pretty darn good with cooking at home. The cooler weather has helped since we've been making some seriously awesome soups using organic chickens and veggies. We made everything from good old chicken (rice) noodle to our very own Pho Ga!!
Coffee - eek. This one was harder than we thought. The first week we made it through with a few deelish $2 (including tax!) soy lattes at Jet Fuel Cafe on Parliament Street. God Bless Johnny at Jet Fuel!! This was followed by a busy week at the clinic and we didn't have time to leave for coffee so we reaquainted ourselves with our French Press. Now we're actually loving our cup of black Swiss water decaf coffee. We have it with a piece of dark chocolate.
I've learned that a little planning goes a long way - it's amazing what spending 15min roughly planning our meals will do for our savings! We usually just wander the isles of the grocery store and grab whatever strikes our fancy but now we stick to our list and don't have wasted food at the end of the week. This also helps us from filling up our shelves with random items that we never eat.....seriously, why do we have Disney Princess Alphagettis in the pantry?
After surviving taxing tax month in April, Makoto and I decided that May should be Mindful Money Month.
We’re extremely blessed to be Canadians and will happily fork over our share in taxes but we still have a little cry fest when our accountant gives us our final bill.
After reviewing some figures, we were surprised and embarrassed by how much we spend on food. One of the few things we agree on when it comes to spending is that our food budget should be very flexible since we both have dietary restrictions and try to eat fresh produce and organic/free range meats only. But then we realized that this has led us to believe that the daily $5+ soy/rice milk lattes are a must, and not a luxury.
Here are some ground rules that we've devised to help us be more aware of what we are spending our money on without having to compromise on the quality of our food:
