Getting Aggressive on Eating Out
I mentioned briefly in my last post (Tracking Away Debt) that my job required me to travel full time and I used that as an excuse as to why I spend a lot of money eating out.
Well, to be a bit more specific, I work as a consultant. Basically what I do all day is call out people’s bullshit excuses for why things are the way they are at the client company.
This really got me thinking today, and I realized that all I am doing is making a bullshit excuse for why I spend so much money eating out.
No more.
While I am not ready to start forcing myself to keep a small grocery supply in my hotel room all week I am ready to address the issue. From now on I am committing to not spending more than $8 on any lunch or $12 on any dinner during the week (while away). No excuses!
Another thing that I have gotten out of my job is the way variances to plan are handled. When a client fails to meet a goal or deviates from a plan, we create a corrective action plan. And yup, that is what I am going to do every time I breach my limits… Like today…
Eating Out Variance Corrective Action Plan
Planned Limit : $8 per lunch
Spent Today : $9.66 + $2.34tip = $12.00
Variance to Plan : $4.00
Root Cause : Failed to plan ahead for lunch which caused me to tag along with co-workers to sit down lunch restaurant (Stone Creek).
Corrective Action:
- Reduce spending limits of each meal on Monday and Tuesday of next week by $1 each to make up $4.00.
- Plan meals ahead of time, and avoid more expensive sit down restauants that require tipping.
Eating out can be a killer. I’m working on reducing the amount overall that I spend on food/eating out.
I’m working on the eating out bit too…Not sure where you’re located, but maybe you can try either: (1) lunching at cheaper fares (e.g. chinese food), or (2) getting meals that may be full-priced is a huge serving, so you can split it between two meals. Sometimes I get a regular sized dinner entree that also becomes tomorrow’s lunch too. Good luck!