DISQUS

Sun · 3 years ago

One question: Your salary, is it pre-tax or after-tax? Because you also listed tax in your expense, I am not sure if it's your income tax. Not just you, I also saw people listed taxes in their expenses. Since we never see pre-tax income, would it be more convenient to simply consider the money you actually receive as income?

Flexo · 3 years ago

Thanks for the question, Sun. The salary income I list above is pre-tax, thus the tax expense category contains all tax including federal and state withholding. No jokes about how low the salary is. :-)

Kimber · 3 years ago

Sun, I actually think that seeing how much a person pays in tax is good incentive to work on reducing that expense (and yes, there are ways to do that). If it was hidden in the salary amount, it could be forgotten about.

jack · 3 years ago

sorry new reader of your blog. could you tell us about your side business. is there any posts related to you side business?

MM · 3 years ago

Good job! Making more than last year and spending less. This is a sure way to keep more for the long run.

Flexo · 3 years ago

Jack, the side business is centered mainly around this blog, Consumerism Commentary, but a few other website generate a little bit of income for me. I also have a few clients I do web development for.

This month's "other income" is some event-related work for a non-profit.

The $500 was a gift from a family member for completing my Master's degree.

Ben · 3 years ago

When I'm in a disciplined frame of mind, I organise my lunch and morning and afternoon snacks for work. I also don't buy sodas or coffes. The cost of organising the food and not buying the drinks usually works out to a saving of approx 60% of what it would cost me to buy during a normal working week. I also save two hours of time over the week on lining up to buy food and drink.

moneymonk · 3 years ago

Compared to last year, you are doing very well

You have mush less debt, Congrats !!.

Now that you have completed your Masters, you should be well financially fit

Gerald · 3 years ago

Wow, what an insight! I'm in the throws of a major transition- divorce, career(s) change, financial upheaval, blah blah blah- and this is a wonderful idea for injecting some accountability into an otherwise "Who's gonna know?" part of my life. Thanks for the inspiration!!!

~an* · 3 years ago

Haha I've noticed that my tendency to eat lunch out increases when there's no one around to make me one...

I think the easiest way is to prepare it the night before you go to work, some of the leftovers from dinner, plus maybe a portion of fruit (when you can bulk buy, and separate the portions over the week.)

How about if your colleagues purchase a meal as a group (aka in bulk) and get them to deliver it to your office? Then ask for a discount as a group (and NO the franchised/well known fast food companies, but the smaller ones).

If you purchase from them regularly (at least a week (5 working days), and maybe every second fornight), you may get a better deal.

:D
Good Luck in cutting expenses!

P.S: What programs/software do you recommend for keeping track of income and expenses?

Karin · 3 years ago

I had the same problem with lunches too. One purchase (actually, got it as a gift off my wish list) that really helped was my Mr. Bento. I'm always wary of 'devices' that promise to make life better, but this one really worked. It will keep food hot or cold (though I usually microwave instead) and has compartments for 4 different dishes. This has the advantage of forcing me to include some variety in my lunch. My lunch usually consists of: leftovers from the previous night, salad, crackers, bread or chips, and dessert (usually a store bought pie I've portioned up or a fruit tart)

Dessert is the most important thing. It's what I spend my morning looking forward to!

You have a great website and a great idea. I keep stopping myself from posting about money on my site because it has been drummed in my head that it's bad to talk about it. I never really understood that, though!

(I got here via Lifehacker.)

grapeshot · 3 years ago

Boy, I've struggled with making and bringing my own lunches in to work for many years, before I finally found a system that works for me. In the past I had been unwilling and/or unable to tolerate lunches that were merely a sandwich and an apple, or to make time every damn evening to put together a lunch.

What I do now is make a couple or three dishes on Sunday afternoons I decide in advance what dishes to make, and then package them up into single serving size. This work also includes chopping veggies and fruit, or some cheese to add as a side dish, or mid-afternoon snack. Usually I make casseroles, or salads, but once in a great while I'll make some sandwiches too. I end up with about 10 or so meals, which work both for lunches and dinners during the week.

I have developed several quick and easy standards that by now take little time to prepare, but sometimes I decide to try something new, that maybe I saw on Good Eats or on Martha's show.

It may sound time-consuming to do this, but while things are baking and/or cooking on the stove I also do other chores. In the autumn I watch the Packers on my little TV in the kitchen while I'm doing this, at other times I do my computer maintenance chores on my laptop, and catch up on my weekly blogs.

This has become such a fixed habit with me that I even invested in a nice little insulated lunchbag (there are some great deals on eBay) and in lots of little single-serving plastic food containers.

I wouldn't presume to tell you how to manage your lunches, but this is a method that I found works for me. Sure, every once in a while I'm out of town for a whole weekend, or the weather's too nice to spend a Sunday afternoon on preparing food, but I can be flexible about it. Those are the weeks I can go back to my older, more spendthrift habits.