[Medusa]

You all inspired me to do a little math this morning

So Jack and I have some goals about things we want to do for the house.
We need a new roof and hot water heater but also want to put new flooring throughout our house, paint for most of the inside, and new fixtures and faucets. That's a nice chunk of dough.
It kinda made me think about all the impulse buying that we do (which, dont get me wrong is probably significantly less than a lot of folks) and I started thinking about the lunches out as "impulse buys".

So here's a math comparison:

We went to Wal-Mart the other day to get some good stuff for lunch:
2 loaves of very good honey-wheat bread = $5
2 packs of very good ham and roast beef = $7
2 packages of higher end swiss cheese = $8
Head of lettuce = $1
Nice big bottle of gourmet-style mustard = $2
Huge Bag of Sunchips = $3
2 Boxes of granola bars = $5
12-pack Diet Coke = $3
6-pack Mott's Applesauce = $2

Total= $36.

Combined with a few things we already have at the house like dry-roasted peanuts and banana chips as snacks and wheat-toast for breakfast, the list above will get us through almost 2 weeks of breakfasts and lunches at work FOR TWO.

That comes out to $18 each per week or about $3.50 a day.

The reason I talked specifically about "very good" ham and specific chips is because Jack and I both are such cheapasses that we have made the mistake before of buying really cheap, crappy stuff for lunch and then by the time it's lunchtime, that soggy-ass sandwich and off-brand BADLY-flavored chips are WAY less than appetizing. We finally figured out that if you actually ENJOY your lunch, you probably would be less prone to throwing it away and buying something...thus costing money for the lunch you threw away AND the lunch you bought.

If we were to have eaten out on the above model, here's the math:

Sack of crap for lunch for two = $12 per day
Coffee or sausage biscuit bullshit from McDonals for 2 = $6 per day

That would be $18 PER DAY, or $90 a week for two versus $36 for a MUCH healthier meal.
Savings would be about $54, or over $200 a month.

and dont even get me started on trying to ween myself off of my $5 a coffee habit at Starbucks

Needless to say, like Bit, we kinda talked about our priorities and how we could translate that into our budget.
We concluded that we would much rather have the extra $200 a month for paint or tile, new landscaping a bit at a time, or some yard furniture.