Well it has been a busy month but I’m pleased to report I managed to complete my bet about not eating out for the month of September. It was actually way easier than I thought it would be. I haven’t done my total numbers in my budget yet to see how much it saved me but I know that it saved me money for sure. It also got me pre-planning meals and thinking ahead which has made grocery shopping way easier. I fully plan to continue the cooking on weekends and freezing food, even if I go back to letting myself eat out once and awhile again.
I also decided that since the first bet worked so well that I was going to try it again for October, with something that will be a bit more challenging. The new bet will not only save me money but it will also help me to get healthier and lose weight. I am giving up potato chips for one month. It will be tough but I know that I can totally do it. I survived my first shopping experience and just avoided the chip isle altogether. It felt pretty good to know that everything I bought was actual groceries rather than junk food.
The other thing that happened this month is I found a new source of motivation for getting healthier and losing weight. The best part is it even comes with its own built in reward. I have been planning to go back to Europe to do another tour and I found one with Leger (the company I used last time) that is a walking tour of the D-day beaches. It looks like you walk from the beach fronts back along the paths they would have taken the first few days after the D-day landings. Right now I know that I probably wouldn’t be able to manage the trip but if I go in spring 2012 that gives me about a year and a half to get in shape for it. I know that it would be a challenging vacation but I also know that I would love every minute of it. Since deciding this I have felt way more focused. I run the thought of the tour in my mind like a mantra and have even started writing it on the top of my grocery list to help me make the proper choices. I'm excited about this in the same way I was about my other tour. I can't wait to make it happen. I know that the only way it will happen however is if I do get healthier and in better shape because i refuse to be the person that can't keep up with the group. The only last hurdle after getting healthy will be that the trip is popular enough that it will still be running in 2012.
A journey in accepting myself for who I am now while working on making myself into the person I see in my future.
I love your plan of using a dream vacation as your motivation for saving money and eating well. I'm trying to do thing same: I want to take a trip to Denmark (the setting of my current writing project) next spring or summer and considering how expensive the country is, I know I need to save aggressively.
ReplyDeleteI really hope the tour continues to be popular. It does sound like it has a lot of elements in its favour.