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Money Diet November: All Tallied Up

Money-Diet

Money Diet = Frugal Living Awesome

I’m a huge fan of having periodic money diets in order to kick my savings into high-gear. This particular one was motivated by my upcoming move to Canada, which certainly ain’t gonna be cheap. Nothing says “frugal living” than posting all your spending online in a Facebook group with other people, and then also doing a post about it on here.

Money Diet March: Some Previous Results

Here are the results from a previous money diet that I’ve done:

March 2014 Money Diet, where I managed to slide in at a decent $516 in discretionary spending.

Money Diet November: Not Bad

Money diet November was decent, with a total of $594. I was hoping for less than $500, but it seems kind of impossible, at least for me. I could have cheated a little bit and gone shopping at the end of October, but I didn’t and I started the challenge with almost bare cupboards and very little in my fridge and freezer. I did do one big grocery shopping trip to the big supermarket and could have bought less as well, but I still have a good amount of that stuff going into December.

Here’s what I spent:

Prizes for Students: $23

Transportation: $38 (1/2 tank of gas, 1 taxi ride, few subway/bus rides)

Eating Out and Entertainment: $134

I had a couple birthday parties included in that, but I managed to spend very frugally and not hit the drinking and eating hard, like I normally would have. The money diet was always in the back of my mind!

Food for Sarah, Lucy (2 cats!) and I: $399

So much money! However, probably 70% of my diet consists of organic fruit and vegetables, which certainly aren’t cheap in Korea (FYI: If you live in Korea and want awesome organic fruit and veg delivered straight to your door, check out Gachi CSA).  The other 20% consists of nuts and seeds and other things of the trendy super-food variety, which also aren’t cheap in Korea, despite the Iherb awesome, which is fabulous health food delivered straight to your door in Korea, from the USA at very reasonable prices. The other 10% consists of normal food, which is not so expensive, but I just don’t eat much of it.

Thoughts on Money Diet November

So, I really do spend a lot of money on food for the cats and I. I do however feed the cats the quality stuff and not just because they like it better. It’s because it’s not filled with tons of crap they shouldn’t actually be eating. For myself, I spend a lot of money on organic fruit and veg and super-foods. However, I consider it an investment in our futures. Hopefully the cats and I can avoid illness for as long as possible due to our healthy eating habits. Food is like medicine or poison. I choose to eat medicine instead of poison and I think in the long-run, it’ll actually be far, far cheaper. See this post for why I eat mostly organic food of the vegan variety at home.

Otherwise, my spending besides the food was quite moderate. I did very well at still going out and having fun, but not spending a lot. I successfully organized a few, hikes, bike rides and games nights with friends which is kind of the ultimate way to hang out with people for free.

Want some Frugal Living Awesome?

Here’s a list of 101 Frugal Living Tips that I made for expats living in Korea. Many of them can be applied to anyone in any situation though so check it out.

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