Food and Money

In my ongoing study of the 7 Experiment: Staging Your Own Mutiny Against Excess, (which, let me tell you, has been eye-opening, frustrating, heart-wrenching, and an overall wrecking of my life), we have gotten to the week where we investigate our spending habits and try to fast from spending in some form.

As my Bible study group discussed this week, we all noticed a common theme in our lives: the biggest issue when it comes to our spending has to do with one thing – FOOD.

This takes on many forms, including but not limited to:

  • Eating out
  • Running to the grocery store
  • Buying things not on our grocery list

But the real issue that all of these things come back to is this:

  • Lack of planning

If I planned out menus for the week, based on our busy schedule, and purchased items according to that list, I would not buy extra things and I wouldn’t find myself running to the grocery store for things at the last-minute. If I had a plan, I wouldn’t default to ordering pizza, or running through the drive-through of some restaurant that doesn’t serve the healthy, home-cooked meals that I prefer to serve to my family.

If I planned, I could curb a substantial amount of spending.

If I planned, I could be eating the healthy food I like to eat.

If I planned, I could be serving my family the healthy food I want them to eat.

If I planned, I wouldn’t waste so much time and money at the grocery store.

But it all comes down to that one word, “if.”

What stops me?

Is it time? No, I have plenty of that if I have time to sit around and gorge myself on “Lost” episodes.

Is it lack of creativity and ideas? No, I have multiple cookbooks and Pinterest boards with lots of food ideas.

Is it that I have an unending supply of money to be wasting on food? Absolutely not! We actually need to tighten the budget up a bit.

Is it that I don’t choose to spend my time that way and I am lazy about it? (Is it possible to step on your own toes, because mine kind of hurt.)

So this week, we aren’t spending any money. I will be forced to plan or eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for every meal. And while Ty might not mind that, the rest of us would.

Here goes!