dieting

Lately, M and I have been spending way too much money. We got into a good routine with cooking dinners at home and eating out less at the beginning of the year (mostly out of necessity and lack of funds), but then we fell off the wagon and went back to eating out for basically every meal (because we had the money to do so again). Aside from spending way too much money on food, I have been shopping a lot for new clothes (which I'd say is necessary since none of my old ones fit anymore!) and home stuff/thrift store projects that I hope to turn into home stuff. It has been nice finally being a good place money wise, where I can actually buy things that I want, but now I'm realizing that I need to start saving for when I'm not in such a good place again once school starts in the fall.
Thus, we are now on what M has decided to call a "money diet".
M pointed out last week that we needed to get back to cooking dinners again and how good we had done with it before. I love eating out, it is probably one of my favorite things to do really, so I am definitely not willing to cut it out of our lives all together. On the other hand, weeknights we usually end up eating fast food which 1) isn't helping me lose weight, 2) isn't even that good, and 3) is wasting money. So now we are making dinners at home at least Monday-Thursday as part of our money diet. With the help of shopping at Aldi, I can already tell this is going to be a huge step in the right direction as far as being able to save more.
We have also been planning to get a checking account with both our names on it just to put money in to spend on food, so we don't have to use two credit cards and always ask for the bill to be split at restaurants and grocery stores. We'll still have our regular accounts, but we will both put money into this one for meals out or groceries. While M originally thought of this idea because it will be more convenient, I've realized it is also going to help us out a lot with budgeting our money. Since we will have to be transferring money to this account, we can better keep track of how much we are spending on eating out and easily set a budget each week.
Besides spending money on food, I am trying to be a lot more aware of how quickly my money disappears when I buy so many things that are seemingly inexpensive, but quickly add up. For example, Sunday I planned to clean the shower and wanted to get a new bath mat and storage solution for shampoo and soap bottles so that the floor will stay clean longer (it's only a shower, not a tub, so all of the bottles sit on the ground and collect grossness like mildew). I went to Bed, Bath, & Beyond and managed to spend $40 on only three things. While I don't feel like I wasted money because everything I bought was necessary and will get good use (unlike expensive food), that is still a lot of money and it adds up quickly when I think of things like that to purchase all the time. That said, I am now trying to think harder about whether or not I need everything I purchase, and take a lot less trips to Target when I don't actually need anything (but end up leaving with plenty of things). Also, I am going to try and tone down how many decor items/projects I purchase/take on, especially since I am doing and buying all these things for a future home, I think they can wait awhile.
Since this week was spent still trying to get into the hang of the money dieting (I bought donuts for breakfast yesterday, plus the Bed, Bath, & Beyond trip), I think that at the end of next week I'll compare how much money I've spent versus one of the past few weeks. Just remembering back, I have a feeling the numbers will be pretty shocking!
I think this must be a sign that I'm growing up/becoming more responsible, because I'm actually committed to this money diet and excited to see the results and watch my savings grow! I know I'll need it when nursing school starts if I'm forced to get a part time, lesser paying job.

Speaking of diets, I haven't been doing a weekly weight loss update lately. Unfortunately, there hasn't been much to update either! The weight came off so easily at first, and now that I'm only 5lbs from my original goal (145lbs), I can't seem to get back into a routine. The past two weeks I went to the gym only Tuesday of each week, pathetic. Lately it has also been really hard to stay within my 1000 calories/day limit, so without working out my weight has stayed at 150lbs the past two weeks. I'm hoping to get into a better routine and start making myself work out at least four days a week, lose the last 5lbs, and then up my calories to 1500 a day and keep to my workout schedule (I should keep losing weight this way and moving towards my new goal of 135lbs, but it will be slower and I won't be as hungry all the time). I am also going to try to start doing the 30 Day Shred workout by Jillian Michaels at home on days that I just can't force myself to go to the gym. I would really like to buy an elliptical to use at home instead of having a gym membership. I know I would be able to work out more, and it seems like in the long run it would save money. Being on the money diet, I hated seeing $40 get deducted this month for my gym membership when I definitely haven't been getting my money's worth. For the time being I'm going to look into purchasing an elliptical, and force myself to go to the gym until that becomes a reality!

I'm praying for strength and willpower as I try go forward with my money and food diets!