Q4 2006: We took occupancy of our condo, so we practiced a lot of "fiscal restraint" as we wanted to pay off the condo as quickly as we could.
Q4 2011: We paid off the condo in 5 years and became debt-free. My monthly food expenditures started tracking upward steadily after that.
Note: the below charts represents my monthly expenditure only, i.e., my half of the grocery bill, my half of meals at restaurants with hubby, and my personal expenses when I go out for food with friends.
The above chart tells us that, on average, I spent around the same amount on food in 2018 as I did in the past several years. However, if we look at the below chart, which summarizes my actual food expenditure in each month of 2018, it's pretty clear that I was able to shift my spending significantly. A few more key dates:
June: I submitted my resignation notice.
July: Hubby and I had longstanding plans to travel to New York and Montreal. We splurged on a number of meals (some amazing, some not).
August: I worked my last month at my full-time job. In preparation for my gap year, I started being more discerning with all my expenses.
It's important to reiterate that part of the reason I was able to quit my job was because I was getting tired of going out and spending money on restaurants. In my heyday of going to nice restaurants, I couldn't fathom giving up that lifestyle. At the same time, I knew we were indulging too often, so I started experimenting with the eat-at-home challenge in November 2016, and I slowly rediscovered my passion for cooking. I love eating at home now, and oddly enough, dining out doesn't produce the same euphoric feeling that it used to.
I've done the eat-at-home challenge four times now, and I enjoy it more and more each time. My most recent challenge was completed in November 2018. If you watched my eat-at-home vlogs, you will have seen that I ate very well during this month. I bought tons of groceries and experimented with many different recipes. I was shocked to see that my monthly expenses for this eat-at-home challenge came in at the lowest level ever. Beyond that, I've been able to really reign in my spending since August, but I don't feel deprived in the slightest. Stuff like this makes me so happy.
