Top 10 Budget Drains, a Yahoo Article

[Guest]

My husband packs his lunch at night when the kids pack theirs for

school in the morning. 😉

We also buy him things like pretzals, cereal bars (the nutrigrain

kind), and a few other snacks he keeps locked up in his office. That

way, he doesn’t hit a vending machine for a snack when he gets

munchy at work.

His work provides free drinks- soda, flavored water, orange juice,

milk, coffee, espresso, etc, so that’s a savings we have, too. On

the days he forgets to pack a lunch, he’ll spend $2 on 3 tacos at

Taco Bell, bring it back to work, grab a free drink, and eat in.

— In Budget101_@yahoogroups.com, Peggy wrote:

>

> I used to buy a lot of bottled water, in the case when it is on

sale, and individual bottles when I needed one in a pinch.

>

> Then I started reading about the effect on the

environment…….billions of bottles going into landfills and it

takes 1,000 years to break down plastic……and not to mention the

chemicals that leach out as it breaks down.

>

> And then I learned that bottled water is nothing

special…..it’s just tap water. And why does ANYONE spend $1.39 to

$1.79 for a bottle of tap water???????????????? Or why would I

spend any amount – even the cost of buying it on sale by the

case? convenience????

>

> convenience (to me) is equal to laziness.

>

> i had several bottles on hand, and i have an insulated lunch

bag. every night i wash out my bottles, fill them about half-way

with plain old water, and put them in the freezer overnight. in the

morning, i fill them the rest of the way with water, put them in my

bag and take them with me.

>

> this is a very simple thing for me to do — i am already

packing my lunch every night, so it just takes about a minute more

to fill & freeze my water bottles. i’m helping the environment,

helping myself, because having the water handy means i”ll actually

drink the water), and i’m helping my wallet as well! (if you buy

only one bottle of water a week, it adds up to $72 to $93 a year.)

>

> I also stopped drinking soda for pretty much the same reasons.

I was able to find canned soda by the case for $3.99, which comes to

about 17 cents a can opposed to 75 cents a can from the vending

machine at work. This was that I was reading about how bad soda is

for you, so I stopped drinking it, regular and diet as well!

>

> I am no health-nut, but I am prudent and I realize I don’t need

soda every day.. So I only drink one now occasionally….

>

> I mentioned I am packing my lunch every night. It only takes a

few minutes. At first I had trouble disciplining myself to do it,

but now I do it as I clean up the kitchen after dinner, and it has

become routine I pack a couple of snacks a day, too. I have been

doing this diligently now for three months, and I can see the

difference!

[Author]

Posts