Solution

I ran across probably the most useful piece of advice ever on the internet. I was looking through my Twitter and an annoying ad popped up. Thankfully it caught my attention. The only thing is, it caught my attention because it was a picture of a nice juicy steak and some perfectly seasoned fries. How ironic. After I drooled on myself I noticed there was words blocking the view of this masterpiece. It read,"9 Ways To Stop Spending Money on Food". When I clicked on it I felt like I found treasure. It was the Holy Bible of food addicts featuring the 9 commandments.

After reading I can say the tip I found the most astonishing was eat before you shop. This made me rethink my whole life because it was completely true. When you eat, you don't really want to think about food anymore so that makes you not want to eat anything when you leave the house. That was the solution I was looking for all along. I was determined to eat before I left the house every day. There wasn't any better day to start that commitment because today, my grandma made Pozole. If you have never tried Pozole what are you doing with your life? Pozole is probably the most iconic food from Mexico, right after tacos. Anyways here's the reason I didn't eat out today.

My 30 Days of Hell (or is it ?)

                        

I freaking love dining out in general. It's became a hobby of mine to dine out and I can't help it! Besides it's not my fault. These billion dollar companies blind me every day with their gleaming ads on purpose. They know damn well some idiot will look at their ads astonished and want to rush out of their couch to buy whatever delicious item they're selling. Oh right, that idiot is me. What can I say though, it tastes amazing. I mean, if you saw a big juicy cheeseburger with crispy hot bacon on a warm buttery bun like this.....

Wouldn't you want to do this?

I mean, unless you're a vegetarian. Although I do love spending on outside food, I do realize it's a problem because I get told EVERYDAY. My mother loves giving me motivational speeches every day, such as, "You idiot that can use that money for something better! I hope you go broke so I can laugh and tell you I told you so!". To which I reply, "Thanks Mom, I love you too". So inspirational right? I am going to do something about it though. I'm thinking of cutting my funds towards any outside food by forcing myself. Starting tomorrow I will start my 30 day challenge of cutting any spending to outside food, but today I will have my last outside food feast.

Outcome

With the 30 days finally over I can say it was very rewarding. Even though my stomach has been growling to me for 30 days saying, "Wendyssss, Wendyyyys!" my wallet has been thanking me. I wish I could have started this challenge sooner, that way I would have saved thousands. If I could go back to my first paycheck, I would have just ate at home. That one decision to go eat fancy costed me thousands of dollars.

Throughout the challenge however, I did struggle a bit. It was hard passing by these restaurants and looking at their ads on Facebook. It felt like getting over an ex. No matter how hard it is to get over them, it seems like more and more things pop up in your life to remind you of them. Then you start to miss them. Then you sit in your bed, eating expired Ramen, looking at pictures of them. Damn I missed outside food.

Nonetheless there was a light at the end of the tunnel. I had finally completed something positive for myself and I was proud. I felt like Steve Jobs or even Michael Jordan. I was still broke but felt wealthy. If this challenge taught me anything, it was to manage your finances to insure a positive future. Even though I started late, I can say I will be more wise in the future.

Research

So far, this challenge has been sort of worth it. I say that because for once, I have a little extra cash in my pocket, and that always feels good. But I also said sort of because I've been craving some damn carne aside fries for a while now.

I was thinking about how much I use to spend on outside food, so I did some research. It turns out normal people, (unlike me) spend about $2787 a year on outside food. That's according to The Motley Fool. That didn't seem too bad. Until I did calculations on MY spendings. I was way off. As it  turns out, I spend about $5200 A YEAR!?

Yeah that's right. That's like a whole down payment on a 2017 Subaru. I couldn't believe it was true. I even did my calculations over and over. I also found out it basically rounds to about $100 a week. $100 US dollars. 

I then reached a major turning point. I had found a new motivation, a new reason, a better way. I knew even after the challenge I had to somehow moderate myself. I couldn't back out now. I almost felt like if my money was looking at me with disappointment for just now realizing all of this.

Inspiration

I never thought there could be loopholes to my challenge, I thought wrong. It turns out when a friend invites you to eat, it means you don't have to pay. With that said, I technically never spent a dime on food but enjoyed every glorious bite without the guilt. Earlier, my friend Victor called me asking if I wanted to go eat, and before I could even explain why I couldn't, he said my 3 favorite words. "It's on me". My eyes glimmered when he said that because I had been craving outside food. We went to Chick-Fil-A and I got the chicken sandwich. It almost looked like I made love to that sandwich with the way I devoured it but I regret nothing. 

I wanted to beat temptation. Not be shackled by it. So I started doing some research to try and help myself. I ran into a TED talk while looking for inspirational videos on google and I found it pretty interesting.

It was about the human mind and how we are always tempted to do things we know are bad but we end up doing so anyways, only to end up regretting everything later. It connected with me really well because that's exactly what I go through when I spend money on food. It helped me a lot because I realize my future self would appreciate it more if I made the right choices instead of beating myself up for it in the future. I can now move through this challenge easier with high hopes for my future self.

From the Start

My spending addiction story begins about 3 years ago. I am waiting patiently at school for my first direct deposit to hit from my vey first job at Burger King. As soon as I get that deposit notification, my eyes light up and my smirk turns to a smile. I instantly text my friends, "Yo we're going to Olive Garden for lunch, on me. meet me outside ASAP" As we all ditch class to get our gourmet lunch I realize that food was well worth my money. So I kept doing again and again, paycheck after paycheck. Trying new restaurants and any delicious food that came to my mind, Until yesterday. Today I began my first day of outside food fasting and let me tell you, that sh*t is hard!

For some damn reason, I dreamt of a donut burger being made in front of my eyes. On the worst day possible. It was a Krispy Kreme donut with a sizzling beef patty, melted Swiss cheese, and caramelized crispy bacon in between. I was furious when I woke up because I know I can't get that anywhere, but also because I made a commitment to spend any money on food. I had to go through some struggles throughout the day as well. I had passed my favorite fast food restaurant, Wendy's. As I cruised by Alameda avenue I can see Wendy from the logo just stare into my eyes as if she's trying to lure me in. But I had forgot all about it because as soon as I got home, I had a warm bowl of pozole waiting for me. Thinking about it, this challenge might not be so hard after all.