continuing with my smaller challenges for 2020, i deemed february the month of no paying to eat out. i knew i was going to have some bigger expenses in february, from flight tickets to airbnbs, and this seemed like an easy way to make sure i was still living within my means.

now, this doesn’t mean i didn’t eat out for an entire month, because i certainly did. it means that i did not pay to eat out. i had multiple meals with my parents. a few friends – chris and jessi, will, brandon, pat turns – paid for me to eat a few times. work fed me quite a bit. but i did not spend any money at restaurants for the month of february.

the first three weeks of february were a breeze. i would cook over the weekend and sometimes had a weeknight or two when i could make something quickly. there were a number of events and meetings that had food available. like i mentioned, work fed me at least three times and it often resulted in leftovers.

that final week, however, was a little tricky. i wasn’t able to cook the prior weekend, so i didn’t have much in my fridge. i had to work late a few evenings and had other evening commitments. and i was heading out of town for a week and didn’t want to have a lot of leftovers at home. i had maggi noodles for multiple meals, but i made it.

in the spirit of full disclosure, however: technically i didn’t make it the full month. on saturday, february 29, the final day of the month, i paid for dinner at maciel’s. sarah was in town for the first time since she moved last august, and we went to dinner at our favorite spot. it was the only meal i shelled out money for in 4 weeks, and it was a special occasion, so i am not upset about it. i am still pretty impressed that i only paid for that one meal; i wasn’t sure at the outset that i would make it.

i just got back yesterday from a week in new york, so i was eating out every day while i was there, but now that i am home i do definitely want to cut back on how much i eat out. for me it comes down to planning and how well i know my week’s schedule in advance; knowing that i have to work both days this weekend and only have 2 days off for the remainder of this month will force me to be resourceful, so let’s see how this goes.

next up: taking one photo every day that’s not of riggs or baxter. let’s go!

xx