12 days is passed by in my January 2019 challenge.
Read about the challenge here if you don’t know what I’m talking about.
To sum it up quick.
I made a budget for food on: 600 DKK (100 $)
And a “Fuck up” budget for: 600 DKK (100 $)
I think “Fuck up” budget is going to be spent on Take-away food, beers or something like that. (Yes, shame on me) Maybe some transportation like the bus or train.
That is what I normal would spend my money on.
My Spending
I managed to spend 148 DKK (20 $) on food for the first 12 days.
The primary food I have been buying is:
- Beans
- Onions
- Broccoli
- Chocolate
- Salsa
- Cheddar
- Tortillas
I bought a 5 kg bag of rice last month for 50 DKK (8 $), which I haven’t finished yet.
We have a family dinner on my father’s side of the family the first sunday every month. And my sister asked If I could pick up some coriander, ginger and some spices, which ended up quite expensive. But she is my sister, and of course I will help her out.
A Typical (Spending) Day
At 6 – 8 AM I get up and get ready for work.
I don’t always eat breakfast. I do that for two reasons.
- It makes my day more simple
- It can be healthy not to eat
I will be biking for work in order to save money, to get some excercise and because I love to bike.
Every friday we have free breakfast at the work. And from Monday – Thursday we can buy a luxury breakfast buffet at the canteen for 10 DKK (1,5 $). Which I do sometimes.
At 11 – 12 AM you will find me eating a even more prosperous lunch with my co-workers. For 20 DKK (3 $) we can eat all want. And it is a true feast. I will at least go for two big portions. Sometimes even three. I have been working this place for allmost a year now. And they still laugh of the amounts I can eat in one sitting.
At 4 – 7 PM i will be training. For a decade know I have been training almost everyday. I have done that because I have a dream about going to the Olympics in rowing. At this very moment that dream doesn’t look that bright. But that doesn’t change the fact that I love training. There will close to no cost at my training session. When I finish a training I will eat something like a couple of bananas or something like that.
At 7-8 PM I will have my dinner around that time. For the last three weeks I have been eating the same dish every night. It is fried rice, with beans, broccoli, onion and chili, topped off with cheddar cheese and a tomato salsa. I think it cost me around 15 DKK (2 $) for a dish like that. It taste freaking good and I can’t imagine getting tired off it in the nearest future.
Daily Spending Summed Up
Morning: 0 DKK (0 $) (I allmost never buy that breakfast in the canteen)
Lunch: 20 DKK (3 $)
Dinner 15 DKK (2 $)
Transportation: 0 DKK (0 $) (I do ride with the bus and train sometimes, but I will be biking for 95 % of the time.
In total: 35 DKK (5 $)
I kind of cheat with the budget from the challenge. The food budget is only outside of my work. The money I spent on food in the canteen is subtracted when I get my salary. So I never count that spending. Not even in my savings rate. But believe. I eat my share in that canteen. With the amount of food that I’m eating it would be stupid not to pay 20 DKK (3 $) for that kind and amounts of food.
If you believe that you need to bring your own food for work in order to reach FIRE. That is just bullshit.
Yes, it would not make any sense if you only ate a carrot for lunch, and pay 20 DKK (3 $) for it. But eating +1000 calories and pay that kind of money for it is a no brainer.
What I Have Left
I managed to spent 148 DKK, so the equation will look like this:
600 DKK – 148 DKK = 452 DKK (85 $) for food.
And I didn’t manage to “fuck up” this month (yet). So I still have 600 DKK (100 $) to fuck up with.
That seems promising.