Welcome to weeks 39 and 40 of our Social Security experiment!
This week, we are ending the month of October and heading into November.
Lots of side gig & spending regrets
I know I mentioned last week, but I did probably the most side hustle so far this year to pay off the A/C repair and some other things.
One thing I regretted this month was going out to eat a bit more than normal, or at least at more expensive places than normal. I got take out at Mellow Mushroom, one of our favorite places, but it is definitely not keto or budget-friendly.
We ate out at another place for date night and that was also over $50. For the two dinners, that’s a whole days’ worth of side gig for me! So, I thought we should only eat out at places that give us the best bang for our buck, when we eat out.
These include:
- Panda Express
- Local Mexican places that are low-cost
- Cracker Barrel
- Chick-fil-A
These are kind of splurges still in terms of our dietary goals, but at least at a Mexican place you can order fajitas and avoid the rice and beans and tortillas, or get a taco salad and avoid eating the shell. I found I am the most happy with Panda Express. I’m happier eating there, in fact, than many other fancier restaurants! So I want to keep this in mind as we continue our experiment, both in terms of spending and perceived value or level of happiness for what was spent.
Mystery foods
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Can you tell what these foods are?! If you can’t, I’m here to tell you. The first is a veggie burger that was buried WAY back in our fridge. Since we were trying to stretch every dollar the last week of October, I thought I try to should eat what we had on hand. I paired it with a keto gluten-free bun I stocked up on a couple weeks back.
BOGOs & returns at the grocery store
I also scored a lot of deals at our local grocery store! In addition, I returned something I didn’t need to Target. It really helps at the end of the month!
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Trying not to turn the heat on
We have been trying not to turn the heat on, but it has been COLD! It definitely saves money to avoid a huge heating bill, if you can stand it. (Our nest thermostat also helps us to save! Note, affiliate link here.)
October month-end
This month, (drumroll please), after stumbling a bit in the beginning with my being sick, the $590 A/C repair, eating out at two too-expensive places, but then recovering with more side hustle and credit card rewards, we ended up with $94.15. YAY! 🥳 That was a good recovery if I ever saw one!
Though we couldn’t have pups in our experiment due to the cost, I had to share this picture of Jasper and Sunshine from Halloween a couple of years back. How cute are they?!
And then the trees, oh my goodness, the fall trees. 😍 (Yes, I am that person. 😂)
Happy Halloween, and happy November! 🍂
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ALT MONEY CHOICES 