Not long ago someone I knew called me a cheapskate and mocked how much I ‘wanted to save 5 dollars’ for suggesting to play Secret Santa during Christmas. The truth is, playing secret santa was a way I could still show someone I still care even though I barely had the money. But what started as a bitter remark actually had a huge silver lining behind it because I realized it was time to put my foot down and got serious in finding out where my money was going. What were the leakages and how can I help manage my money better.

Basically, I committed myself to meal plan and budget. I’m not a person with strong willpower and I definitely lack consistency in many areas of my life, but this project kept me busy and motivated. I saw someone at work with a food thermos and asked myself what if I did the exact same thing, wouldn’t that make my life a bit easier? Wouldn’t it be kinder to my pocket? So I decided to do this for a week, which eventually continued for a month.

The truth is, being an adult is expensive. Being a parent is expensive. Sometimes, I feel like money flows out of my bank account like water and oil. Money in and money out. And working at a place that’s connected to a shopping mall is challenging. Sometimes you’re surrounded with so many things left, right and centre you don’t realize where your money is going, ESPECIALLY when it comes to food. This meal plan project isn’t a new discovery to mankind, we’ve all heard it before. But it wasn’t after I saw the impact it had I realized how important it was to me – and my bank account.

The first thing I did was made a list of my commitments and expenses. When that wasn’t enough to help me figure out the leakages, I calculated how much I spent every day on food at work. This included breakfast and lunch. It didn’t take long until I knew I was staring at the problem, and it was staring right back at me.

It was there all along. I was spending at least RM560, just on food at the office every month. That’s between RM100-140 a week. Crazy.

Okay, so 500 bucks doesn’t seem much, but it’s close to RM7000 annually just for food. For the office.

After realizing the sheer horror of my daily expenditure, regretting everything wasn’t going to help me. Instead, I decided what I wanted to cook for myself so I could bring them to work for breakfast, lunch and snack from Monday to Friday.

For the first week, I spent only RM44 for 5 days. RM 44/ USD10 that covered breakfast, lunch and snack for one whole week. Sometimes that is how much I spend in a day!

So here’s what I truly felt about the meal plan journey…

The only downside about it was that it was time consuming. I had to excuse myself for a while on most nights to make my meal and the guilt I felt for leaving Rauf behind consumed me. But I guess I had to do what I had to do. I still made up for it. Rauf is fine.

But then what I discovered during this ‘project’ had nothing to do with the amount of money I saved. The value turned out to be so much more.

1. Less wastage. The fact that I barely went out to buy food meant less plastic and wastage. I barely threw anything away during the meal plan project. So environmentally friendly.
2. I shopped less as I never left the office to buy food hence didn’t pass by any shops. Unnecessary shopping a.k.a leakages are often constant unplanned purchases.
3. It’s important to know where to do your groceries. Ask around, visit and compare. Also be mindful that not all ‘wet markets’ or ‘pasar’ are necessarily cheaper.
4. I drank more water. So much water I’m pretty sure my bladder went through culture shock. As I refused to leave the office to go out and buy more food, I resorted to drink more water (also coffee) to fill myself up.
5. Even though it would have been nice if I lost weight, at least I knew what went into my food because I cooked it.
6. I didn’t have to worry about the time tracking system at work as I didn’t’ need to leave the office.
7. I learned that not everything about social media is bad. The encouragement and support I got from friends when I posted of my daily challenges motivated me even more. I couldn’t wait to share my lessons learnt with them.
8. That someone with my salary and commitments had no cushion to order take out and drink Starbucks every day. A revelation I wish I hadn’t been to ignorant to realize many years ago.

Just to add, I got a few things to help ease my journey. Like a food thermos, a small bag to carry my thermos to the office. Sauces and condiments for extra seasoning for when I eat in the office. Cutleries, of course and a few microwavable food containers for storage.

So what originated from a bitter experience and an ugly period of my adulthood actually turned out to be something significantly sweet. I thought I knew the value of money but that one month taught me a lot about the power of a dollar. Sure, 5 bucks isn’t much, but it’s value once it’s multiplied many times over a period of time should never be underestimated. And just because you have the money, doesn’t mean you absolutely have to spend it on just anything.

Realizing all of these made me wish that this was something I started and maintained many years ago. Whatever happens throughout this meal plan journey, I’d still be down for Secret Santa any day!

All the best if you’re trying, hope this post helps you in the very least.