Eating Out
Today I am breaking all the rules!!
As of a week ago, I have decided, after too many sub-par, overpriced meals in Austin, to avoid restaurants entirely.
I love to cook and it only takes a quick search online to find the secrets to any dish I desire. There are some things that will be impossible-- wafer-thin crust pizzas, Italian style, or clay-pot Indian dishes that require insanely high temperatures-- but even those could be approximated with some success.
Also, coffee shops be damned!
Now that I live so close to campus, there is no reason to ever sacrifice $6 or more lunchtime dollars to the bland-as-boredom establishments along the Drag.
I really want to get back to Japan and Korea. I need to save to do it.
Money managers will tell you that the best way to rack up savings is to cut out the things you spend money on yet don't really enjoy. I have already cancelled my Netflix and I haven't had a car for about a year now. I don't buy books, I check them out, and I can rent any movie imaginable from the school's extensive AV library.
I buy kitchen supplies second-hand and shop in the bulk section. I steal internet from my neighbor. I take my own flask downtown and order soft drinks at bars. This year, for the first time, I got scholarship money of $2000 a semester that need not even cover my tuition, so books and other expenses are going to be way down.
For how many years now I don't know I have spent $100+ every few months to do something with my hair--usually coloring. I am trying very hard to cut this expense out of my life, as it is pretty damn unnecessary. I haven't colored it since... May? I am trying everyday to stay out of the salon!
Yet with all these cutting of corners, I don't feel deprived. I feel empowered.
Things I do spend money on: the occasional taxi, which is good for supporting the local economy, and quality produce from the Co-op. I also break my rules for friends--paying for tequila shots at Whiskey Bar isn't saving anybody money but for my roomie Jessica's birthday, it was well worth it.
And I am about to break another money-saving commandment in a matter of moments. I'm going to have lunch with David C. at Crave, the new Thai & sushi bar nearby. The reviews of the place aren't even all that good. But for a friend, I say yes, let's do this.