Here's a trick I've been using for the past year to control impulse spending.

[jessefrank]

@ruben145 i've tried cooking and i suck at it, my food doesn't taste nearly as good as the food i get when i eat out. plus i have a tiny kitchen and cooking really sucks when you're in a cramped environment

and buying food/eating out is just more convenient for me, especially with services like uber eats at my fingertips

 

[bryony]

@jessefrank

i've tried cooking and i suck at it, my food doesn't taste nearly as good as the food i get when i eat out. plus i have a tiny kitchen and cooking really sucks when you're in a cramped environment

Speaking as someone who lives in a 270 SqFt apartment, I feel your pain. But I also urge you to try making crock-pot meals. A lot of slow-cooker meals require minimal preparation and much less space than traditionally cooked meals. I can make a mean chili with my slow-cooker with about 30 minutes of prep time, or I can make two beef pot pies with the same amount of prep. Both yield about 10-16 meals.

If you want recipe suggestions let me know. Also /r/eatcheapandhealthy is great for recipe ideas.

 

[richgsr7]

@bryony I look at discretionary purchases in the number of hours I had to work to save that money. And I don't use my hourly wage either -- I subtract taxes, retirement savings, and other non-discretionary spending. So if you work full time, make $25/hr, and have $10K left at the end of the year after taxes and retirement contributions, you are saving about $4.80 per hour worked. A $100 discretionary purchase requires 20.83 hours of work (you are literally giving away 2.5 days of your life for it). If that's not the best way to control your spending, I don't know what is.

 

[bryony]

@richgsr7 I have a similar page in my spreadsheet that breaks down my monthly costs per paycheck, per month, and per year, including the amount of money I should have left over for each period. Breaking down by hour is an interesting idea though, I'll have to look into that.