Budgeting: DRiPing my Lunch Money!

September 20th, 2010 |

Image by LexnGer via FlickrI’ll admit that I tend to trade frugality for convenience in some cases. Time tends to be in high demand for me and my family. It’s no excuse though. Time can be a luxury but there are ways to improve it. I commented on a post My Own Advisor wrote about trading an evening out for 500$ a little while back where I mentioned that I am bringing my lunch to work in order to invest the savings. It’s perfect for DRiPing.

Current Progress
I started at about the same time school started, so it’s a little over 2 weeks now and I managed to not buy lunch at all. That’s 2 weeks worth of lunch savings! I am pretty please with the results. Now, as I mentioned in my comments in My Own Advisor’s post, I have tried bringing my lunch many times in the past and it has never lasted. I should aim for a monthly target and increase it over time just to give me time to build the habit.

Expected Savings
If I assume I will spend at least 5$ for lunch (yes it’s on the low end but it’s possible), then I save 25$ per week. That leaves me with 100$ for the month to DRiP. It’s a small investment, but the regular contribution will grow. When I can, I can add to it. It does make it hard to DRiP RioCan (TSE:REI.UN) though since the minimum is 250$. The minimum for Telus (TSE:T) is 100$ so I could manage it every other month or when I can put more than 100$.

The challenge for me is that I can afford to lunch out but I don’t think I can afford to not save and DRiP if I ever want to be out of the rat race [See Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki for more details on the Rat Race] . Most of my co-workers eat out so I miss out on socializing. I will probably need to pick a day in the month where I do go out for lunch and socialize.

Readers: Do you have a lunch money situation?