The Debt Diet Challenge Week #5: Our Participants Weigh In

Chris

I took Friday off work so that I would not lose vacation time. I worked for 4 hours in the yard pulling ivy from the house. What a horrible job—I generally pay about $100 a year to have it done. I saved $100—score for me!! It was not hard, just dirty and hot. I finished the side of the house and about 3/4 of the front of the house when the rain started. I was able to pack 5 lawn bags of ivy before the recycle truck came, so that was wonderful. My unexpected expense for the week: Generic pain reliever! I really need to get in better shape and do more of the routine maintenance on my own! It felt good to see the progress that I made on the yard.

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My daughter’s 21^st birthday was on Thursday, and she chose to spend it with me. I let her choose the restaurant, and she selected a really nice Italian restaurant. We had a $25 Restaurant.com coupon off the meal with a minimum of 2 entrees. We arrived during happy hour, so our cocktails and a great bruschetta were half off the normal price. We ordered two entrees to share, ravioli and pizza. Incredible meal—everything was perfect, including the salad, which was an Italian mix with house balsamic vinaigrette. We checked into foursquare. The waitress noticed and we got our appetizer free. We had her pack up pizza and bruschetta to take home and she asked about dessert. I told my daughter to order something since it was her birthday. The waitress told us it was free on a birthday. We split the most incredible dessert, a brownie-type cake with dark chocolate and cherry sauce, molten inside, it was awesome! By the time our coupon, birthday and foursquare discounts were applied, the bill with tax was $10.47. We tipped the waitress beyond 20% and went away with a wonderful meal that was an incredible deal.

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The rest of the weekend was normal but great. I met a friend of mine and spent Saturday exploring the city. It is always a fun adventure—a huge farmers’ market and antique and indie shops in the city. We met for breakfast at a local green organic market, I ordered from the side menu and had 2 eggs scrambled and a really dense and wonderful whole grain toast for $3.18. I devoured my friend’s fruit side: free! We ate again in the late afternoon, I had turkey wrapped in romaine with cheese for $6.63. My verdict: A day with a friend, so worth the cheap and healthy meals!

Kudos to Jean, I am feeling energized and confident. I have my aggressive budget, and a step-back budget planned. The step-back is my ’emergency’ budget. If something breaks, I have a plan. I have never planned before! I never had a budget before.

Still on track, still energized and looking forward to the end of debt and focusing on the end of the journey! Still losing weight—a great bonus!

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Image courtesy Debt Diet Challenge blogger Chris

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