Just last year, I'd have looked at this, said work hard, party hard, and left that sorry bit of left over cheese to its fate. But after this year's blunt and brutal reality check, I don't think Sulley and I could ever go back to spending obscene amounts of money each month on incidental dine outs and pizza deliveries just because we're too lazy to wash a few pots and cook ourselves a proper meal.
It's somewhat frightening how, even after five years of married life, we still spend like singles who live with their old folks and have no financial responsibilities whatsoever. In our case, since Sulley and I are both busy on weekdays, it's a hassle to have to cook dinner after a long, tiring day at work.
But when we sat down to add up our expenses and found that we were spending practically P15,000 a month on food deliveries alone (excluding our daily lunch money and the usual weekly grocery), it was like a hammer in the head.
Yes we both work hard and deserve to pamper ourselves some, but P15k is almost double the government mandated minimum monthly wage. You could hire four maids with it who'll cook and keep house so you could eat off your shiny, clean floors if you really feel like it. But the thing is, I like our nice and quiet, good-for-two-people setup. Besides, with no regular TV channels and no one else to talk to, any household help we hire might start clawing the walls within 48 hours out of sheer boredom.
At least now we know where the money pit is. And starting this month, I think things will improve. Even without the pie chart to look at, we've both been putting in a lot of effort lately into spending smarter.
Frugality does build character, I guess, true as the saying goes.
