Give Me Back My Five Bucks

I'm posting this a day early - I'd better not get any replies to this until the 31st!!! :) I'm not sure when I'll be back on Monday, and I doubt I'll be able to secretly post to my blog while I'm in Calgary this weekend ... so here it is.

Can you believe we made it through 6 weeks of this challenge!? WE'RE DONE!!!

For me personally, this challenge got easier and easier as each day passed. It became habit to pack my lunch the night before, and now that I've done it for 6 whole weeks, I'm going to keep doing it into the future. Sometimes it's tempting when my co-workers come around and ask if I want anything from whatever restaurant they're picking up food from ... but it's in the best interest of my wallet and my waistline if I bring my own food. Plus, most of the food they go to get is fast food ... and some of them buy their lunches every day! How do they afford that!?

Anyway, please leave a comment and tell me how you did this week, and also maybe your thoughts of the whole challenge in general - did you find it easy or hard? Did you save a lot of money? Are you going to try to bring your lunch more in the future? I would love to hear your feedback!

And congrats to everyone who participated - I'm impressed and so proud of you all! :) Also, you still have until the end of Monday to sign up for the April Budget Challenge. So far, we have 42 participants.

• krystalatwork - packed my lunch all 5 days this week. Although I will admit, today was especially difficult because all I could think of is a delicious, hot lunch that they serve at the restaurant in the building next door. Especially on a snowy day like today.

• J (the BF) - packed his lunch all 5 days as well. :)

• asgreen - "This was a great challenge. I loved it and plan on continuing next month. However I'm going to give myself a day off as a treat. Hopefully it will go well again!"

• Bouncing Back - "I slipped up and bought lunch on Thursday. I usually pack my lunch and snacks. My downfalls have been things like craving a soda at lunch or wanting something else to eat as mid-afternoon snack."

• Slalom is not extinct - "This challenge was pretty easy for me, since I work part time (I'm a student) and am only at work two days during the week that involve a lunch break. I'll probably continue the lunch challenge, as it will make my April challenge easier!"

• BeachGirl - "I didn't get to participate since I was out of town due to a death in the family. But I'm looking forward to the April challenge."

• J. Savings - "umm yeah ... so about this challenge. I sucked. BUT at least now I have more room to grow on the next one! :)"

• Ellen - "This challenge was tough for me and I didn't go anywhere close to 100% over the month, but it definitely made me more aware of where my money was going -- I'll definitely try to bring my lunch more in the future."

• change is a good thing - "I made it! 100%!! I have brought my lunch so far everyday this year! Yeah!"

• JanePlain - "This was actually a very tough challenge for me - I did have a couple of hiccups, and although overall I did well, I know I can and SHOULD do better. I'll definitely try and keep this trend going - saving on lunch even 3 days a week is better than no savings at all. :)"

• Natalie - "I did it this week! So I think for the month I only went out twice, once with the hubs and once with a friend who came in from out of town. I feel really good about myself."

• Kate - "Only a few slip ups throughout the month and in the grand scheme, this was not that hard for me. I thought it would be harder but it really wasn't. I am continuing this train of thought as long as I can!"