24-year-old Lea Mendoza became a financial mastermind this week when she packed herself a sandwich for lunch – mostly to use her weeks-old bread before it became too stale, but in doing so, found that she could now spend the $28 she would usually spend on lunch on another little treat.
Okay, slay, Suze Orman!
“I’ve never felt this flush with cash before,” said the Los Angeles local. “To have this much of my assets liquid at one time, it’s overwhelming. Who knew not eating out once could help me save so much money? And by save, I mean spend on something else.”
Lea told reporters that she often budgets 30% of her paycheck for essentials such as eating out, taking into account that she spends $20 to $30 on lunch almost every day. However, this newfound budget hack has been eye-opening.
“Having $20 to $30 a day to spend on something else? I could use that money to treat myself to so many little things. If I don’t eat out for a few days in a row, I could save up and even treat myself to one big thing!”
Sources report that Lea spent her extra $28 exactly four hours later on approximately 1.4 drinks when meeting up with friends after work.
“I only dropped $40 on drinks because I felt so financially secure after bringing my own lunch,” Lea said in a follow-up interview. “Without saving that $28, I definitely wouldn’t have gotten so many drinks, probably!”
Yes, make that bag and then immediately spend that bag, girl!
With her newly gained financial literacy, Lea plans on bringing lunch to work at least once a week so she’ll be able to confidently drop money on other things such as happy hours and Sephora sales.
“I can’t wait to spend $30 on more fun stuff rather than spending $30 on lunch. People always say, ‘The more you spend, the more you save,’ but this has taught me the more you save, the more you get to spend on other things!”
