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5 Ways I Make Sure I Won’t Have to Grind Forever

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Shawna Ayoub
@shawnamawna
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It’s the end of the week, but it’s not the end of my week. I work tomorrow (Saturday). It’s a short shift, but I’m exhausted. It feels like I’ve gone at least three weeks without a weekend. This is partly because I’ve been scheduled several Saturdays in a row, and partly due to the fact that I had a cold last week that took.me.out.

After work last Saturday, I came home and passed out until late Monday. I surfaced long enough to eat something, then I was back out until Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday, I woke up able to walk and drive. A COVID and a flu test later, I was back at work.

While I was sleeping, my kids came and spent their three days at my house and left. On Wednesday, they were back again. So not only was I back to work, I was back to parenting. I just dropped them off with their dad after work today, got home to my wife and am crashing. I work again tomorrow followed by my second vaccination. Basically, I can expect to sleep through another Sunday and head back to work Monday.

Oof.

Honestly though, I’m good with it. I may be exhausted, but I have a full time job. I can pay my bills (and medical debt). It’s exciting to be clearing a path to the future through good, hard work. I’m doing something I’m good at, and that’s a nice feeling. Financial security feels even better.

Through the pandemic, I lived on $800 a month. Rent plus food plus gas plus life adds up to a lot more than that. I learned a few tips and tricks to ease the pressure of financial instability. Even though I am grinding and can pay my bills, my goal is save save save. That means I’m still using a few tricks to make ends meet for just over $800 a month. Here are a few:

  1. I’m familiar with my local food bank. If an unexpected cost comes up, I can dine for free. The food may not be high quality, but it sustains. And sometimes it is high quality. Just depends on the day.

  2. When I do shop, I shop through Imperfect Foods. Because I am low income in the U.S. even with a semi-decent paying job, I qualify for their low-income discount. Y’all, it’s 30%. That means I can stock up on high quality protein for a fraction of the in-store price. Imperfect Foods is either imperfect (size, label, etc.) or overstock. Their produce discounts are already deep for excellent products. And they deliver weekly. If you want to check them out, use this link to get $80 in free groceries. If you are low income, send in your taxes to get an even deeper discount.

  3. I cook at home. You probably guessed that since my first two tricks rely on grocery shopping. It costs me $10-30 to eat out/order in one time. It costs me $5 to make 3-5 meals. Those extra servings come with me to work for lunch.

  4. I usually eat lunch at work instead of driving home. I have an hour lunch break so this is a big choice. But that gas adds up, and there’s a couch at work where I can sit with a book and eat in peace. It’s nice.

  5. Work is commission-based so I show up 10 minutes before everyone else. This gives me time to check our inbox for leads or finalize paperwork that will otherwise be pushed to the back burner because the phones are ringing.

There are many more actions I take to keep costs low. I’ll save those for another post. It’s time for me to recharge more than my bank account. Happy Friday!