Have you been assessing your weaknesses and strengths this year? I personally have, which is why I am now currently making some adjustments into my life. The other day, I was curious about how much I spent on takeaway. I ended up checking my account and though it was quite fine, I think I could do better.I saw on twitter some people spend about $8000 and average is $200 on those food apps. Mine was only $100 for one app which I think was super reasonable.

I was thinking I’d spend more on the app but phew, I was relieved. Perhaps, I spend more on the other, who knows? But I don’t think it even reaches a grand. Apart from those spending concerns, I also started getting back into the gym after a month hiatus. I was shocked to see that I still managed my 20kg-ish weight loss. Being in a new environment, adjusting to newer scenes took a bit of my time. I even have to remember where I used to shop and such. So,I once again set myself on a journey to make my own food and eat healthier. For a single person, cooking might seem a waste but I found some simple tricks that work for me. I suppose in this post I would share it too, a trick that works when you go shopping for a single person.

Budget planning was hardly my thing. Until I went to college and was only given a certain money to manage. That was when I learned how to be enough with less. I used to live on $60/month and thanks to that, I got creative to make money. I still hate that but now, I learned that it was for my own sake. I learned the idea of 50/30/20 where I would save up 20 and 30 for fun, the 50 is for living. What I do with my 20 is basically spreading them half to crypto half to emergency funds. I was getting some unrealistic goals for my budget and my mom laughed so hard. She said the reason why I failed was because I was not being realistic. So, I talked to her and eventually we chatted about my reasonable spending that doesn’t make me reasonable but also be able to enjoy life later. After we agreed on the numbers, off I went to the supermarket.

Indonesia has plenty of fresh markets and supermarkets. Sure, the traditional market is cheaper but there are items that I hardly find there such as Korean spices and sauces that now I happen to love so much. In this market, I try to shop for 3 days worth of food aligned with my budget. There’s one mistake that I made in the past, I didn’t even count the amount of things I need to sustain myself. For instance, instead of buying an actual food worth a week, I ended up buying a lot of ingredients that will only go to waste later. I thought buying in bulk would be cheaper but it only ended up as a waste. So, now I just buy 3 days worth of food and make sure I know how much I need to eat and snack for a day.

Since I am also a prepper, I make sure to buy either canned food or basic prepper things for 2 items/trip. When covid hit the first time and shops were closed, those food and supplies saved me. So now, I am making a small habit to have enough of things when shits hits the fan, by that I mean earthquakes and volcano eruptions which are a real threat. As you see, the store has what you call, “exotic” fruits. It also has imported fruits and products as well.

The aisles are neatly arranged and the shops aren’t packed even on Saturdays. I love strolling around the place, getting my daily steps and then leaving when I have my things. Unmanned stores like this are heaven for introverts, you don’t have to interact and nobody is looking at you, offering stuff. My favorite aisle is definitely the coffee and the beers but with my budget and my gym stuff, I have to say goodbye to beers.

When I was at the checkout, I felt satisfied that within my 3 days budget, I got everything I needed and even some extra stuff within the budget that I set. Now, it takes a bit of creativity to mix and match these ingredients. For example, with rice, egg, gochujang sauce,fresh veggies, seaweed lavers, I could make some simple yummy dishes. Sometimes having less resources would actually spark creativity and make the best use of everything. But for real,

To summarize how to shop for a single person and not waste food;

• Make sure you know how much you eat
• Have some ideas what you like to eat
• Have a budget and shop enough for either 3 days or 7 days. I love mine 3 because I am often bored with my food. So, I get to work with different ingredients. But if you love boring food, go ahead.
• Make use of your food, even vegetable scraps. You can make broth with it too.

That’s all for this market and semi-self improvement type of post too.