Working as an account representative in the fashion industry, I have a ton of friends my age who work right along side with me. This is a great perk of my job, however it's also drainer in my wallet. Going out to lunch everyday, grabbing a drink after work or a coffee on break really started to add up! While I loved the social aspect this brings to my life, I wasn't loving the hit I was taking financially.

Now that I'm more professionally established, I want to start eliminating some of my college debt. I had to do something and do it quick because there are no free lunches!

Here's what I did:
1) I first figured out my budget and how much I wanted to save. Knowing this enabled me to figure out how much I was willing to spend on miscellaneous items during the week.
2) Once I established a budget, I calculated what I could afford on my $50 budget. This equaled: 3 coffees/week, 2 lunches and a drink after work.
3) I wasn't interested in being totally routine or so regimented that I couldn't have any fun, so I also figured out all the possibly alternatives of how to spread out that $50. Knowing that I could choose to go to lunch 3x/week meant that I was not able to go for a drink after work really helped put things into perspective and taught me how to better manage my money.

In the end, this has worked out very well. I am now able to save close to $100/week by packing lunches and having the coffee in the office. As a result, I am also more productive and work and eating much healthier.

Every little bit counts and when your not watching where your money is going, it is easy to lose track of your finances.