Pack Your Lunch!

It wasn't too long ago that I downloaded an app on my smartphone called "Spending Tracker" in a desperate pursuit to gain control of my frittering money. I first started using the app by placing my chequing account on record with the current balance entered in as the category of my salary income. Following this, I then began tracking each and every expense I had and placing the transactions of my card under different categories; phone bill, savings investment, bus fare, clothing, entertainment, and most expensively, food. After a week or so went by, the focus of my investments had been narrowed down and eating out began to become a shameful habit.

I came to an epiphany of my spending habits after a purchase I had made at the local Tim Hortons. I had recently gotten a job as a sales associate at the mall and they had just finished renovations of a new food court that was just a few steps away from my workplace. I knew that working in a mall would give me new temptations and having co-workers bring large Iced Capps back from their breaks did not help my situation at all. I was aware that a little sign of hunger in my stomach sent me out the door and seeking after alleviation of my symptoms.

My epiphany came from the local Tim Hortons after ordering a BLT sandwich estimating at $6, plus the $1 charge of two slices of mozzarella cheese (oh, the shame), totalling at over $7 for a sandwich. Making my way back to work, I excitedly paced my way down the hall to await the taste of my freshly wrapped sandwich. On arrival, I opened the wrapping of my sandwich to unveil merely a bun cut in two pieces, with some tomato, a piece of lettuce, and my dollar's worth of mozzarella cheese. I thought to myself, “This most definitely isn’t worth the money that I’ve paid for this.” This is the moment where I began to lecture myself, leading to the thought of this quote:

“When investing into corporate food companies, you pay for convenience, not quality.”

This quotation brought on by my own lecturing has led to the turnaround of my financial investments on grub. I was reminded that these million and billion dollar corporate food companies are being invested into by people like me who need a quick fix, an alleviation of hunger, or a first date meet-up. As a student working under Ontario’s minimum wage of $11.60/per hour, I had just spent over half an hour of work on a sandwich that was convenient and quick, but had no quality.

This leads me to the climax of this spiel, that we as individuals with longings for sustainable investments, need to start packing our lunches! With a little over a dollar that we spend, we can buy us a whole loaf of bread to last a week. We need to seek higher standards in quality of product. What we invest our money, our work into, is determining our futures. How much money can you save from reloading your Starbucks card for breakfast every morning? How much money can we save by purchasing a frozen pizza instead of ordering it? Corporate food companies don’t need your money. Your future does.