Hot take: I budgeted for groceries every month but never once checked my bank app after 8pm
For two years I swore I was sticking to my $400 grocery budget, then last Tuesday I pulled up my statement and saw six late night DoorDash orders in one week totaling $87. Turns out I was budgeting like a saint from 9 to 5 and swiping like a stranger after dark, and the whole time I blamed inflation. Does anyone else only blow their budget at a certain hour, or am I just running a second personality after dinner?
Man, I did the exact same thing and what finally worked was moving my food money to a separate card that I only load on Sunday. Once that card is empty, it's empty, and I can't just keep swiping because there's nothing left to swipe. The late night thing is real, it's not a second personality, it's just that willpower runs out by 9pm and your phone knows it. I also started keeping a frozen pizza and some snacks in the house so the craving has somewhere to go besides an app. Six orders in a week adds up fast, so just cutting the access did more for me than any budget spreadsheet ever did.