Attempting to be a cheapskate

A friend came upon an article on how to live cheap, and these days, saving extra money has not been a bad idea for me. As we got to talking about ways to save money, it led to a contest to see who can live on $25.00 a week, or $100.00 a month. This only includes eating out, and buying things you do not need, also known as "doodads". As an incentive, the winner gets $25.00 from each loser. Sounds easy enough, right? I mean, why not, its a new year, so lets try something different and new. The key is to change a little bit of my life style and my spending habits...this is easier said then done my friends.
I went back to work today and I just had to go out to lunch with my coworkers, and on top of that, we decided to get sushi. We went to Sushi Connections in Woodinville, and if you haven't been to one its similar to Sushiland, where the food is place on different color plates running on a conveyor belt, and each color represents a price, ranging from $1.00 to $3.50. This lunch alone was $14.00, but you don't want to know how much I could have spent when I go for sushi. My weakness is food, if I didn't know that before, I do now.
Tonight, I went to a birthday dinner, and I could have just had bread and water, but noooo, I had to get a steak, and for those of you that know me, you know I love a good steak and I always order a steak. Let's just say after dinner and lunch I already spent two weeks of my allowance. A note to those that are in on this competition, its not over yet. I can't fall apart on the first month. So people, please don't ask me to go out to eat, because its not going to help my cause to stay in this competition and I can't lose yet. Focus Kham!