Interview

Interview with 25 year old female full-time student - no income - scholarship and savings - goes to school in center city
"I feel like I spend too much money on going out to eat, either for lunch or for dinner. Also I think I spend too much money on small snack and drinks at convenience stores. In general I overspend on food and drinks, and I wish I would prepare lunch/dinner myself instead of going out to eat. It is usually a lot more convenient to go out and grab a quick bite for lunch in center city, then to prepare lunch in the morning. It takes a lot more planning and time, and as a full-time student I'm always so busy, I'd rather get something real quick.
I used to list all my expenses in Excel so I could see how I was spending all my money, but I stopped cause it was too much of a hassle. Currently I use online banking at Wachovia, but it doesn't really help me control my spending. I would have to go through all the expenses and group them together to see how much I'm spending on eating out, which, again, would take too much time. I think the excel spreadsheet, which I used to do, still could help me, because I could group certain expenses together.
I would like to not think/worry about every purchase I make, like I do now. I'm always thinking: How often did I go out to eat this week, and am I spending too much money?
If I could reduce the amount of money I spend on food, I would probably go shopping more often, which I rarely do now. As a student, you're constantly thinking about your budget and how much money you have left. I would save if I could, but there's no point right now with no income.