No Debt MBA

As a side project tangentially related to our $25 grocery budget I'm trying to give up snacking.  In the past I have been a huge fan of snacks between meals typically eating one around 10 between breakfast and lunch and at 3 and 5 before eating dinner around 6.  Now this system works great for me when I have a fixed schedule.  I pack my snacks with me so they're fairly cheap, eat slightly smaller meals, maintain a weight I'm happy with and never get too hungry.  That last point is key because I get to be a cranky, jittery, unfocused mess when I get too hungry.

So my current system works for me... most of the time.  The problem is when I have an irregular or particularly busy day and don't squeeze my snacks in, that's when the system breaks down and my body goes haywire.  When that happens I'm more likely to impulse buy something to eat, eat something unhealthy, or be unproductive for the rest of the day.  Since I'm anticipating more busy and hectic days in the future and a less regular schedule I'm trying to wean my body and my habits away from snack time.

I'm hoping that this will accomplish two things:  1) that I will be more resilient with changing schedules and 2) that I will be able to better manage my hunger in general.  I also anticipate that this will help decrease our food costs by a smidge - we will be buying fewer items each week. I'll also be increasing my portions slightly at each meal so it'll encourage us to buy in bulk a little more. However, the monetary benefits are slim enough that they're mostly a perk not a goal.

So far I'm doing pretty good about cutting out my morning and afternoon snacks but I have been really hungry when I get home which means I've still been eating a small snack before cooking dinner like a piece of fruit, bread or something.  However, the last few days have not been as bad as the first few days so I'm going to stick with it and see if I can get down to just three meals a day.  Wish me luck!

Do you snack?  How does it affect your spending?