BennyEast.Com/Blog The official blog of Kenny West

17Mar/170

Side Effects

I've been staying home more lately.  It's interesting, there are several "side effects" from it.

First off... I'm saving money.  I plan to put that money into other things.  It's actually quite a bit of money that I'm saving!  It's so crazy, you never realize how a little few dollars here, and a couple of other dollars there can really add up over time.

It does though.  Not only does money add up, but time does too!

So, another thing you start doing when you stay home is you start doing other little things.  I clean more, I have more home projects.

Okay, for example, I used to go to little places after work and check things out.  Obviously, you have to drive there.  That driving time, if you stay home, becomes extra time where you can do other things.

For example, let's say I was going to work on things at a coffee shop and that coffeeshop was even just 15 minutes away.  Add another 5 minutes to park, plus there's just walking to the coffeeshop from the car, finding a seat in the shop, ordering my thing.  Then walking back... and driving back.

I mean, that's easily maybe 45 minutes.  So, if I stay home, I make my own coffee... WAY cheaper than going anywhere, I then use that 45 minutes that I would have spent driving to do some other things... Then start on the work I would have done at the shop.

The other side effect is, I stay logged into work remotely more.  So, I do a thing here or there, those little things add up too!  Then my next day at work is a little bit less to deal with because I did 2 or 3 small things when I would have been in a car driving, or I would have been wherever.

Really, it pays a LOT to just stay in.  Having that edge of doing a few items then makes work less stressful.

There's like side effects from the side effects!

Anyways... I don't know, I feel like the side effects from staying in are just super positive.  I mean, okay so yes, no one can stay in ALL the time.  It's probably not healthy... So I do go out... But the other thing I've been doing more is going instead to places to sit and do work, since I now do that stuff at home instead... I have been going more to the gym and yoga.  Those two things are making me more physically fit and giving me more energy.

That just adds even more to positive effects.

So, it's just all good things all around.

One place I'm not skimping though, is the store.  The grocery store budget still remains unchecked.  It's hard to spent a lot of money at the store though... My fridge is like constantly full now.  And now I cook more.  And cooking more tends to mean you eat healthier, plus it's just fun to cook!  It's relaxing too, to just stay in and cook.

It's crazy though how much more value you get cooking your own meals.  I mean, if I go to a coffee shop and get a cookie and a coffee... Like one of those big cookies...

It's usually 3 or sometimes as much as 4 bucks for the cookie and 2.50 for the coffee.  Plus the cost of gas to drive there.  And don't forget to tip your barista!  Sometimes too, I'll get a slice of pizza down the street and bring it to the shop... Now we're talking what?  2 or 3 bucks for the slice?

So coffee shop cookie coffee and pizza and tip...

Like easily 10 bucks.  Or heck, even Panera Bread is 10 bucks easy.

10 bucks at the store?  You can actually get a good amount.

Like, for example the whole soup and sandwich thing and a tea?

I can make my own tea for pennies.  I mean, it's like 10 cents to brew a cup of tea, and that's good loose-leaf tea even!

It's like 2 bucks for a tea anywhere out.

Soup and sandwich?  I can buy a pre-made turkey hoagie, a foot long sandwich at that... For like 6 bucks at the store.  Or I can even buy all my own ingredients and make it myself.

Soup?  I can get a soup for like 2 bucks and heat it up.  I can even go with the fancy 5 dollar soup in the pre-made section along with my footlong turkey hoagie.

6 bucks for a sandwich and 5 bucks for a soup.

But, that one from the store, I can get two sandwiches, two 6 inches, and two bowls of soup from that 5 dollar soup.

3 bucks plus 2.50, or 5.50 for a pick two from the grocery store... and 10 cents for the make my own iced tea, or hot tea.

Plus, at home... I can sit anywhere I want as long as I want and no one ever asks me to leave.

So, If I really get on a roll (no pun intended) with something, even after I'm done eating my sandwich... I can just keep chugging away without having to worry about packing up and trying to pick up where I left off.

Anyways, I feel like the key to being more productive and successful in general in life, is to just stay in more...

Plus, in between things at work, I can get up and practice a song or two on guitar, which I may have done while writing this blog.  I actually did quite a few other things while I was writing this blog.

I worked remotely some, I played guitar, I gave my cats treats because they begged for treats...

I dust busted here and there some.  I organized and sorted some postal mail that I received over the last few days.

And I ate a few spoonfuls of some ice cream.  Okay, maybe that's not a great side effect that I can just get up and snack on ice cream, or any other plethora of snacks I have because remember, I have no restriction on my grocery budget... I guess they can't ALL be positive side effects.  Although, I don't know, I mean, I'm a big fan of having a snack after a small accomplishment.  It's like my own little way of rewarding myself.  I just love to snack though, I'm not going to lie.  I'm a snacker!  I try to keep it healthy with mixed nuts and dried fruits and things like that, but sometimes I just like to have ice cream, or some chocolate!

Anyways, so staying home seem's to be working out well.  It just feels like I have more grounding... Or, I just feel like I can better prepare myself for life and whatever comes at me.  You know?

Staying home just makes it feel, to me at least, like I have a slight edge and upper hand with life and work and creative things.  And that's the side effect that I want.

One of the things I always felt being out at bars or coffee shops... Was that I didn't feel like I could actually relax and truly ground down and feel prepared for the next day/week/month/life event.  I always felt like I had to put my attention to the bar tender, or the barista... Or making sure someone next to me didn't spill coffee on my laptop.  I guess I never realized that until I stopped going out and stayed in.

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