The Hidden Tenant in My Budget

I’ve always thought of myself as a fairly disciplined spender. Rent, utilities, savings, those are the “big rocks” I assume take up most of my financial space. But July taught me a humbling lesson.

When I finally sat down to analyse my spending data, one slice of the pie chart stood taller than the rest: food, 25% of my total spending.

Yes, food. Not rent (though rent was a close 20.7%), not savings, not even family commitments. Food silently ate away a quarter of my budget.

Now, before you imagine fancy restaurant outings every night, let me be honest. This category is a mix: groceries, quick snacks, small “treat yourself” meals, and those days when cooking felt like a punishment and ordering was the only escape. You know the drill: professionals and entrepreneurs don’t always have the luxury of meal planning.

The shocker wasn’t just the number. It was the realisation that my food budget was competing with my landlord. Think about that: every time I ate out, I was essentially paying “mini rent.” And some weeks, the food bill felt more like a VIP tenant than the one in my housing contract.

Looking at the chart, here’s how July broke down for me:

• Food – 25%
• House Rent – 20.7%
• Development (skills/training) – 10%
• Savings – 10%
• Fun – 9.39%
• Family – 8.38%
• Utilities – 6.23%
• Transport – 5.31%
• Offering/Charity – 5%

At first glance, I was proud of myself; savings was right up there with development. But then food pulled a bold stunt, taking nearly the same share as rent and doubling what I put aside for fun.

The message was clear: while I thought I was investing in growth, food was quietly negotiating bigger shares of the pie.

If you’re a busy professional or entrepreneur, you already know the pattern:

• That late meeting that runs past lunch? → Grab takeout.
• No time to cook after a long day? → Delivery app to the rescue.
• Quick “networking coffee”? → Add ₦5,000 to the tally.
• Groceries bought in bulk? → Surprise, half of it expires because you’re hardly home.

We convince ourselves that food is a “necessity” and yes it is. But the way we consume it often carries habits, emotions, and convenience choices that multiply the bill.

For me, the biggest realisation wasn’t guilt. It was clarity. The numbers weren’t shaming me; they were telling me a story. And stories are powerful when they drive change.

Want to uncover your own “food vs rent” battle? Here’s a quick guide you can try tonight:

1. Collect your data: Open your last month’s bank alert SMS, mobile app transactions, or receipts.
2. Categorise: Create simple categories like Food, Rent, Transport, Savings, Fun, Utilities.
3. Open Excel:
4. Visualise: Click Insert → choose a Pie Chart.
5. Interpret: Now, ask yourself—what story is your chart telling? Which category is your “secret rent”?

This simple analysis will reveal habits you’ve never noticed. And once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

Here’s what I walked away with:

• Food is not the enemy. It’s fuel, it’s joy, it’s connection. But it deserves boundaries.
• Rent is fixed, food is flexible. That means with small tweaks (meal prepping, reducing impulsive orders), I can free up money for savings or development without feeling deprived.
• Savings at 10% is good, but not enough. Eating twice that much tells me I have room to grow my discipline.

And you know what? I don’t feel guilty. I feel empowered. Because the numbers didn’t just show where my money went—they showed me where I can steer it next month.

When I joked with a friend that food was my biggest landlord, she laughed and said, “At least your rent doesn’t come with calories.” Fair point. But here’s the flip side: unlike my actual landlord, food expenses can be renegotiated every single day.

So next month, I’m not firing my “food landlord”—I’m just reducing their lease. Maybe I’ll promote savings to the penthouse suite while food moves into a more modest apartment.

Take one evening this week, open your Excel (or Google Sheets), and analyze your last month’s expenses. Just one month.

Find your “landlord.” Spot the category that’s louder than you expected. Decide what story you want next month’s chart to tell.

And if you discover something funny, surprising, or painful, share it with me. Because behind every number, there’s always a story worth telling.

That’s it for this week’s edition of Behind the Numbers. If this made you rethink your food bills or inspired you to track your own, hit reply and tell me about it. Because chances are, your chart has a hidden story too.