Tuesday, October 16, 2012

31 days of change :: day 16 {changing how i spend}

Confession: we like to eat out.  A lot.

I'm not sure how often normal people eat out at restaurants, but I'm pretty sure we surpass that.  There are plenty of reasons why...  1) I hate grocery shopping.  2) We like to eat with our friends.  3) We don't have a dishwasher.  4) Food tastes better when someone else makes it.  5) I don't like to cook.  Yep... that about sums it up.

But here's the problem... eating out gets expensive.  Like, for real.  And we're trying to save money.

So, we're changing how we spend.  Specifically how/what we spend on food.  This might sound easy for some of you out there... but for us... this will be a challenge, for sure.

Does this mean that we won't ever eat out again??  Lord, no.

But we will eat out less.  Significantly less.  This means... no more "grabbing food" out of sheer laziness... inviting my friends to eat dinner- at our house... learning how to cook... having date nights- in our own kitchen...

Getting creative... changing how I spend.

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 For the month of October I'm doing a 31-day series on "change."  Go here to see the full line-up of "change" posts.

7 comments:

isaac and jenny said...

You could do freezer cooking- invite some girls over, everyone makes a bunch of the same meal, you swap them so you have a bunch of different freezer meals ready to go...freezer meals made for the crock pot are the best!

John Leslie, Jr. said...

Start by learning to cook and master 4 or 5 simple meals. Monday night is Spaghetti, Tuesday could be Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and canned Tomato soup. Wednesday night is Meatloaf. Thursday night is Roasted Chicken. These are all inexpensive dishes. Start by using side dishes from the can...green beans, baked beans, etc. Once you have these mastered, move on to something more difficult.

Jenn... said...

I have the same problem! We are on the go so much around town that we too often grab something while we are out. Sometimes I will make a large crock pot full of chicken vegetable soup or chili and then portion it out in small containers. That way we can grap one and take it to work.

Lauren@ Not Your Average Southern Belle said...

AHHHHH that is our biggest budget problem! We both work strange hours and its just easier to grab something but we are re-committing to eating at home. Keep us updated on this! I'd love to hear your progress. Maybe it'll motivate me :)

Rachel said...

We go out to eat more than we should, too! It's not that I don't like cooking--but I do consider meals out such a treat and enjoy them so very much...still...as far as the cost, eating at home is ever so much more efficient. I'm definitely working on curtailing eating out...we eat in less than we used to thanks to schedule changes, at least!

mleslie43 said...

Another good reason to eat in is that it is usually healthier because there are no "hidden ingredients and calories"...
Way to go!

Lindsey Brackett said...

I have lots of good recipes I can share with you! Easy, economical, makes leftovers, and most important, yummy :)