Eating and saving
I wanted to share some things we've learned that are good ways to eat without spending a lot of money -- that don't involve doing all the cooking yourself!
When you dine out at a nice restaurant, split your entree. Restaurants serve a lot more than a single serving per entre, and if it isn't quite enough food for you both you can spend $1-2 on a side salad or soup. If you aren't eating with someone you can split with, divide your food as soon as it arrives - everything in half. If you can, ask for a to-go box upfront so you aren't tempted to eat too much. If this isn't an option, then by-pass the entrees section and order soup and items directly from the side dishes or ala carte menu. You can often get just as much food, but for less (especially in mexican restaurants).
Order soup as an appetizer. This will help fill you up and you can order les food for your main course without being hungry. Ordering less = cheaper!
Buy frozen dinners on sale - and not the small ones, either! Get the 14 ounce or larger when they're on sale for a couple dollars (or less). These are also more than one serving, so you can make the dinner, eat half, and put the other half in tupperware and have the leftovers for another meal.
If you go to certain restaurants for their desserts, consider going there *just* for dessert. In the middle of the day, or late in the evening when you've already eaten your meal elsewhere. A $5-10 dessert doesn't add as much wallop to the bill when that's all you're having.
If you get tired of your own cooking and if eating out is expensive, find a couple places locally where you can get a lot of food to go - like pizza or a chinese restaurant. You can spend $20 and get 3-5 meals out of it. Get the food as take-out or delivery, and wrap up all but a single serving when you get home.
I also found that, when I needed motivation to change how I spent money on food, that keeping a food diary for a couple weeks helped. Just like folks do when they're on a diet, this is a financial food diary -- record how much food you got at what price. Include the $1 at the soda machine and $2 for a bagel and everything you spend money on for food. It can be really easy to save $10 a week by cutting out some little things like soda from the machine. (If you have a fridge available where you're buying/drinking the soda, get a 2 litre bottle of soda at the grocery store for about the same as one 20 ounce bottle from a soda machine.)
When you dine out at a nice restaurant, split your entree. Restaurants serve a lot more than a single serving per entre, and if it isn't quite enough food for you both you can spend $1-2 on a side salad or soup. If you aren't eating with someone you can split with, divide your food as soon as it arrives - everything in half. If you can, ask for a to-go box upfront so you aren't tempted to eat too much. If this isn't an option, then by-pass the entrees section and order soup and items directly from the side dishes or ala carte menu. You can often get just as much food, but for less (especially in mexican restaurants).
Order soup as an appetizer. This will help fill you up and you can order les food for your main course without being hungry. Ordering less = cheaper!
Buy frozen dinners on sale - and not the small ones, either! Get the 14 ounce or larger when they're on sale for a couple dollars (or less). These are also more than one serving, so you can make the dinner, eat half, and put the other half in tupperware and have the leftovers for another meal.
If you go to certain restaurants for their desserts, consider going there *just* for dessert. In the middle of the day, or late in the evening when you've already eaten your meal elsewhere. A $5-10 dessert doesn't add as much wallop to the bill when that's all you're having.
If you get tired of your own cooking and if eating out is expensive, find a couple places locally where you can get a lot of food to go - like pizza or a chinese restaurant. You can spend $20 and get 3-5 meals out of it. Get the food as take-out or delivery, and wrap up all but a single serving when you get home.
I also found that, when I needed motivation to change how I spent money on food, that keeping a food diary for a couple weeks helped. Just like folks do when they're on a diet, this is a financial food diary -- record how much food you got at what price. Include the $1 at the soda machine and $2 for a bagel and everything you spend money on for food. It can be really easy to save $10 a week by cutting out some little things like soda from the machine. (If you have a fridge available where you're buying/drinking the soda, get a 2 litre bottle of soda at the grocery store for about the same as one 20 ounce bottle from a soda machine.)