No other change that we have made in our life has saved us so much money as this! Eating out used to be a regular thing for us; McDonald drive through for lunch, pizza for a quick dinner, take-out for those crazy busy weeknights, the list goes on. It was never special, just quick and desperate solutions to poor planning and, need I add, expensive!
We were sitting at an all-you-can-eat buffet with our 4 children one busy weekend discussing how we sorely needed another dresser. My husband quickly responded; "We can't afford it!" Then we payed the $65 bill and went home. It struck me at that moment how ridiculous it was to continue to eat out for convenience sake all the time.
What changes have we made? I plan ahead! We make sure to finish our extra activities early so we are home when it's mealtime. Crockpots are a fabulous way to have supper ready when you return. If things are just too busy and you didn't prepare ahead, it is a great idea to have quick and easy things in the freezer already; frozen pizza, frozen burritos, etc. Then you aren't forced to go to the drive through or order out.
We have saved hundreds every month by doing this. We still eat out at least once a month, but we plan it, and we all enjoy it so much more! And, as I thought we would, we now have a bit of money left for those other necessities like new winter coats, etc. Try it for a month, you won't be disappointed! :)
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This sounds like a huge money saver, good advice.
Smart...smart. I need to develop that self control. Thank you.
Excellent advice.
We stopped eating out due to necessity and within a few months I actually dropped a few pounds as an added benefit.
That is like the first thing you should start doing to save money. So good advice!
I agree completely with the advice about eating at home. I also can manage my budget now due to that change.
I would like to add that cutting out convenience food is even more cost saving. It takes awhile to re-stock your kitchen so you can actually cook a meal quicker than driving out to buy something. Almost everything can be prepared in about half an hour if you have made preparations.
When I had a family I cooked on Sunday afternoon - stew, soup, tomatoes sauces, then during week I added different flavors. My favorite was putting Mexican spices in what started as Irish stew, adding beans and rice and shredded cheese.
When my kids were little we had cloth napkins representing different nationalities and it was easy to get them to help when we talked about Latin night, Euro night, Afro night. Even Aussie night (BBQ) with homemade sauces for the meats.
If I can give any advice for ending America's obesity epidemic I would say, stop buying prepared foods. Do it yourself.
Definitely! Since the pandemic, I have eaten out rarely. I actually prefer to cook at home and save money!
Enter......the Ninja Foodi and/or Instant Pot. Total game changers for sure!! There are thousands of recipes and webpages dedicated to those two alone! I use my Foodi almost every day. Along with my Instant Pots..yes I said pots! It's funny...whenever I don't use the Foodi and *gasp* use the stove or oven, I feel like it's giving me the stink eye and I have to apologize!!
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