No Dining Out Week… I lost count.

My dining out moratorium ends on Monday.

I might just spend the entire day at my favorite Mexican food shop crying tears of joy into a carne asada burrito.

You should probably know, I did end up violating the ‘no dining out’ policy last weekend again. My sister was in town for the garage sale and she forced me to take her to the Thai food restaurant down the street.

OK, so she didn’t exactly ‘force’ me per se. She may have said, ‘Aren’t you on a no dining out policy?”

Darn this blog and the accountability that comes with it.

“Uh, I think that ended last week” I stuttered and ushered her into the car before she asked questions.

Twice in two months isn’t bad.

I’ve saved so much money from dining at home and eating leftovers that I feel more secure financially – even if only a little bit. It’s like dieting for two months and fitting into your skinny jeans.

I think this may become permanent…

Posted by Beks on September 3, 2010 at 8:21 PM in Living Frugal | 8 Comments »
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Wren responded:
Posted: September 4th, 2010 at 7:17 am
You know, the husband and I used to order out 5-6 times a month. Then, after seeing the damage it did to our bank accounts, and how it got in the way of our buying an Artisan mixer, we decided it was time to cut it down to once a month. We did it, even to the point of not ordering out at all, and I can happily say that not only do we have our dreamed of mixer (yeah, that’s odd but whatever… it’s soooo pretty and useful it’s worth it, and paid for in cash), but our bank account and bank lady are much happier, and we don’t miss the ordering at all. We prefer cooking in, baking in, and putting our kitchen, and mixer, to much better use.

Now, the ordering or eating out has become a treat, because it seems to be more fun to see what we can bake or cook next. And that’s really the way it should be, in my opinion.
Dream Mom responded:
Posted: September 4th, 2010 at 10:29 am
Twice in eight weeks is good. It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing.

I agree with Wren-it’s nice to put money into your kitchen tools versus eating out. I am saving now for a Breville Smart Oven (toaster oven and convection oven) and dumping the microwave, which I never use anyway. Of course, I’ll use my BBB coupon and get 20% off. The last time I checked bizrate.com, that was the lowest price (after the 20%off of course).

Next year, I hope to upgrade from my Cuisinart blender to the Blendtec-it chops/purees better than the standard blenders and I enjoy making green smoothies (spinach, vegetables and fruit) almost daily.
Vicki responded:
Posted: September 4th, 2010 at 10:43 am
Beks – that is so great. You have done an amazing job!
jolie responded:
Posted: September 4th, 2010 at 11:11 am
Twice is 2 months is very good. It can reach a point where the specialness of eating out dissipates if one eats out or orders in all the time. good work.
DCS responded:
Posted: September 4th, 2010 at 11:11 am
The trick is to budget it. I don’t mean money in the budget, I mean like take out on paydays, plus one sit-down dinner per month (coupon-permitting). You can impulse a pizza mid-week, but then next payday you have to PBJ at home.

If I budgeted strictly on $$s, I’d just hit some dollar menu or another every day until my arteries plugged solid with cholesterol or exploded messily from massive hypertension.

I do consider out with a friend/family to be an exception, although the dollar budget rules still apply obviously.
sandra j responded:
Posted: September 4th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Great job! Interesting that the only two times you ate out it was with friends – so you saved it for something special instead of just a too tired too cook night!
mbhunter responded:
Posted: September 5th, 2010 at 11:41 pm
Great story, and congratulations on your success!
Lizzie responded:
Posted: September 8th, 2010 at 11:37 pm
It was the best Thai food ever! And how fun for us siblings to be together enjoying Thai knowing all of our spouses don’t really care for it….and were glad they didn’t have to go . Thanks for going, it was AWESOME!