Our biggest spending challenge is eating out, as most of my frequest readers know. I think one of the ways to continue to battle this is to be transparent.
Here is our updated eating out spending sumary:
I thought I'd mix it up and show it in graph form...March has been our second worst month in the last eight.
Here is a more detailed break down of the transaction information:
We know that our biggest opporutnity to save money is in our 'eating out' category and probably our biggest opportuniy to be healthy too. I share this not to be judged, but to stay by my committment to work towatds getting better - slow but sure (in this case, very slow).
Just think of the money you could be saving! Wedding stuff and honeymoon! Good luck in this challenge. Pretty much all of us struggle with this eating out challenge.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has their weaknesses so at least you have identified yours. You do eat out quite a bit, and honestly if it wasn't for my mom I would probably be in the same situation, this might be me in the next 2 - 3 years so I should take heed.
ReplyDelete@ Girl - it's all I ever think about
ReplyDelete@ Makky's Mom - No plan, other then a really strong desire to not do it anymore. We pack lunches 93% of the time...at most we 'eat out' at work twice a month - same with school. It's hard for Jordan because it's basically a 12-14 hour day, so to pack enough food 4x a month is tricky - but we try.
Generally speaking, we wind up eating out because we've been running errands and our out longer then we intended to be. Jordan and I both get cranky when we're hungry and sometimes (most times) it's just easier (which i'm aware is a cop-out) to just stop and grab something.
It's different when I'm in my hometown visiting my family (other then eating on the road) b/c it's more inconvenient to go to a fast food place then to go home. In my city, it's more inconvenient to go home.
It would be a good idea to start packing snacks - but I struggle with what to pack. I'm pretty sick of fruit snacks and granola bars as it is. Any suggestions?
@ Rafiki - For us, it's all about location - and the desire not to bicker with each other when we're hungry :(
You are not alone, that's for sure! The past few months our eating out spending has looked very similar to yours. It's a hard HARD habit to break.
ReplyDeleteGood luck! I would love to hear what works for you and what doesn't - I will take all the tips/motivation I can get! ;)
@ Melissa - Thank you so much for the support! I'll definitely keep sharing about our journey through this!
ReplyDeleteI also struggle with eating out I just love it so much because it's so convenient and quick. If I was left to be hungry for more than a minute then anyone around will get an ear full :) However I'm and slowly trying to change that behavior :(
ReplyDeleteIf you find something that works for you and stops you from eating out more please do share!
Although I try to limit my eating out as much as possible. I don't pack sandwiches to eat on the road... it reminds me of eating warm melted cheese wiz sandwiches on 10hr car rides growing up. I am sorry but it's something I will never do. I would try to cook more when your home and when your away... enjoy eating out. I don't know if not eating out indefinitely is feasible but there is room to cut back.
ReplyDeleteYou motivate me so much in this area. This is BF and my biggest challenge. We do not really have a kitchen where we live so eating out is inevitable. We try to be cheap but fast food is not healthy :(
ReplyDeleteI write this to let you know you're not alone and we can do it!!
What helped my husband and I was having a planned spending amount for each week. Ours is $25/person /week. if we spend it on Monday then we have to make sure we take enough food with us to last us till we get home. Once a month we go out nicely for dinner for a planned $100 max. We are going to the market every two weeks and cook in batches and put them in the freezer. What also helped was to
ReplyDeleteeat cooked meals for breakfast and the breakfast for dinner.
Lots of luck with your challenge.
We struggle with the same thing too. It's still a work in progress but we find that it helps to plan our meals each week so we have the ingredients on hand ready for cooking. Do share if you have any other tips too! Good luck!
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