August experiment?

Mike and I have been budgeting for a couple months now, and I'm pretty proud of us. The budget categories that give us the most problems are fairly consistent: groceries, eating out, medical. I give us a slight pass on medical because while it's been consistently higher than we thought it would be, the amount is inconsistent. Sometimes it's $5 over, sometimes it's $100.

(I would like to point out it's never because of me. My immune system would like a thank-you note from the other members of this family.)

There are also annoying financial things you can't predict for like the car tires that needed to be replaced, the car seat that needed to be purchased, the property taxes I DO NOT WANT TO TALK ABOUT, and the random days Kyle had to go to day care that we didn't plan for.

But, we're getting better with grocery shopping, and I think with a little more experience in the kitchen, I'll be able to shave off more and more money from those bills. I'm trying to utilize ingredients we already have and replace this cheese with that cheese that's already in the fridge and things like that. Simple for the seasoned cook, but I'm not seasoned. I'm trying, and I think I'm (and we're) doing pretty good.

But.

There's one area we struggle with and that's eating out. Chalk it up to being a rather social couple or that date nights are important to us, but we eat out too often. Not nearly as much as we used to, but too much. See, I'd rather go to a nice dinner than buy shoes. That's a new development, but does it really matter what you're unnecessarily spending money on as long as you're unnecessarily spending it?

We can do better.

When I was eating far too much fast food last year, I went without it for 30 days and while I still have it from time to time, I sort of credit that as the beginning of the end of my regular consumption of total and utter crap.

So, I suggested to Mike the other day that we not eat out the month of August. He said sure. Obviously this won't work in New York City for BlogHer and there may be a work dinner squeezed in for my five-year anniversary with my company, but for the time we're home, we won't spend our own money to dine out.

Mainly, I just want to see how much we can save, how hard the challenge really is for us, how creative we can be with dates and time with friends when not dining in restaurants, and if this makes me a slightly better planner (I don't plan lunch often enough and neither does Mike).

I went meatless for a month, I gave up alcohol for Lent, I ran 25 miles and worked out (almost!) every day of June. I can do this, I know I can, and I also know it'll be good for our family and our budget.

Money is tough for us and while we are paying all our bills and doing pretty okay and making vacations work (although Portland only happened because of a free flight and stay, which is how all vacations should work, don't you think?), I know that managing our finances is slowly becoming more and more in our control. It hasn't always been. We've been in the financial passenger seat for years, I'd say, and it has sucked quite a lot. 

I don't want it to suck anymore, so we're taking control.

So, wish us luck in August. We'll see how it goes.

Comments

[Raven]

Eating out is a big one for us too. I love a good restaurant!

We have limited it to weekends only. So basically that means if we go out on a weeknight, then we don't on the weekend for a meal. It doesn't mean we go out for every meal on the weekend either...it's just that weekends are more free because we eat at home during the week and that includes packed lunches/leftovers.

I bought some Tasty Bite microwaveable meals that Willy keeps at his desk for days when we don't have leftovers for him (or planned overs as my mom calls them) and that keeps him from eating out downtown which is even more expensive than just eating lunch out regularly. We also keep healthier junk options in the freezer at home (like chicken corn dogs and amy's burritos) for when I don't feel like cooking, which helps us eat in and avoid the lazy ordering out trap.

This has been going on for almost a year now and saved us a huge amount of money.

[K]

Best of luck to you! I should try an experiment like this at some point. I did a month of not eating out for lunch at work, but that's much easier then cutting out dinners.

[Emily]

Whenever we do something like this, I like to keep track of the money we save by NOT going out. Like, when you feel the urge, or when you think, Wouldn't it be nice to run out to Wendy's? or Couldn't we go somewhere with a nice patio for dinner? write down how much you would have spent there. Be honest. If you're REALLY brave, you can go ahead and take that money out of your checking account and put it right into savings. Either way, I like keeping track of how well I'm doing by not giving into temptation. You seem like you'd like that, too. Because you're adorable, like me. Right? :)

[Theresa]

That is a brilliant idea! I wonder if Sean will go for that?? We eat out a lot more than we need to but we could see how "strong" we could be.

[Jen L.]

Good luck! Since Dean's been born and I developed high blood pressure, we've HAD to stop eating out so much. Cutting out fast food alone made my cholesterol go down almost 70 points in 6 months! You can do it. Think about re-creating some of your favorite dishes from "out" at home. Obviously, they won't taste exactly the same, but they'll almost certainly be healthier for you.

Also,contrary to everything I just said, I cannot wait to eat my way through NYC at BlogHer. I may have 6 meals a day.

[Jess]

We were all about the eating out and then Torsten quit his job and we gave it up cold turkey, and you know what? It wasn't nearly as bad as we thought it would be. You guys can totally do it! Good luck!

[Shelly]

That's a great idea! I think I am going to suggest doing the same with my boyfriend. Besides, grabbing fresh groceries and having a barbecue sounds much more appealing to me in the month of August than going out anyways! Good luck! :)

[Becky]

You have inspired me! I want to do something like this. We eat out too much too, and it is not conducive to saving any money for anything (and oh boy, do we have things to save for!). Maybe not August, but sometime this fall for sure. I'm looking forward to reading how it goes for you!

[Meg]

You can do it! The internet is amazing for finding recipes that are pretty darn close to restaurant meals, and then you can control what goes in them too! Don't like cheddar? Make it will mozza instead! Great idea!

[Katy]

I was talking with my husband about this very thing today. My theory is that at a certain point, going out to eat loses it's special-ness. We're trying to eat out less because I think that will make the times we do go out more special. Also, we'll save money.

[Michelle]

We spend the most on eating out too. It's crazy sometimes the amounts when we add it all up. A great budgeting tip I use is to withdrawl the food money in cash each pay period and ONLY use the cash. You'll see really quickly how fast it can go and it makes sticking to a budget a lot easier.

[Heather]

Yeah, we eat out quite a bit when we have the kids---imagine that financial strain.

I think that you should write a book on you journey this year, I really do.

[barbetti]

Hey! I like your header. I'm probably MONTHS late to that, but oh well. Looks great!

Steve and I struggle with eating out and I ENJOY cooking. Except, for us? Eating out is usually Taco Bell. But still, we have a pantry full of food we need to get rid of in one month, so I made the executive decision to not buy ANY groceries (besides milk, eggs, bread, etc), unless we can incorporate them somehow with whatever is in our pantry...like the maybe 400 cans of kidney beans?

[Kerri Anne]

I love this. I need to be better about paying attention to my budgets and checking up more specifically, rather than just setting aside a certain amount and then not really looking to see how I've done each month. (I'm a weary budgeter, clearly.)

You guys are super encouraging!

[Wendy]

You can do it! here's wishing you much luck. I handed my two storecards to my brother-in-law as it was too easy to shop on credit and not worry about how much I was spending. Before it became a problem I thought it best to go on a 'diet' and do the cash only purchases ... it's been fine, month one down! I don't intend using those cards again - that may be the challenge though.