Inspired by Get Rich Slowly, a blog by JD Roth, I’ve been inspired
to try my own 30 day NO RESTAURANT challenge. Currently, my boyfriend and I eat out
at least twice a week. Usually there is one meal of $15-30 and one more expensive
meal for date night on Fridays for $60-75. This is a total of $75-100 PER WEEK
just spent eating out or $300-400 per month. That doesn’t include any other
stops at Taco Bell, our favorite easy dinner/snack, or the McDonald’s breakfast
that I buy at least once every two weeks. That $75-100 doesn’t include our very
full pantry and fridge either.
Right now, I’d estimate we spend $40 per week at the grocery store randomly picking up items to supplement the $150 every two weeks when we go, as my mom always called it, “big grocery shopping.” Grocery shopping plus an average of $100/week on eating out is a whopping total of $860 per month on FOOD. That’s a mortgage payment plus some! Holy cow!
Today, we started the 30 Day NO RESTAURANT challenge with a few simple rules:
1. We will cook all dinners at home for 30 days beginning Feb 19 and ending Mar 18.
2. We will use all items possible from our already busting pantry and fridge/freezer
3. We will eat leftovers at least one a week.
4. This also means NO Starbucks for me. I can get a box of instant coffee at the grocery store for $3.39 that makes about 15 cups of coffee. That’s cheaper than 1 Starbucks Caramel Latte.
5. I will keep a menu for 30 days. This will help me stay on track.
6. I will update this blog at least once per week to update you all on how we’re doing. We both love our sushi.
And a few simple goals:
1. I would like to put all the money we aren’t using into our respective savings.
2. Learn to cook different meals and find new recipes.
3. Challenge myself.
4. Learn to be creative on our date nights besides a dinner out. We live together, so we see each other every day. Date night has become a staple of my week and something to look forward to. Let’s see what we can do without spending a ton of money on sushi.
Our first night went really well. We picked up the following items:
Filet Mignon Wrapped in Bacon: $5.60
Potatoes (Already in the Pantry): $0.30 (This is based on a 10 lb. bag of potatoes for $4 with an average of 25 medium potatoes in the bag.)
Steamed Broccoli (Already in the Freezer): $2.00 (These freezer steam bags run between $1.50 and $2.00 at our local grocery store.)
It was delicious and we only spent $7.90. This same meal at any local restaurant or chain would be $25 per person plus drinks. This meal in itself would have been approximately $65.00 if you add in tips and drinks. We saved a total of $57.10.
Right now, I’d estimate we spend $40 per week at the grocery store randomly picking up items to supplement the $150 every two weeks when we go, as my mom always called it, “big grocery shopping.” Grocery shopping plus an average of $100/week on eating out is a whopping total of $860 per month on FOOD. That’s a mortgage payment plus some! Holy cow!
Today, we started the 30 Day NO RESTAURANT challenge with a few simple rules:
1. We will cook all dinners at home for 30 days beginning Feb 19 and ending Mar 18.
2. We will use all items possible from our already busting pantry and fridge/freezer
3. We will eat leftovers at least one a week.
4. This also means NO Starbucks for me. I can get a box of instant coffee at the grocery store for $3.39 that makes about 15 cups of coffee. That’s cheaper than 1 Starbucks Caramel Latte.
5. I will keep a menu for 30 days. This will help me stay on track.
6. I will update this blog at least once per week to update you all on how we’re doing. We both love our sushi.
And a few simple goals:
1. I would like to put all the money we aren’t using into our respective savings.
2. Learn to cook different meals and find new recipes.
3. Challenge myself.
4. Learn to be creative on our date nights besides a dinner out. We live together, so we see each other every day. Date night has become a staple of my week and something to look forward to. Let’s see what we can do without spending a ton of money on sushi.
Our first night went really well. We picked up the following items:
Filet Mignon Wrapped in Bacon: $5.60
Potatoes (Already in the Pantry): $0.30 (This is based on a 10 lb. bag of potatoes for $4 with an average of 25 medium potatoes in the bag.)
Steamed Broccoli (Already in the Freezer): $2.00 (These freezer steam bags run between $1.50 and $2.00 at our local grocery store.)
It was delicious and we only spent $7.90. This same meal at any local restaurant or chain would be $25 per person plus drinks. This meal in itself would have been approximately $65.00 if you add in tips and drinks. We saved a total of $57.10.
No comments:
Post a Comment