The New Eating "Out"

I love those Target ads which depict the "new" ways of doing things in this current economy, like home haircuts and date nights in lieu of the more expensive alternative. Target should have consulted me about that ad campaign because I have been living most of their suggestions for the past 2 years! Needless to say, about a month ago on a Friday night my husband came home and told me that he thought we should go out to eat dinner. It was the end of a long week and the thought of yummy Mexican food as he suggested did sound like a great option. Then my reality-meter kicked in: eating out with a 6 year old who has zero patience and with a baby really doesn't make for an optimal dining-out experience at least not for the cost involved, most likely $40+. Although initially I burst my husband's bubble, he did agree with my logic and we decided we would rather save the money.

At this point we were hungry for Mexican food, not the pork chops I had planned, and I quickly offered to run to the Grocery Outlet where bargains abound. At the store I bought some tortilla chips, an avocado, tomatoes, and more importantly some beer. Total cost for these ingredients was $11 (including a 12 pack of beer). At home I cooked the pork with some onions and taco seasoning, something I had never tried but has become a new favorite. We then decided to make a huge tray of nachos and involved my 6 year old in the assembly process which he loved. In the end we made taco salads with the vegetables, meat & nachos, and topped it off with fresh guacamole. The result was a delicious meal for a fraction of the cost of eating out, with leftovers and beer well into the future. All in all, two thumbs way up for the new "going out". Is there some way you can turn your favorite restaurant experience into a fun and more affordable at home, dining-in experience? Please share your ideas, I'm getting hungry!

Wedding Season

I always love hearing how my friends are choosing to Live Large with Less and today's post comes from Charlene who attended one of my classes last summer. As we head into wedding season I thought others might appreciate her story.

"Getting married has never shown up on my “to do” life list yet, here I am, getting married. And as I’m learning, my beloved’s lukewarm interest in the planning is pretty typical of groomsmen everywhere. I’m naturally inclined to be an organizer and planner, always starting well in advance of typical timelines, usually thorough. And now, cheap. This wedding business can quickly get out of hand. Neither Dave nor I want a huge pagent of a wedding but we both want a great experience for ourselves and for our guests. A memorable party that has to walk some slippery slopes between informal and formal, between traditional and ours.

As things we are supposed to do and how much it costs to get them accomplished are piling up, one of the aspects I’m currently wrestling with is the rentals. There are some minimal things to rent even if we are skipping the string quartet, the DJs and the chocolate fountains. We need: Tables, Chairs, Dishes, Glasses, Flatware, Tableclothes, and Napkins. Without getting into the possible tent rental (”in case it rains”) and the outdoor dance floor (who can resist dancing to our iPod wedding playlist?), we are looking at paying about $700. For things we’ll use once. For things we’ll have to set up ourselves. Dave suggested using plastic plates instead. You know, he emphasized at my stunned look, the really nice ones. As I started looking into rental prices I started entertaining the plastics possibility. Turns out they are rather expensive too. I’m not being el impossibly cheapo bride. They seriously cost as much as cheaper ceramic plates. Which got me thinking…

What would the costs be if instead of renting 75 place settings, we bought them, along with tableclothes and napkins. Turns out, buying is neglibly more expensive than renting. Which got me thinking…

Why not buy our own linens and tableware? And then, rent them out to friends and family for their big events? We’ll buy them for about $1000 instead of renting for $700. And then we’ll gladly rent them out for … what? $200 per event. We could recoup our costs to some extent and still have some useable plates and napkins in the future. And our friends and family would save their own big bucks by renting from us at a great bargain price.

Am I getting too cheap? Or am I clever beyond belief?"

The Scale

As someone who has attended Weight Watchers in the past, I cannot help but see the analogies between money management and weight management. Every week at WW you step on a scale and your current weight is recorded enabling you to literally "see" the progress towards your ultimate weight loss goal(s). I must note that I HATE stepping on the scale and will go to great lengths to avoid this act which most likely explains my 11 month absence from WW! However, last week I knew it was time to gain some accountability for both my weight and my eating habits so I returned to WW to step on the scale. Fortunately the damage of inattention was not as bad as I had anticipated and the reality check gave me my weight loss marching orders.

So it is with our finances, while I can certainly move forward in life without a budget or verifying my bank account, having real-time information is a much better and proactive place to be. This means tracking your spending (stepping on a scale) and seeing how it aligns with your budgetary goals. recently my husband and I were more than a month behind on inputting our receipts into Quicken. Typically we do this twice per month, but in the absence of this I felt as if I was spending money in a void. I was hoping everything was ok but I didn't have the confidence without complete information. The scale can be scary, as can reconciling a check book, tracking receipts, or creating and maintaining a budget can be but the benefits of knowledge, truth and reality can not be overlooked. Take a step in your personal finances to be honest and know exactly where you are today and where you want/need to be in 6 months, a year and farther into the future if you can. One of my favorite quotes is, "If you aim at nothing, you very often hit it."