Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Dining Out; the lost treasure

One of the best ways we've sliced and diced our budget was by eliminating our dining out spending. Pat was reviewing our spending habits, and our AMEX bill noted that the past three months we have had $0 spending at restaurants. $0. WOW - that's pretty impressive, especially considering we probably spent well over $300 a month with all the fast food and take out alone. And a FAR, far cry from the days when Pat lived in the Gold Coast, and we could drop $200 on one steak dinner! Part of that is because what little money we do spend dining out (less than $100 a month) is spent in cash. Side Note: {Click here for the Dave Ramsey way to control your spending by using an cash envelope system} I would like add that Dave Ramsey and the Total Money Makeover are awesome :) The other part is that we just don't eat out much any more. It is simply cheaper to eat at home. I don't particularly like cooking....but I've learned to not hate it, and I've cooked some great meals in the process.

The reason I bring this up is because Pat, Liam and I had a fabulous dinner tonight. We cashed in all of our loose change ($58.00! Whoo hooO!) and treated ourselves to a Mexican dinner at Campeche. We went early, around 5PM, and Liam was so well behaved (not that I expect him to be crazy - but you never know), it was so nice!! The service was good, food was good, the kid was good, what more could I have asked for!

At the end of our stay, the waiter gave Liam a blue balloon, which he *LOVES*. We taught him how to say "globo" - which is the Spanish word. It sounds so cute coming out of his mouth...."Ooooh bo" "Gooooohhh bo".

Slashing our budget was such a good thing for us, I think. Not just financially. It makes me appreciate the things we do so much more.....

3 comments:

The Bacinos said...

do you guys have the "financial peace university" red wallet to help with the envelope cash system? hehe! w

Anonymous said...

lets go out to eat and celebrate!!! lol

Geggie said...

Hi neighbor! I know you. Come visit me!