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Need to reign it in

June 6th, 2012 at 10:46 am

I've looked at my credit and debit card accounts online, and I spend way too much money on food. Coffee, meals out, this is adding up. I grocery shop every week, there is food in my house, I'm just giving in to laziness. It doesn't even save that much time to eat out- you still need to sit there and be waited on, and you still have to wait for your food to be cooked! Fortunately I don't usually do fast food, that's just gross to me. But restaurant food isn't much better, just costs more.

Problem #1: After work, 15 minutes from home, feeling weary and hungry.
Solution: Have a meal in the fridge already prepared, that just needs to be heated. Think about how delicious, healthy and cheap a home cooked meal will taste after a long day at work.

Problem #2: Out in town, running errands, away from the house.
Solution: Before I leave the house stock a cooler bag with snacks and drinks that we may need during the day: water bottles, fruit, snacks.

Problem #3: Needing to eat a meal while engaging in entertainment on the weekends (such as out of town, at a festival)

Solution: First, stock a cooler bag and keep it in the car. That way, if we do get hungry or thirsty I can try to postpone the purchase by reminding everyone that we have goodies in the car if we can only wait a little bit. (I'm as bad as the kids at this one, if I get hungry or thirsty, I turn a bit whiny!)

Then, try to plan for these events: bring a set amount of cash, and try to leave the event with cash left over. If out of town: Plan to eat meals out that are actual entertainment, meals that are enjoyed. If it's not "special", make it a meal that you can eat in the room. Those random breakfast, lunch, dinner meals eaten out add up fast.

I'm glad I wrote all of this out, it was in my head, I knew what I needed to do, but now I feel like I have a plan to counteract all of the food spending I was doing!

4 Responses to “Need to reign it in”

  1. ThriftoRama Says:
    1338990219

    I have the exact same problem. What to feed the family adds a level of stress to every day,as I stand in front of the fridge at 5 p.m. This week, I was finally over it, so I actually wrote out a week's menu, went to get all the ingredients on Monday. We'll see how it goes.

  2. My English Castle Says:
    1338996208

    We had the "starving and no food in the car" issue yesterday. Not only do I need a cooler in the car, but also some stable things like pretzels etc. Thanks for reminding me!

  3. librarylady Says:
    1339012707

    When you think about it, eating is something we do everyday, several times a day, so it should be tops in our planning. I caught myself going out to lunch everyday and spending more than $50 per week.
    I'm just saying, it made me start thinking more about meal planning as a top priority.
    It seems like such a hassel sometimes. But planning for it really makes sense.

  4. mamasita Says:
    1339118369

    Lol, I plan meals, that's the sad thing! I just haven't been following through lately!

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