I haven't been posting much about money lately. We are trucking along. We continue to save. We continue to pay things off slowly. We continue to pay our utility bills (mostly) on time. We continue on. I haven't updated my sidebars in a long time....I should get on that. & I should add a ticker for our September camping trip.
We haven't started anything new. & we haven't addressed some of our issues that have been ongoing for years and years (ie. spending too much money on eating out/take out). I am stumped on how to address this. The minute we make a limit for how much we will spend on eating out...it almost seems like we work harder at spending more. If we have 'no eat out' days...we will out twice that day almost just to spite what we had set forth. We (well, I) try to recreate restaurant meals and it's always fail. We're bad for the restaurants. Bad. Bad. Bad. Breakfasts and lunches and dinners. & snacks.
I know part of the problem is that eating meals in restaurants is how we (& I) have dealt with stress. The day I peed on the stick...we went for supper. When my OCD/phobia get bad...I don't cook and we eat out. Upset about work..go out for lunch. Don't want to make a menu/grocery shop/deal with life...order in food. Sometimes the act of eating out doesn't even end up being about the food. It is about being with other people and connecting and being out and about.
Anyways...any suggestions? How have others conquered the restaurant woes?
2 comments:
H and I used to eat our regularly as well. And for the same reasons you mentioned. We recently stopped when I was laid off, and now that I am at home all the time, I have the desire and the time to cook!
What may help is not seeing as eating out as such a BAD thing. I mean, eating out every day isn’t good for the pocket or your heart. But…eating out once or twice a week isn’t the end of the world. Why not make every Friday night (or whatever day!) your “eat out night” – which will give you something to look forward to.
Another idea; give yourself a dining out budget, with a certain amount each week. Then just be real with yourself, once the money is gone, the money is gone.
Good Luck!
FD has some good advice. Growing up, we ate out every Thursday at the mall food court because my dad got paid and went to the bank in the mall. I'm sure it helped my mum to know that she could count on that one day without cooking dinner. I also only eat lunch out on Friday's. I give myself this treat, but I only allow myself to spend $10. If I waste that $10 throughout the week on snacks (I've found the underground Tim Horton's - e-gawds!), then I bring my lunch on Friday.
Good Luck, Carrie. You are making progress.
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