Stop Eating Out
I’ve long been an advocate of seemingly small changes in lifestyle that make big differences in getting out of debt and downsizing expenses. One small change you can make starting right now is to cut back on eating out, or even quit cold turkey. (You can still eat a cold turkey, just not at a restaurant.)
Let’s assume that a moderately priced meal at a restaurant costs $15. That’s $75 if you eat out 5 times a month. If you’re currently paying the minimum payment on a $5,000 credit card balance, that extra $75 every month applied to your credit card bill would cut your repayment time in half from about 6 years to 3 years.
Cooking at home is not only cheaper than restaurants, it’s almost always healthier.
People eat out for three reasons, two of which you can easily satisfy cooking at home:
- Variety — If your cooking repertoire comprises only a couple different meals, you’ll quickly grow tired of what you make. Try out new recipes.
- Social — Try cooking with the person you would eat out with. You might discover it’s even more fun.
- Laziness/tiredness — This isn’t an easy one. Frozen convenience foods are often about the same as restaurants in terms of cost and health. Hey, at least you don’t have to tip yourself.
If you already cook all your meals at home, and are looking for ways to reduce your grocery bill, check out some creative, albeit extreme, strategies at Hillbilly Housewife.
