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About six years ago, following the blur of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, I made the time to sit down and total how much we’d spent on eating out during the holiday season. It was staggering!!! If you know anything about me, you know that I am far from a foodie which means that I/we spent all of this money eating at sport bars and other family-friendly restaurants. I’m not a budget person or one who watches every dime, but I knew that I’d let far too many dimes slip out of my hand and not enjoyed them enough.
I decided to make one simple change in my life. Each week, I’d withdraw $200.00 cash. It was going to be used for groceries and eating out. Now, I’d be lying to say that this has worked flawlessly, but it immediately changed my life! I adore Target and was there most days of the week just grabbing something for dinner and whatever else I saw and needed or liked. My kids were still pretty young so it was one-stop shopping at its best! Target immediately came off my list of places to shop. I simply didn’t go, so I wasn’t tempted to overspend.
I was a faithful Publix shopper so I went back to making grocery lists and meal planning. My kids will tell you that I still say, “if it’s not BOGO (buy one get one free), then, it’s no go”. I truly made my meal choices based upon what was on sale; the exception is always produce which I try to buy on sale. Of course, all of the meal is unlikely to be on sale, but it’s often the case that several to many of the ingredients are on sale, at least at Publix. I am back at the grocery store mid-week to refresh my produce and because a new sale starts on Wednesday at Publix; I benefit from two sales each week!
For the weekdays, I planned meals most Mondays through Wednesdays and Thursday is leftover night. Friday always has been, and still is, pizza night. Instead of eating out in restaurants, we bring it home. Our $50+ pizza night went down to $15 plus the cost of drinks that we already have at our house. We still eat out, but try to make it occasionally so that it’s a treat and we enjoy it. There are certain times of the year that we seem to eat out a lot; and honestly, I use most of the $200 for groceries now that my kids are older. Sometimes (seldom) when I was running low or out of cash, we’d have breakfast for dinner. It’s inexpensive and my kids thought it was fun to eat eggs or pancakes for dinner!
The cash approach spilled over into clothing and travel. I love to shop but I also LOVE to do research, and I don’t need anything so badly that I can’t wait. Most things go on sale, even if it’s only for a weekend. I wait patiently, try to combine offers when I can, and if there’s something I really want, REALLY want, I just pay full price. It’s rare though.
Travel can be a lot more challenging with a family and kids on a school schedule. We try to travel in the off-season or as close as we can get. I try to buy clothing in advance, i.e. for the next season, during sales. As much as I love to save, there are just some things that I don’t have the patience for. I have no problem buying used clothes, but have no patience for digging through store racks to find a good deal, either in a department store or a thrift shop. This just isn’t my scene, so I find a happy balance. Time is money after all, and that’s not how I want to use my time.
Give the cash thing a try, let me know what happens. If nothing else, I think you’ll be surprised at how protective you get of those $20 bills.