I didn’t do so well over the weekend with the budget. Not that I completely messed it up but I ended up eating out 3 times I think and I’ve been trying really hard to not eat out.
Sometimes it seems cheaper than the grocery store because it’s just me and my daughter—just depends on how crappy the food is. I get a little anxious about grocery shopping because everything is so expensive and I end up worrying the whole time I’m shopping about what the bill is going to be.
In the end, I know it isn’t cheaper to eat out, and the crap factor of the places we ate makes me feel worse. I even tried one of those fast food Japanese places with the not so great wrapped and refrigerated sushi. Way too much money when I could’ve gone to my favorite restaurant and paid a little more for something fresh and yummy. I’ll write that off as a valuable lesson and won’t eat there again.
Another lesson I learned is that I’m more likely to eat out if my refrigerator is empty.
Important tip for those on budgets: Never let the food run all the way out. You’re 10,000 times more likely to just stop and eat somewhere than go to the grocery store.
I can’t count how many times this has happened to me. If all I have in my cupboard are a can of kidney beans and a can of olives, and I’m out somewhere, there’s a pretty good chance I’m stopping for something to eat. I don’t care what kind of cooking skills you have you’re not coming up with anything tasty out of those two ingredients, and that’s even if you add the ketchup that might be leaning over in the refrigerator.
Today my boss gave me a bunch of leftover bananas and I bought a carton of fresh eggs from my coworker for $2. The best deals are sometimes from people you know. So for now, we’re eating bananas and eggs and as soon as I get the chance, I’m off to the grocery store.