Eating Out

Eating out can be the biggest pocket book breaker. The convenience of having a quick meal, or the splurge on a dish that includes ingredients that are to highly priced to be a staple can lure anyone.

Brown Bag It

Pack a lunch. Whether for work, school, or car trips, brown bagging it will save you BIG. Don't have time to pack a lunch? There are several ways to make packing easy on the fly.

• Premake Meals- Instead of buying the premade meals, burritos, and pizzas in the freezer section make them yourself and freeze them for future use. (These can be used for lazy days as well.)
• Leftovers- Always make extra when preparing a meal. Store the leftovers in single size containers in the fridge for a quick grab on the go, or in the freezer for long term storage.
• Premake Snacks- Small 6-8 oz containers are perfect in a hurry. Fill them with your favorite snacks, in advance, to add variety to your sack lunches. Fruit, veggies, yogurt, pudding, and jello are just a few ways to add variety to your sack lunch.

Substitute Splurges

Instead of eating out splurge on those ingredients you wouldn't normally buy. When my husband and I feel like going out for a nice juicy steak we head for the grocery store. While steak is one of those items usually to highly priced for our budget it is cheaper than eating out.

Split It

Share a dish when eating out. You get a taste for a meal you may not be capable of making yourself without breaking your budget. It's okay to leave a restaurant without being full.

TIP- Budget for eating out. You are more likely to follow some allowance than none at all.