Dining In?

That's what you get asked when you walk into many fast food restaurants, "Will you be dining in or is this to-go? Well my challenge to myself (and you, should you choose to accept the challenge) is to "dine-in"...in my home. 

We have always tried to dine-in because obviously it is just plain CHEAPER. And let's face it, two full-time college students are far from "rakin in the dough!" :) But, that's okay because we're making it work--one frugal decision at at time! However, there are times when we slip up and head out to eat, mainly due to convenience and I want us to work on doing a better job at saying no and staying home. I was reminded to try harder, and encouraged too, tonight when I was checking my emails. 


 My mom has started forwarding me e-mails that she gets (essentially posts) from a blog called "The Simple Dollar" and below is a quote from a post he did while reviewing a book by Jeff Yeager, The Cheapskate Next Door--The Surprising Secrets of Americans Living Happily Below Their Means.

"Dining out might seem like a normal routine for some, but if you add up the costs of it over a long period, it adds up to a lot of money. If you eat out twice a week for $30 when you could eat at home for $5, guess how much that adds up to over ten years? $26,000. If you can trim those meals eaten out down to once a week, there’s $13,000 you didn’t have before. Figure out ways to eat out for less or cut back even more on dining out and you put even more money in your pocket."

Well, I guess you can see why it was encouraging!? $26,000 of my hard-earned money going to restaurants & fast-food chains? Ughh....that makes me sick! Although I think that estimate would be a bit high for us, a)we don't eat out twice a week and b)when we do we do NOT often spend $30!

So I'm re-energizing my efforts of "dining-in" our own home! Plus think about all the other fun things that come along with "dining-in" 

• No gas money spent on going to and from! More savings!!
• Enjoy time cooking with your husband (or kids in some of your cases, in ours ONE day!) 
• Learn new recipes 
• Improve old recipes
• Compost what you can that you would throw away...maybe I'll do this one day? 

 So what other bonuses can you think of to "dining-in?" And what other tips do you have about this topic?  

And if you want to see the other 15 tips he pulls from Yeager's book, click on the link above titled "The Simple Dollar," and that will take you to his review where he lists all 16 tips for living more frugally.