As you know, Chris and I embarked on the challenge to eat in for the entire month of January and I honestly can’t believe it’s over! It was hosted by the lovely Diana, who always has some great challenge ideas (I think she’s brewing up a new fitness related challenge). Now it is the moment of truth, and I’d like to share with you my thoughts and reflections over the month. And yes, there were a few, just a few ‘cheats’ in there too!
The main reason I wanted to share this with you is 
that even though Chris and I do a fairly good job with eating in most of the time, I didn’t realize just how much of an impact it was going to have. We were actually able to see just how much we saved, which kind of blew us away when we don’t even eat out that much! If you are seriously trying to save money and are looking for those little extra ways that will make a big difference, this is it.
I believe that making one’s own meals at home can be a great start to not only saving money, but also eating healthy and wholesome. Many restaurants/products add so many extras just to make it taste good, that the overall picture of health is compromised. Eating at home solves this problem because you know what is going into the food and it can still taste great at the same time.
Eliminating all of anything isn’t always a good thing. Challenges like this can be a good way to jump start the path to a lifestyle change, but shouldn’t compromise social relationships, one’s health or overall wellbeing. And here comes the ‘cheat’ in our challenge. Our good friends invited us to go to lunch since we hadn’t seen them since before Christmas. We weren’t just going to say ‘um, no sorry we have a eat in challenge to stick to!’ Of course not. And if everyone decided they weren’t going to eat out at all anymore our economy would probably be in ruins and small businesses would fail. That’s definitely not a good thing and I really like supporting local restaurants.
The other ‘cheat’ in the challenge came when Chris forgot to bring dinner (and I forgot to pack it) for his jam-packed day full of work and then class from 5:30 – 10pm. oops! Well, you win some you lose some, but the real thing to talk about with this challenge was all the benefits. . .
Eating in yields more time to spend with family, and really we all know that taking the time to get in the car, drive to a restaurant, order, wait for the food, eat and pay takes way longer than making a fairly simple and cheap meal at home.
Chris and I really made the effort to prepare ingredients and lunches the night before. I’ve always been somewhat on top of prepping, but this challenge really forced that. It also makes it sooo much easier when lunches are already packed and ingredients already prepped. Loved that! Even with all the eating in we were doing I wasn’t really spending more on groceries either. Most weeks my grocery spendings ranged from $70-85.
And the big kicker about this challenge? The moola saved!! Usually Chris buys lunch at work about 3-4 times per week. I usually always take my lunch every day. My main weakness is that darn self-serve frozen yogurt shop! We go out to dinner no more than 3-4 times per month, and it’s usually not any place that’s overly priced, or I like to grab a couple drinks with friends (alcohol is such a mark-up!).
Doesn’t really seem that harmless, but Chris calculated his savings on Microsoft Money (great program, I’d like to get it) and just on eating out alone he saved about $225 dollars!! That doesn’t seem that much really, but when you add it up over the year that’s about a $2,700 raise!! Dang. For me it’s closer to $100/mo, but still that really adds up.
So in conclusion, we really want to continue the essence of this challenge indefinitely. Of course there will be times when we want to go out to eat with friends, have a nice, creamy cup of fro yo, and just won’t feel like cooking, but I think we will be more aware of how less eating out can really save a lot of money in the long run.
We’ve been thinking of setting a reasonable limit to eating out now that the challenge is over. Eating out or buying lunch will be limited to no more than 2 times per month each. Somehow frozen yogurt outings will be no more than 3 times per month (I’m going to try!). Does this seem reasonable? Possibly. Doable? Most definitely. It’s really about planning and making the decision to just do it and stick with it. We’ve also been contemplating where we want to eat out for a special evening and we’ve been thinking sushi! We haven’t really had sushi since we moved back to Vegas since it’s pretty darn pricey here.
Do you try to limit your eating out expenditures?
Just for fun: after a month-long eating out hiatus, where would you want to go if there were NO budget limitations???
Stay tuned for the 2 winners of my new site giveaway coming up soon . . . it ends tonight at 8pm pst 
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
What a great challenge! I’m a student on a budget, so I’m always trying to limit my purchased meals – it definitely takes a lot of planning in advance though!
I think that my biggest splurge would either be an ice cream shop as you said, or pizza! I’ve made my own pizza in the past, but sometimes there’s really nothing like a greasy slice of pizza. Ha ha!
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great challenge. I eat at home almost everyday so I don’t put a budget on groceries… but I’ve been using up more items in my pantry as challenge
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Nick and I actually made a deal that we were’t going to eat out at all in January, aside from our birthdays. It worked out really well because for my birthday my parents paid, and for his birthday his mom paid!! We did save about 200 dollars because I know we spent the SAME amount of money on food (we record this) and about 200 less on eating out. We normally eat out once a week, and spend between 40-60 dollars (YIKES!). I think we will extend this into February. Saving for a house means not much other spending!
I would go to Hyde Park, a fancy steak restaurant with the BEST steaks in town!
Glad you liked my granola last night
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My hubby and I are on a tight budget and we already eat out as little as possible. The place I miss the most is an Italian restaurant with this AMAZING tortellini dish and the best Italian pesto dressing ever. Add in a couple glasses of the house red, and it’s a delicious once-in-a-while treat! Maybe for my birthday in June…
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Wow, great post!! I like this experiment. My boyfriend & I don’t eat out often, either – but when we do (several times a month), it’s usually about $30+ per visit, which can really add up. Maybe we’ll have to try to eat in for an entire month & see how much we save!
Regarding your questions – Yes, I do limit my eating out expenditures. I don’t make a lot of money, and I’d rather stretch my food budget further by purchasing quality, organic, whole foods ingredients to make meals at home than to eat at restaurants & spend a lot more money. Eating at restaurants is fun (and delicious) – and I love going with friends for the experience. So by limiting how often I eat out, I can dine with friends & family every now & then without feeling guilty about breaking the bank! Packing a lunch everyday, making coffee/tea at home in the mornings, using coupons on groceries when available, and stocking up on certain items when they’re on sale all help stretch my dollar further!
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great post! I try to balance how much I eat how and how much I cook myself. If we have a weekend where we eat out alot then the next whole week it will be balanced by eating in!!!
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