Dear @financial_laura,
I’m just so exhausted every Friday that I find we eat out at least once a week, if not more. How often can I afford to eat out?
Life. Is. Busy.
I get it. Competing priorities often trump any time you have to dedicate to meal planning. And it’s not enough to just be able to find time to cook – the actual shopping and chopping for a whole week’s worth of meals can be overwhelming.
Let’s flip this question around, because everyone’s food budget is different. What if you cut back on eating out, how much money could you save? And before you grumble about not having enough time or energy to make changes in your routine, I challenge you to try these two alternatives!
Comparison #1: Family fajitas at Lone Star Texas Grill*
Every time I walk into Lone Star I’m amazed at just how busy it is! People waiting out the door for the chance to spend an hour in a restaurant listening to servers sing cheezy birthday songs to sombrero-wearing participants and leave smelling heavily of mesquite. So it must be the food, right?
The restaurant proclaimed “Legendary Fajitas” are always a popular choice and the serving sizes are generous so they feed a crowd. Now let’s compare the cost of the restaurant meal to the exact same one that can be made at home with minimal time and effort.
{Unsolicited time saving tip: I set my Instant Pot to cook the chicken during the day so it’s ready to go at dinner time. 10 minutes to carve it, plus cut up the few veggies, and dinner is on the table in a hurry!}
Wow! You just saved $42 in one night and this doesn’t even include drinks where an at home can of pop (cost $0.33), a beer (500ml tall can $3) or a bottle of wine (…you know what it costs…) will save you even more money.
Now I’m not saying to never eat out. We all need to spend some of that hard-earned money and treat ourselves. But if twice a month – just two nights – you change your routine and choose to eat in rather than head to a restaurant you could easily save $100 a month – that’s $1,200 a year!
Comparison #2: Lunch salads
Next let’s tackle the dreaded lunch planning. You’d love to eat a healthy lunch, but the idea of prepping a salad daily is about as exciting as watching that frozen Lean Cuisine warm up in the microwave.
Olly Fresco’s (competitor of Marcello’s Market and Deli) happened to be the popular spot where I worked since it had a large variety of lunch options at reasonable prices. My go-to was often a pre-made spinach and strawberry salad, so I tried to replicate it at home. My other lazy lunch option is a bagged Sweet Kale salad which can be bought anywhere (Costco, Walmart and Loblaws). It’s a life saver because it includes all ingredients (even dressing) and it lasts a whole week.
{Unsolicited time-saving tip: Add leftover chicken from the fajitas to increase the protein in either of the salads!}
By replacing a bought salad three times a week you can save up to $20/week or over the course of the year, nearly $1,000.
Have you been doing the math? Fajitas Fridays every other week and bringing a salad three days a week could save you $2,200 per year without much additional effort!
Now go enjoy that bottle of wine in your pjs, you’ve earned it!
*Lone Star is an Ontario restaurant chain. For other provinces, substitute your local Tex Mex food source
This article was first published on my blog at www.journeyfinancial.ca