My New Strategy If I HAVE To Go Out To Eat

Written by on · Leave a Comment

My usual dining out methodology failed me. It failed me so badly that it left me with a significant bill, a lack of satisfaction, and wondering if I needed to alter my strategy. Dinner Failure I went out for dinner recently after an important event. I’m a great cook, so my usual dining out philosophy is to order either something I’ve never tried before, or  don’t normally make at home. After a quick scan of the menu, I decided on the twin lobster tails. I love seafood, and don’t have lobster often. My wife went with a ribeye steak, and […] Read more »

Vacation Meal Planning Adventures

Written by on · 8 Comments

My family and I are currently on vacation with some friends and family. We packed up our vans and started our adventure last Thursday, taking a couple of days to drive from Minnesota to Florida. During our 3 day trip across the country we had no choice but to eat out. Eating at restaurants is not my idea of a great use of my funds, but in this case there wasn’t any way of avoiding it. However, once we got to Florida, we’re staying in a large rental house with a full kitchen. On the night of our arrival, we […] Read more »

How Overpriced Is The Olive Garden? The Post Where I Say “Hell No” To Takeout Pasta

Written by on · 31 Comments

It’s no secret that I dislike going out to eat. To be specific, I don’t like going out to eat just to order something that I could make as good at home, at significantly less cost. I don’t mean to dwell on this subject, but eating out is just such a colossal waste of money.  The absolute worst offender is anything pasta related, including a favorite restaurant of my wife and daughter; The Olive Garden. Look, it’s not The Olive Garden’s fault that they garner such hate from me, it’s just that taking a family of four there for dinner […] Read more »

The One Reason For Eating Out That Is a Big Fat Lie

Written by on · 32 Comments

I think we would all agree that dining out is more expensive than cooking at home. We all go out to eat from time to time, but did you notice that we always seem to attach some sort of excuse to it? Whether we’re celebrating, or we’re on vacation, or we’re just too busy to cook it seems like we have to justify to ourselves a trip to a restaurant. Sometimes there are some valid reasons, sometimes there isn’t a reason other than we just want to and that’s OK. But there’s one excuse that we tell ourselves over and […] Read more »

No Restaurants in November 2011 Update and a New Challenge

Written by on · 18 Comments

Well the month has almost come and gone and I cant say I’ve really missed going out to eat all that much. For the most part it has given our family extra time in the kitchen to bond. My wife and I have tag teamed the meals as well as taken turns cooking meals individually. When it’s time to do dishes Isaac has enthusiastically helped clear the table and load the dishwasher. So we have saved money but also created a fine little helper in the process. Isaac helped in more ways than one too. We really only had a […] Read more »

Gift Cards & Tipping – What’s Your Opinion?

Written by on · 9 Comments

Photo Credit: y2bk Gift cards have become increasingly popular year after year! It’s an easy way to send someone you love a nice gift that they can use at their convenience. This post is specifically about gift cards to restaurants, but it’s not about the actual gift card as much as it is about how you tip when you pay with one. Recently we used a $25 gift card for a local restaurant and during this process it got me thinking. Do people generally tip more or less when their bill is reduced because of a gift card? Our meal […] Read more »

Final Results: No Restaurants Equal Big Savings

Written by on · 18 Comments

Photo Credit: scott.eyre Well November has come and gone! As most of you already know, I wanted to challenge myself — and you — to commit to not eating out at any restaurants at all for the month of November. So I started the No Restaurants in November Challenge. Some were excited, some were pessimistic, and some even questioned the reality of doing such a thing. While I definitely consider it to be more realistic than some claim, I still see how different lifestyles could make it more difficult for someone to accomplish this. With that said, I say anything […] Read more »

22 Days of No Restaurants in November

Written by on · 10 Comments

Photo Credit: Eboli The “Normal” Justification Routine Cue Dream Sequence I’ve been up since 6 a.m. My 1 year old had a rough night due to teething and the day has not been much better. I completed some of the work I needed to do for today but there is so much more to do. I couldn’t keep the kids inside all day while I typed away and it was such a nice day so I took them out to play at the park. We played Frisbee, Downhill Racer, played at the park, then went home and helped Isaac work […] Read more »

Shocking News: Two Weeks of No Restaurants and I’m Still Alive

Written by on · 18 Comments

Two weeks without a single bite at a restaurant…Yippeee! No delivery. No fast food. No buffets. To be honest with you, this has been much easier than I expected. The rest of this month is going to be even easier. At this point I am wondering why something like this would be considered extreme and unrealistic to so many. Hard maybe, but extreme? Come on. Is making yourself exercise extreme? Is eating right extreme? I think not, although I admit that there is a degree of difficulty in doing any of the above. 😉 Still I find that it’s no […] Read more »

No Restaurant November Update and October Confession

Written by on · 20 Comments

Photo Credit: Yours Truly It was really fun reading the reactions from people related to this challenge. (responses on other blogs listed below) Until I started reading them I never really considered what I was proposing to be extreme, but apparently it is the equivalent of dangling your child over a balcony. Some adamantly opposed the idea right away, while others admitted it was something they would like to do, but just couldn’t. The rest said let’s do it! That’s what I’m talking about baby! I left a comment on Budgets Are Sexy suggesting that to those who said it […] Read more »

No Restaurants in November Challenge

Written by on · 48 Comments

Is your budget brutally pounded by your inability to stay away from the restaurants? Of all the things my wife and I have changed about our financial habits, dining out seems to be our current addiction of addictions. We did fine while we were jazzed and intense about getting out of debt, but ever since, we have been haunted by this ghost of convenience. Read more »