Day 1: No Restaurants in November 2011 – Let the Savings Begin!

Time to break out the cookware!So today it begins.

No Restaurants in November baby! If you missed the rules I am giving myself (and possibly you) click here to see if you have what it takes. Yep those are challenging words! ๐Ÿ˜€

Have you decided to be TOTALLY WEIRD by participating in such a thing?

WARNING: Your friends may laugh at you. You may get called some names. Your actions may cause people to feel judged. If this happens to you, please tread carefully. Unpredictable behavior may ensue.

I get it. It totally sucks to be the only person at work with a bagged lunch, but guess what?

It also sucks to be broke and/or keeping yourself from reaching your goals.

If you’re trying to get out of debt and on a budget, one of the biggest expenses can easily become eating out especially for busy folks tempted by convenience. I am guilty each and every month…EXCEPT for November of course. ๐Ÿ˜‰

Make no mistake about it though, I do not want to give up eating out every single month of every single year. However, I do realize that there is something I don’t have control over and that it’s costing me money AND opportunity. I could do one of two things. I could do nothing or I could try and prove to myself that saving that money is a better return on investment. ๐Ÿ˜‰

I do enjoy eating out, but do I have to do it more than a couple times a month? I think the answer is obvious.

Why Do YOU Eat Out as Much as You Do?

Are you a victim of busy schedules and limited time or do you consider eating out as entertainment?

There are many possible reasons you choose to eat out over cooking dinner at home. I guess the real question should be:ย  “Where do you want to be financially?”

If your goal is to become debt free then considering eating out as a form of entertainment can make that journey take years longer. Maybe dining out could still be in the budget as a novelty rather than a way of life. I admit, for us, it comes and goes, but right now it’s more of a way of life. I would really like to change that.

Restaurants don’t have to be stricken from the budget, but if you’re not reaching your goals you may want to consider it. We eliminated restaurants, vacations, car payments, and cable television from our budget when becoming debt free. It was hard but it helped us become debt free so much faster and that’s the consideration you must make.

What I want to accomplish with this challenge isn’t to say you shouldn’t do this or that, it’s to get you thinking about where you want to be and what’s keeping you from getting there. Another goal should be to figure out how much money you are spending each month on average. Finally, how much faster could you reach your financial goals if you had more to put towards them?

It’s also worth mentioning that taking something away from yourself that you may over-indulge in is not such a bad thing. Plus challenging yourself is quite fun!

Why I Eat Out TOO MUCH and What it is Costing Me

  • We eat out TOO MUCH because we’re short on time.
  • We eat out TOO MUCH because we didn’t have a plan to eat at home.
  • We eat out TOO MUCH because we didn’t plan ahead when running errands.
  • We eat out TOO MUCH because we get lazy at times.
  • We eat out TOO MUCH because we forget about how much we’d save if we didn’t.

When I look back at each month to see just how much we spent eating out it’s quite depressing. The problem is that those five things have more power over me than I’d like to admit.

So here I am.

We’ve had a terribly rough time trying to save our Emergency Fund of $10,000. We were almost there but had some pretty large emergencies and expenses to cover over the last 12 months. We could have done a lot better if we treated trips to a restaurant a novelty instead of a time-saver or matter of convenience. Isn’t $80 a month for a family of five (one infant) to eat out twice enough? Do we really need to eat out 4 and 5 times a week? No and if we wouldn’t have, even with the large expenses, we’d have thousands more in our Emergency Fund right now.

I try not to beat myself up with the “if I would have done this differently” self-pity speech, but it does inspire me to forge a different path towards a much better result.

That’s what I’m after.

What are YOU after?

If you’re participating in this No Restaurants in November 2011 challenge, leave a comment answering that question.

Why would you like to spend less money eating out each month and more money towards reaching your goals? What inspires you?

I challenge you to a duel. I’ve always wanted to say that. ๐Ÿ™‚

GAME ON!

Interested in winning $500? Be sure to enter my KILLING OFF YOUR DEBT Giveaway!

About Brad Chaffee

20 Responses to “Day 1: No Restaurants in November 2011 – Let the Savings Begin!”

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  1. Travis says:

    I’m Ready, I’m Ready, I’m Ready (sorry, I have small children that watch SpongeBob Squarepants).

    I got groceries on Sunday totally with the challenge in mind. If I have lots of food at home, I won’t eat out. What do I want? I want a new computer. I just shut down my desktop that is so old it might have vacuum tubes in it. My laptop’s fan sometimes sounds like it’s in a lumber mill.

    Can I eat at home for one month and save enough money to buy a new computer? I know I can!

    I might even create a dedicated page over on my blog to keep track of it.

    Homemade sloppy joes for dinner tonight!

  2. I want to spend less eating out because it’s the one area of my life that I’m just plain lazy about. With my finances, work and schedule I’m very organized and I plan ahead. But with eating right and taking the time to make healthy food, I have never been disciplined with it.

    I love food, more than the drive or willingness to reach physical or financial goals, it’s just that simple. BUT this month that all changes! I like your question “Where do you want to be financially?” and that’s what inspires me for this challenge. To make a sacrifice now, for my financial future. GAME ON!

    P.S. I get really competitive so I blame everything on Brad, for starting this LOL

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      I’m kind of lazy sometimes too with regard to cooking at home. The crazy thing is that I like to cook and when I do am generally more satisfied. ๐Ÿ˜€

      Game on! 4th day…so far so good! ๐Ÿ™‚

  3. I’m so proud of you for this challenge… I think it’s one that I need to take up too! I’m doing something a little bit differently for November – I am going to keep track of every penny my fiance and I spend. I already know we eat out way too much, but I’m guessing that seeing the number will force me into making a bigger commitment to eating at home.

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      Well thank you! This is my number one struggle. To be honest I’m not really sure what happened because we never ate out when paying off our debt. Perhaps my savings goal isn’t as important to us as our paying off debt was. I need to change that and make it more important! ๐Ÿ˜€

  4. Well, so far so good! haha. I ALMOST ate lunch out but I knew I had leftovers at home and I didn’t want to waste them.

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      Same here Ashley! LOL

      Normally I do the cooking at our house but here lately my wife has been saving the day. Last night she cooked turkey roast with carrots and potatoes and it was delicious! ๐Ÿ™‚

  5. serena says:

    Awesome challenge! I wanna participate! I have been tracking my whole overall spending for years, but have never been successful at actually using that info to DO something about it. However, I know I spend anywhere from $150-$200 a month on eating out, and to think of saving that ROCKS! Let’s do this!!

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      Welcome aboard Serena! Let’s do this INDEED!! ๐Ÿ˜€

      This is going to be fun and maybe a little challenging but worth it for sure. I keep thinking about how much we saved last year so it’s keeping me pretty motivated.

  6. Andy says:

    I’m doing it but I’ll also be cheating a little bit. I’ll be in Vegas for work for 5 days, so yeah, I’m not packing a bag of PB&J’s to take with me. Also Thanksgiving (and leftovers) will help for a few days. One thing I learned from my girlfriend is to bring in a bunch of cans of soup to work, that way you’ll always have something to eat therefore can’t use the excuse, “Oh I don’t have anything to eat!” Lastly, the girlfriend bought 10 pounds of chicken from the grocery, so we’ll always have chicken handy! She’s full of great ideas!

    • Jerri Lyn says:

      I keep cans of soup at work, too, as well as instant oatmeal, raisins and nutrition bars. Eating out for lunch is is not my downfall! ๐Ÿ™‚

      • Brad Chaffee says:

        Mmm, I just had broccoli and cheddar soup and a sandwich. ๐Ÿ˜€

        We were just out around lunch time because all 3 of our kids had a doc appointment at the same time. We got finished with our high energy and somewhat stressful visit and probably under normal circumstances would have hit the closest place to eat. Instead we came home and I cooked up some soups and sandwiches for everyone and I’m sure it cost much less than a $30-$40 restaurant bill. ๐Ÿ˜€

        Keep rocking it everyone!! Week one is the hardest! Make it through the first week and you’ll likely kill it the rest of the month! ๐Ÿ˜€

  7. amy says:

    Eating out is not my downfall. I hate spending money on food, especially the eating out, over expensive kind. Why would I want to waste my hard earned money on something that is only going to be enjoyed for just a few minutes.

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      Glad it’s so easy for you Amy but for most it’s not about wasting money, it’s about fighting convenience because of limited time among other things. No one WANTS to waste money, but sometimes the price we pay for convenience seems worth it. Are you saying there’s nothing you waste your money on? Perhaps not eating out, but I’m sure you have your own personal struggles regarding money, We all do. I’m just glad eating out isn’t one of them. Maybe you could leave a few tips for how you do it soooo easily. ๐Ÿ˜€

  8. Andrea says:

    Eating out is the only area of spending that I really struggle with. I consistently go $50 to $150 over budget on going to restaurants or coffee shops each month, so I’m glad I discovered your No Restaurants in November Challenge so I can try it out. I hate having to make a student loan payment each month and think that redirecting the money that I’m blowing on eating out each month can help me pay it off much faster. I love the instant gratification I get from eating a good meal, but not having to deal with my student loan will be even more gratifying in the long run.

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      I’m glad you discovered this challenge too Andrea! WELCOME!!!

      As far as your student loans I love the way you’re thinking. My wife and I would have still had 6 years left to pay on her student loans had we continued to make the minimum payments. Trust me, you’ll be glad to get rid of them and I’ll celebrate with you when you do! ๐Ÿ˜€

  9. Serena says:

    Something interesting happened to me today at lunch….. It was sort of an “aha” eye-opening moment (at least, for ME it was). So, today I was at lunch with a friends with whom I had started a money group several months ago (there are 3 members today, and we’ve not been as successful as I would have hoped at this point). The goal of the group was to support each other in curbing spending, creating a working budget, get out of debt, etc. Well, earlier this week at lunch (I packed; she bought), I had already told her about the No Restaurants in November challenge and how I was soooo excited about it. She had commented at that time that it sounded like a good idea, and that she, too, would do it….”starting tomorrow.” Fast-forward 3 days later, to our lunch today. Me–packed. Her–bought. So I called her out on it: “You know….I thought you said you weren’t going to buy any lunches?” She proudly responded that she was “Doing good. See? I only used cash, not my debit card, and I am staying within the $20 lunch budget for the week. I only spent $5 on this salad!” I ended up steering the conversation towards money and budgeting and saving, and she interrupted and said, “Can we PLEEAASSSEE not spend lunch talking about money? PLEASE. We’re having our money group meeting tonight, and I know we’ll be talking about money there. So can we talk about something else?”

    This was a real eye-opener! For the past month, all I have been thinking about is MONEY: how to make more….how to pay off my credit card…..using cash ONLY…..etc…….This was an aha-moment because it made me realize that if you’re REALLY serious about making these changes in your life, you’d want to eat, sleep, and BREATHE it. It would become your passion, and you’d want to tell EVERYONE about the new changes you’re making, and about how jazzed up and motivated you are! And there my friend sat– wanting to steer the conversation away from money until “later tonight.”

    Her plead made me want to cancel the meeting for tonight. I’m giving up precious time this evening that I could be spending with my hubby and 2 kids– and yet, here she was, telling me that money wasn’t important to her at that time, that it was more bothersome than motivating, to discuss money….that money “could wait.” Why waste my time on someone who isn’t as fired up as I am??

    Do you think my thought is over-reacting?

    But all I can say is THANK YOU, Brad and subscribers, for being the fired up and motivated audience and supporters that I want and need! ๐Ÿ™‚

    P.S. Sorry for such a long post, but only you all will appreciate the significance of such an interaction! LOL

    • Brad Chaffee says:

      Your situation only proves that talk is cheap. Your friend never even thought twice about trying this challenge. She just said what someone in her money group wanted to hear. ๐Ÿ™‚

      Serena, you do realize that you are now TOTALLY and OFFICIALLY WEIRD RIGHT??? Haha! How dare you care, think, and want to talk about something as important as your future! WAY TO GO!

      As for your friend, don’t write her off just yet she’s just acting normal. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink. Chances are probably high that you’re the only person who can lead her to the water. It may take her a while but if she wants to grow as a person she’ll take notice. All she needs now is to see you benefiting from those efforts and there’s a good chance you two will laugh and joke about this later. LOL

      It doesn’t always work out that way though. When we were knocking out our debt money was all I talked about. People at work were definitely tired of hearing me talk about money and living debt free. As we completed our debt snowball a few of my friends were suddenly interested. The others not so much, but that’s just the way it is. When it’s clear my friends aren’t interested in maturing, that’s when I usually redefine the nature of that relationship.

      I’m so glad you experienced this moment because like you said it gave you your ah ha moment. That’s the moment right before things start to happen. I know you’re going to be where you want to be in five years because you actively thinking about how to get there.

      YOU ROCK!! Keep up the excellent work you are doing!:D

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