Cafe Stacey = Money in our pocket :)

I would have to say that for our family, one of our BIGGEST budget busters is eating out. 

I love to eat out.  Could be part of the reason its a budget buster. :)

Before kids, Tommy and I ate out like it was our job.

So after analyzing and re-analyzing our budget I have to say that the temptation to eat out is a potentially big budget-buster for us.

Some days, I am energized and perfectly content to fix an entire meal (along with dirtying an AMAZING amount of dishes in the process).  But other days I just want the ease of eating out.

SO

When I'm tempted to go out, I figure up the cost of a meal at home so I can see how much we SAVE by eating in.

Today I made a pot of chili (yes I realize it is summer, but we love chili :)  ) and I totaled up the cost of ingredients to be $7.61.  (plus a little for sour cream and cheese). 

We typically eat 3 full meals from a pot of chili.  (just Tommy and I, picky kids.)  

At our favorite sandwich place we would spend about $6 each.

A chili meal at home would be approx $1.27 each

To recap:

Chili at home for 3 meals (for 2 adults) = $7.61

Eating out for 3 meals (for 2 adults) = $36.00

Savings of $28.39.

Yep. its worth it.

If you did something similar and opted to eat in 3 meals a month instead of going out (for 2 adults) you would save $340.68.  And that is just a "lunchy-type"  place.

Could be a total time-waster for others but doing the math really helps me.

Hugs and happy saving!