I’m new to the internet/blogging thing. I know its been around for a while, but hey, I’m online right now thanks to a borrowed computer and a 56k modem. Way ahead of my time ) Its amazing how quickly and easily you can interact with people all over the place. I’ve been “unplugged” for quite a few years now, but am slowly coming up to speed with the rest of the world. (And yes, I’m in my twenties)

Photo by Peggy Greb

Anyways, in response to some commentary(this is so cool) at Escape Brooklyn, Grad Money [Matters], and Festival of Frugality, I thought of a money saving technique that my wife and I often use to deal with the expense of eating “out”.

When my wife and I get the urge to go out to eat, very rarely do we cave in (Friday nights after work are the hardest to deal with). Nevertheless, even when we think that we’re on our way to a restaurant, we often end up taking a last second detour to the grocery store. And the fancy grocery store at that. We end up buying items that we wouldn’t normally get on a usual shopping trip. It’s quite a big cheaper, and we’re still giving ourselves a treat. We’ll eat our food at the store, take it to the park, or or have a picnic outside.

I’ll outline the benefits:

• The urge to go out to eat is completely gone when you’re done (your tummy is full, and the last thing you care about is food!)
• You’ve gotten out of the house/apartment
• There are no dishes to wash
• The selection at the grocery store is practically limitless
• You’ve just saved a lot of money
• You have more control over how nutritious your meal ends up being