The First Test: The Fine Dining Challenge
Posted on September 7, 2007 by Melissa
Filed Under Food, Frugality, Relationships
My brother and his girlfriend are coming into town to visit tonight. They only live a few hours away but we don’t see each other very often so it is nice to have them come up. Like Eric and I, he is a foodie and enjoys fine dining. The problem is, we have had to all but abandon our fine dining ways in order to meet our new strict budget. Although I want to stick to my budget I also don’t want to disappoint my brother by requesting to cook at home. So we agreed to go to a nice restaurant tonight (not that anyone had to twist my arm)
Why didn’t we “just say no”? We decided to go despite the crunch it would put on our budget for several reasons. We really enjoy going out to nice restaurants. We are such foodies that we even decided to go to Vegas for our honeymoon so we could tour several of the restaurants we had always wanted to try. We won’t endulge ourselves anymore even though it makes us happy. This gives us a valid (and rare) excuse to go out. I also wanted my brother’s new girlfriend to get a feel for our town and this restaurant really does that.
Even though I’ve sealed my budget breaking fate by agreeing to go to this classy joint I know there are ways we can lower our bill. Eric and I always did the whole shebang when we would go out to a nice restaurant – cocktails, appetizers, salads, wine, main course, dessert, you name it. This time we need a real strategy to keep our bill in check.
This will be the first real test of our self control. We haven’t been presented with an opportunity to go to our favorite old haunts since we shifted our way of thinking about money. This is what we will try to do tonight to keep costs down but still enjoy ourselves:
We will avoid ordering any alcoholic drinks. This should be an easy one since my brother and his girlfriend don’t drink. Without the peer pressure we can keep this part of the bill low. In the past we would start with a cocktail then have wine. This time we will get ice teas. That reminds me – we will also request tap water rather than bottled.
We will share only one starter. We have always gotten an appetizer and salad each so we could share and taste different items on the menu. This time, we will get one appetizer to share between us. We will only get a salad if we find something that we just can’t live without. We will be very picky in our choices and not get a salad just to try it.
We will get reasonable entrées. No lobster or steak for us tonight. Eric says he will even stick to the vegetarian options if they are the cheapest. We have never chosen on entrées based on price before, we have always just ordered what sounded best regardless of what it cost. I’m sure we will be just as happy without the expensive proteins.
We will skip dessert. This will be hard if they offer crème brulee or a lemon tart but we must do it. Dessert can add on a lot to the bill.
We will forgo coffee or “after dinner” drinks. Eric always likes to end a big meal with a coffee but it all adds up. He will skip the coffee. If he really wants one by the time we get home I’ll brew him a cup’s worth.
We hope to come away from this meal with a bill that we can absorb into the budget by cutting back in other areas. Wish us luck and we will let you know how it goes!
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[...] presents The First Test: The Fine Dining Challenge posted at A Penny Closer. Melissa says, “This was our first test going out to eat at an [...]