The Fine Dining Challenge: The Follow Up

Nice… Well….we didn’t stick to the rules as much as we could have last night. But we did make some changes to consciously keep our bill lower. It could have been a lot worse.

Let’s evaluate how we did, based on the list of goals we created before we went out to dinner last night.

Avoiding Alcoholic Drinks - We had to wait for our table so we got complimentary cocktails before dinner. Maybe that loosened us up and broke down our will power. We ended up getting a glass of wine with the main course. But we did go for the cheapest by-the-glass wine. And we only got one each. I’d say that isn’t a total loss. draw

Sharing Starters - We did share a starter instead of getting multiple ones so that was good. But we both wanted salads so we bent the rules on that one. Let’s say they cancel each other out. draw

Get Reasonable Entrées - We paid attention to the prices of the entrées but we didn’t end up getting the cheapest items. We got mid-range courses that were appealing to us. I don’t count that as a total loss because we did look at the prices and decide against the most expensive dishes. We just didn’t go the full way and focus on the least expensive. draw

Skipping Dessert - Eric couldn’t resist dessert. He is a sucker for sorbets and they had an exotic trio that he had to try; chipotle peach, rosemary strawberry, and blueberry lavender. I passed on dessert but had a few bites of his. Even though I avoided temptation it isn’t a full victory because if I’m honest I probably would have ordered one if I wasn’t already so full. fail

Avoiding After Dinner Drinks and Coffee - We skipped coffee and after dinner drinks. At least we succeeded there! pass

It looks like this dinner adds up to be a “draw” by my estimations. Although we made some significant changes to our dining habits we could have made even more effort. It is good that we restrained our spending but there is definitely room for improvement.

Luckily we are expecting a bonus this month so we will earmark some of the funds to help negate the damage to the budget. It was a great experience. We really enjoyed spending time with my brother and his girlfriend and the food was exceptional.

This meal has helped quell the desire to dine out for while. I’m glad we were able to indulge ourselves (but not to the point of excess) and come away from it feeling completely satisfied and satiated. That, in my opinion, was money well spent.

Image Source: VirtualErn

The First Test: The Fine Dining Challenge

Looking good! 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.
mmmmmm
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!

Leaving XM Behind

XM’s outta here I’m proud of my husband. He made a choice that I didn’t think would be easy, and he made this choice easily.

This weekend we noticed a discrepancy in our unbilled credit card activity of almost $400. We hadn’t spent that amount so Eric called Citibank to have them look it up, fearing fraud. Turns out XM had automatically renewed the 3-year contract on Eric’s car for a whopping $389.31. It had been so long since we last renewed that we didn’t even think about it coming due. We decided to examine if it was worth keeping in our budget.

I wasn’t about to tell my husband he couldn’t have XM if he truly wanted it but I knew it would be a waste considering he only uses his car for short commutes. I know how much he enjoys listening to the news during his drive though. I expected him to have a tough time deciding if he would keep it. Turns out, it was an easy decision for him.

He simply felt it wasn’t worth it when he could listen to NPR during that time. I even tried to talk him out of cancelling to be sure he wasn’t sacrificing something he really wanted. But he had made up his mind. He called, cancelled, and got the refund.

I know many people might think of this decision as a no-brainer when you are trying to save money but I see it as a big change. He loves technology and gadget-y stuff like this. The fact that it was a simple decision for him to forgo this subscription is an achievement in itself.

He is doing more than just adapting to a more frugally minded lifestyle, he is adopting it.

When he went to work yesterday morning the XM service had been officially cut off. The now useless XM button in his car’s console serves as a reminder of the sacrifice he made toward our goals.

The XM subscription in my car still has a little while left on it before it runs out. I know I’ll follow suit when it comes time and I won’t think twice about it either. For some reason I still feel like I’ll miss it though. I wonder why. All the channels I like seem to have commercials on them now anyways. Why should I pay for radio with commercials?

Isn’t that already free?

The Cheap Lunch Wins Out

My favorite! I’ve been bringing my lunch to work with me for about a year now. It was a tough transition initially because I had gone to get a lunch with my co-workers every day for years before that. Years. Literally. When I think of how much I spent on workday lunches over the years, it makes the new me cringe a little.

Anyhow, so the other day I was sitting down to lunch at my desk when “the guys” starting gather for lunch. Although they don’t invite me as often anymore since I haven’t gone much in the last year, they still invite me on occasion to make sure I don’t want to go.

“Hey Eric, wanna go to lunch today?” I replied - “Not today, thanks. I brought my lunch”.

“What have you brought for lunch that will be better than what you can get by going out with us?”

This made me pause. The old Eric would have put his lunch in the fridge and gone with the guys, easily spending $10-$15 for a delicious restaurant lunch. The new Eric, however, has a goal and a mission. I’m on a tight budget now because Melissa and I are saving money for the move to a new house by the end of the year. This had been a particularly tight month, so I stuck to my guns.

I proudly showed off my lunch :

One ham and cheese sandwich, made with the ends of the bread (Melissa calls them the “butts of the bread”)
Some leftover macaroni and cheese with cut up hot dogs (It was dinner the night before - we “class it up” with caramelized onions, sauteed garlic, and some leftover cheddar. Hopefully Melissa will write up a post with the recipe - it’s really good!) (Update: - the reducipe is up!
Some crushed up jalapeno flavored tortilla chips from the end of the bag (there was a special on them at our local grocery store)

Immediately, one of my friends said “Dude, what the heck? Are you doing alright? It sounds like you’re living back in college!”

I laughed. He knew I was saving, but seeing the sandwich made with the ends of the bread, he thought something more severe was up.

There wasn’t. Admittedly it was a tight month, but we were determined to stay within our budget, so we used up anything in the house we could before going to the grocery store. It was easier to do than it sounds! Melissa is really creative with meals, and can make something that sounds bland and mundane taste like it’s from a gourmet restaurant.

Next week I plan on showing off our “gourmet meals on a budget” at lunch (Melissa is going to make her chicken divan which is just fantastic and super cheap!) Maybe then my friends will worry a little less about me…

AC Addiction? How To Adjust To A Warmer Way Of Life

Fans help beat the heat We made a commitment this summer. We decided that we would change our ways when it came to our air conditioner in an effort to reduce our electric bills (averaging well over $350 in the hot summer months).

Unfortunately, especially for people who live in horribly hot climates like we do, moving that thermostat dial a little higher can be harder to do than you would think. It’s very easy to become AC-addicted when every time you walk outside you hit a wall of heat that just makes you want to pass out or jump in a pool. By increasing your thermostat 10 degrees, your AC unit will not need to run as often and you will save (potentially big!) on your energy costs.

Here are a few tips on how to get used to the higher temps when raising your thermostat.

Slow but steady. Don’t just jack up the thermostat 10 degrees and expect to adjust overnight. You will feel miserable. If you increase the thermostat a degree or two once a week, this helps your body get used to it and hopefully that will lessen the impact. Once you reach your desired temperature give yourself at least 2 weeks to adjust to it. According to the University of Iowa:

“Acclimatization usually occurs over a period of about two weeks in healthy, normal persons,” he adds. “This process is faster in response to heat, but slower in the cold.”

We increased the thermostat gradually and when we felt comfortable at the current temp we knew it was time to try another degree. By the end of the month we were comfortably living 10 degrees higher than normal. Our thermostat has never even seen temps this high before (my husband and I used to like it “unnaturally” cool in the house). I understand that eventually we will hit a ceiling, a point at which we sacrifice personal comfort, and that is when we will know we have gone too far. Frugality shouldn’t be torture and the law of diminishing returns definitely applies here.

Use fans liberally. Well, at least at first to help with the transition. We have a system of fans blowing cooler air into our bedroom while we sleep. We are very much cold weather people and sleeping in warmer weather can make for some sleepless nights. Eventually we’re hoping to turn off (or at least reduce) this network of fans but so far we still depend on them to sleep through the night without waking up in a sweat.

It will cost some money initially to get the fans (either box or ceiling fans) but it is worth the expense. Portable fans use less energy to run, provide focused and concentrated cooling, and can be used many places in the home where the AC doesn’t seem as effective. Why pay to cool parts of your home you aren’t currently occupying? That being said – be sure to turn off the fans when you leave that room. We are trying to save electricity, after all, and fans don’t run on love.

Keep in mind that in hot climates ceiling and box fans do not really replace air conditioning - they provide a wind chill effect but can not reduce the air temperature in your home. Most people find the best way to maintain a comfortable home AND reduce their energy bills is to use a combination of air conditioning and fans.

Wear lighter clothing. Wearing lighter clothing to stay cooler may seem like a no-brainer but sometimes we forget to make small changes like this. I always used to wear pajama pants to bed because we would keep the temperature so low. I also had a comforter to snuggle in if I got too chilly. When we turned the temperature up I didn’t immediately think to change my wardrobe or bedding to help feel cool. Making these small changes helped out.

Take it to the floor. If it feels too warm while you are adjusting consider spending some quality time on the floor. Hot air rises so it is naturally a little bit cooler closer to the ground. Try enjoying an evening on the floor for a change – have an indoor “picnic”, play a game with your children or pets, or just watch a movie or read.