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!

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…

When Frugality Makes Others Worry

When I first started on my quest to become “frugally enlightened” I asked some friends if they would mind saving me their coupons from their papers if they weren’t using them. I discovered that none of my friends used coupons, but I also got several interesting responses. Something as simple as asking for unused coupons ended up eliciting concerns on whether or not I was doing alright financially.

This was a pretty radical change from my previous behavior and my friends immediately noticed. I had never asked for coupons before and I have always bought what I wanted regardless of sales. But was asking for unused coupons such an extreme measure that it would bring my financial health into question? It was as if people thought, “If she’s using coupons she must really be struggling”. It made me think about how people perceive spending habits, change, and frugality. Maybe I’ll have to touch on that in more detail in a future post.

Even my own mother, upon hearing of my coupon quest, filled bags with food she didn’t plan to eat! She actually gave me food that had been in her pantry for years because she thought I needed the help. It was a kind-hearted gesture, and we graciously accepted the food (well at least some of it – hate to let it go to waste), but it made me realize that perhaps my newfound frugality was causing my loved ones to worry when they didn’t need to.

After all, how many people regularly discuss their financial standing with their friends? They must have thought my new habit was brought on by a pressing financial problem rather than a desire to shop smarter and save money.

Here are a few tips to calm loved ones fears that you might be “going under” if you have decided to adopt some frugal habits.

Reassure them everything is alright financially. Let them know that you aren’t in financial distress just because you decided to tighten the purse strings. Explain that you are dedicated to saving towards achieving a goal you have set for yourself, (e.g. building up an emergency fund or saving for a down payment on a car), or simply let them know that you have decided to be more conscious of where your money goes. Just be honest.

When my friends realized that the lifestyle changes we had adopted were allowing us to save a healthy amount every month they felt reassured everything was alright. They understood our new-found frugality was a choice and not the result of utter desperation (although it really shouldn’t matter – it’s a good way to live no matter what prompted the change).

Try to resist the temptation to accept money. Unless you commonly receive money from your loved ones, accepting money now could reinforce the suspicion that you actually are in a dire financial situation. If you are in serious need that is one thing, but if you are saving for something considered non-essential, it is very satisfying to know you reached that goal unassisted.

The decision on whether or not to accept money is completely yours. Everyone’s position is different. Just realize that it could give the impression that you are sinking rather than succeeding in your new lifestyle.

Show them you are happy with the change. If they know you are happy with your new lifestyle choices they will feel better about it, even if they feel like they would never be frugal unless they had to be. If you constantly complain about how tight the budget is or how you miss your old habits it can give them the impression that you wouldn’t be careful in your spending unless you were being forced to.

Who knows; when they see you have reached your goal by implementing the frugal habits they were originally so worried about, maybe they will be asking for your unused coupons.

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