How I Trimmed My Dining Bills by 59% - "No Eat-Out Experiment" Result

With the inception of June '09 I halted my eat-out habits for a month. Today that 1 month period is over and I would like to share with you the savings I witnessed over the past one month.

• What was the experiment

I coined it a "No Eat-Out Month" Experiment when I pledged to not spend at all eating out. Food is my weakness and so I couldn't stop myself from wandering away from the seemingly pledge but I did try my best and here is the result. It reminds me of setting the bar higher, in this case I lowered the bar a little, though, but still it looks like a success :)

• Result

I saved 59.6% in my dining bills last month. Below is a snapshot from my Quicken Online account with dining trends for June '09:

As seen above I spent $50 on dining bills. Below is the snapshot for my eat-out spending for May '09 when I spent $124 on dining:


That's a $74 savings straight-away! While many people consider 74 bucks as just a mere amount, I see it as my 8-months Netflix bill :)

• How I did it

I cook (almost) every night and take lunch box to work, this habit saves me enough already. In May '09 I joined several friends to get on to roads for some beautiful and eventful trips, and my wallet was slain there. In June '09 I went on 3 road trips but still the results are in my favor.

Here are few things I made sure to put to action:

1. cook at home regularly


2. eat properly before leaving home (for work, shopping, etc.)


3. while on a road trip, prefer coffee with sugar at a service station. Sugar energizes (and satiates) you while coffee lets you keep going


4. meet with friends at home and plan to cook and eat together inside, it's pure frugal fun
   
5. (@trenttsd suggests) stop at a grocery shop while on a trip than at a diner


6. next time you shop groceries buy something that you really savor when you crave. Use it to control your eat-out yearnings


7. if you should go out, then order something you were longing to eat. Satisfaction is a m ust when it comes to taste fellas ;)

• So where did I spend

So where did I spend those $50 and when did I spend them. I am not sure how clear will the following image be once it's published:

This is the list of my dining bills for June '09. As you can see I mostly had coffee and that was when I was driving ;) Secondly Cold Stone which I miss these days was another venue. Panera Bread and Formosa Chinese were where I went to had some real meal with friends.

Julia @BargainBabe.com, with her numerous readers, is observing a spending moratorium month in July '09 that started yesterday. If you feel motivated enough, give it a try and join BargainBabe this month.

Have you ever considered such experiment? How did it go? What do you think of such activities? Please leave a comment.

Quicken Reveals - II: Harms Of Misjudging Grocery Needs

According to my Quicken analysis, Groceries make up 4% of my total expenses. Yeah this is one of the advantages to single-never-married individuals. I believe groceries eat up a huge share of family's total income every week or every month.

• Some Grocery Shopping Facts
  

Let me share some of the things I know about grocery shopping. I am certain there are a bevy of experienced people than me so feel free to leave me comments if I am missing any. Whenever I am planning to visit my grocery store I make sure that:

1. I check my shelves and refrigerator to notice any items I am missing
2. I check my shelves and refrigerator to see any items that may exhaust over coming week
3. I make a list of grocery items I need to buy and try not to deviate from my list
4. I stack-up any coupons I may have
5. I shop as earliest in a day as possible, I get freshly stocked stuff doing so
6. I don't rush through the store, it disables my ability to make free and wise decisions
7. I am not hungry

• Numbers Say So ...

My monthly gorceries totalled $263 in January 2009. It didn't shock me then but I was stunned when I was going over my Quicken account. While today I know that many families of 4 or 5 manage to survive in $150, I was totally unaware of the facts then. The number stroked $147 in February 2009 and again rose to $245 in March. I hope you see what the problem was here, let me reiterate, these are the grocery expenses of a single person.

• When I realized The Problem

I was talking to a friends and we were discussing our monthly grocery bills. He was appalled on hearing my bills as he could manage the same within $40 living with three other roommates.

It was then when I realized what was probably going wrong. It struck me that most of the stuff I was buying in a week wasn't being completely consumed by 3 or 4 weeks after that and this wasn't holding me back from restocking week after week.

• What Did I Do For It?

I strictly followed the 7 ways I mentioned above. Having a look in the fridge and store before leaving for shopping helps a big deal. Another important thing to realize for me was my journey from on-campus job to a full-time job. I was spending more since I started earning more, but then I gave some serious thought to start saving money for future and buy (mostly) based on need than want.

• Result

Yes this was enough! I spent only $72 in groceries in April 2009 that is whopping 70% drop in my bill followed by May when I spent $78. April gave me a good inspiration and encouragement continuing to ponder over money matters and spending wisely.

If you take a look at my Quicken Grocery Trend above, you can appreciate the difference between the first three months and last three months. Yes, 70% drop it is ;)

Have you ever struggled to bring down your groceries bills? What techniques you use to keep hold of your grocery bills? Please leave me a comment!

Quicken Reveals - I: "No Eat-Out Month" Experiment

I was looking at my Quicken view of spendings and was amazed at my eat-out habits. Above is the screenshot of how my expenses looked like in the last six months of 2009. I am single and a BIG foodie but still I consider above figures as holes in my pocket!

Analysis

I spent $124 on eat-outs in May 09 making up 10% of my spendings. If sweet little February 09 is ignored then almost every month I am spending $109 on the average. Hey and just look at the goals I set, the red line in the graph marked as 'Budget', it's always way below the actual expenditure. My goal was $50 in May and I spent $124, 2.48 times more!

I Was Aware

I have been thinking that I am trying hard to get hold of my eat-out bills but Quicken reveals I am not, actually. I cook daily, take lunch-box to work and avoid eating outs as far as possible, but then one fine day comes and I meet with my good old friends and those meetings make it all possible.

What I'm Gonna Do

I have read people observe no-spend-day and believe me I literally spend only 2-3 days a week. I also agree with Ramit Sethi that one should take gradual steps towards their goals and this implies cutting down my eat-out bills gradually but this ain't gonna work for me. Whatever I decide, I will always spend more on food so why not set my spending limit to the least!

So this is what I am gonna do: I am pledging to eat nothing out this month. Already 5 days are gone and fortunately I haven't spend a buck on food out of home.

Will It Work

I am certain that my eat-out bills can absolutely not be $0 but yeah if I attempt to achieve that, it will be certainly less than $124 this time.

Is It Worth It

I am not expecting a jackpot, nor I will save a million doing this but I believe in spending on what I need and when it's needed. And that makes, at least a part of, the definition of 'Frugality'. Let's see how well can I keep upto my promise and how much can I save.

Do you notice any such 'holes' in your pocket? What's the reason? Are you doing anything about it? Do you have any suggestions for me? Comment please :)