Right now my email inbox is full of coupons for free food at various national chain restaurants. The offers for free appetizers and desserts are extremely enticing, but I need to purchase an adult entree to get the gratis grub. Whereas I would love to chow down on my favorite spinach/artichoke dip or cap-off a meal with free bread pudding, I wouldn’t even consider eating out, if it weren’t for the coupons. What’s the sense of saving five bucks on chips and dip or chocolate cake when I have to shell out $10 to do so?
With the holidays fast approaching, one of the ways I am trying to pad my budget is to eliminate eating out. According to a new study, Americans spend $2,600 per year eating at restaurants. That is approximately $50 per week, per person. By cooking my own meals in the coming weeks I can save money and channel those funds to purchase holiday-related items.
In addition, I am starting a spending fast. In other words, I am avoiding all non-essential spending. That means no new clothes or shoes, no movies, no pit stops at the bakery and no purchasing items that are not on a list. It’s not easy for me to say “no” to a 60 cent donut when I am doing early-morning grocery shopping. However, I’ve been trying to get myself to think twice before dropping money on random items or sale items.
Sales are hard to resist, especially the ones that try to convince you that you are saving by spending. For example, a store at our local mall is offering $100 jeans, if you purchase a $50 gift card. The deal makes it seem like you are scoring big time, but if you have enough jeans, you could put that $50 toward paying down credit card debt or investing it. If you contribute $50 to a retirement option that yields four percent interest, you could accumulate more than $200 in less than 35 years. That might not sound like much, but it translates into more than 300 percent growth.