As a self-confessed restaurant lover, I know how important it is to budget for these little treats. Here are a few tips that I think everyone should try, that will ensure you have the cash to splash (modestly) when the time comes to dine outside your kitchen table.
My first tip is to have a ‘dining-out’ jar. This is the place where you put any spare change you have lying around and any pennies you may find hanging out in your pockets. Team this with any money that you win from playing FoxyBingo and you will find that the dollars soon start to multiply. This can be the place where you save up for romantic dates with your other half, so that you can both have the occasional break from being parents, or where you save up for big family dinners. It may take a while to save-up enough for a meal, but the end result is so satisfying that the saving is definitely worth it.
If you want to eat out more often than the time it takes to save up enough single pennies, then another idea is to actively put a certain amount in the jar every week. Say for example that you put $5 away every seven days, then within a month you will have $20. If you keep up with this, then you can have a guaranteed meal every month, aside from any other outings you may have planned. The money-in-a-jar idea has been around for such a long time that some people forget how well it actually works. So my tip is to come up with a small amount that you can afford to spare each week, and put it in the jar. Dining out after saving up is such a great feeling, and it ensures that this type of lifestyle is sustainable.
Melissa, a mom to three little ones (ages 7, 3 and 1), blogs at both Mom’s Plans where she writes about living a fulfilling life on less and paying down debt, and Fiscal Phoenix where she writes about rising from the ashes of your financial mistakes.