Eating Out on the Cheap

                This was from a wonderful night out at an Ethiopian restaurant where I paid full price but it was so worth it!

I loooooooove food and I can eat a ton of it! Most people look at me and underestimate my eating power, let's just say I can out eat my husband any day, well unless I am sick or it's a candy eating contest or... Anyways, we have a weekend ritual of going out to eat, and after our Panera debacle I was determined to save money and actually fill my stomach this time.

And that is where great advertising steps in, aka Olive Gardens never ending pasta bowl deal! I don't know about where you live but $8.95 for a bowl of pasta that I can refill as many times as I want plus bread and salad, and I don't have to cook sounds like a steal to me! To sweeten it even more I had a $4 off two entree coupons! We went and we conquered,  everyone walked out of there with a full belly and our pockets still somewhat full. Son A helped the cause by eating a kids pizza, 4 bread sticks and 2 plates of salad, he really knows how to get his money's worth! 

Of course a night out wouldn't be complete without some classic behavior from the A and B, on our walk into the restaurant we had to jump onto the sidewalk, touch the grass, touch the leaves, attempt to steal some rocks, look for bees and than cry because their were "scary" people in there! Okay, the people were a little freaky I have to admit, but being the adult I didn't think it was appropriate to start crying too.

Later the people ended up sitting behind us and B couldn't pull his eyes away from them, which is always super awkward for those being starred at and those trying to keep the kids from starring. "Please stop starring at the weird people behind us, even though I probably wouldn't be able to help myself either if my back wasn't to them." Who came up with social etiquette anyways, don't they know it would have been easier if we were just allowed to stare? 

*I feel I can make the above statement because having twins puts you on freak show status and people just unabashedly stare at you and make comments within hearing distance (I am seriously amazed at what people will say out loud).*

 To top off the awkward staring, both of the boys drank a whole cup of juice in the first 5 minutes which led to a serious sugar high and using the seats as a trampoline. Hope the people behind us wanted a ride with their meal! 

Our night was much more filling and cost us about the same as Panera, so I will chalk this one up to a success!

A confession...

I have a confession to make... And I honestly have not wanted to share this because I am so embarrassed. But I feel I must share so that you don't all think I am perfect. So here it goes.

I paid full price for dinner out Saturday night at a nice little bread + sandwich place, that I am sure many of you know and love, and so do did I.

When they rang up the bill and I saw the total I about passed out, I have not payed that much for a dinner for all of us in a long time. To add to my misery when my husband brought our food to the table I discovered that they had shrunk their portion sizes down considerably since the last time I had eaten there. My kids each received half, yes half, a sandwich and a yogurt... $4 only buys my kids half a sandwich now!

I was so upset with the amount of money I allowed us to spend on a meal and the size of my kids meals, that I didn't even enjoy my own food! : (

The food was good (I am pretty sure my soup was watered down) and we had fun as a family, so I guess that out weighs anything else, right?

On the upside, my craving for P***** bread was satisfied and I no longer have any desire to eat there again! Sorry, I just can't afford you right now, especially since your cutting back on your love too!

I wanted to share this with you not because I want to give a company a bad name but because I wanted to let you know, I am not a super saver everday and sometimes I throw my money into the trash pay full price for things.

Hopefully you all had a better weekend and saved tons of money! Feel free to share your weekend deals!

I want to break free, from my groceries!

Alright all my peoples out there, listen up! If you are spending money on grocery's STOP! You don't need to be throwing your hard earned money away on the necessity's of life! Well, I guess you are keeping yourselves alive, so that's not really throwing away your money........Anyways back to my point: Your grocery bill should not be eating into your life savings, You should be clipping your coupons.

I know what your thinking, "that's too much work, I don't have time to sit around cut coupons out." Let me tell, you need to make time! I save any average of 50% on my grocery bill a week, and with really good planning I have saved 75%! Between the rising gas and food prices, a mortgage, and a car payment, every penny counts in my house. So instead of taking on another job I clip coupons!

With the birth of the Internet a re-birth of couponing has happened, no longer do you have to round up weekly ads, searching for the sales that match your coupons or even try to remember what coupons you have. They have websites that give you your weekly "Coupon Match-ups." A couple of my personal favorites are :

• Couponing 101 
• Totally Target 

• Consumer Queen  

You can do a search for your local store also by searching " grocery store name + coupon match up." These sites list the current deals and the corresponding coupons (if there is one). Some of the coupons are printable online and some will come in your Sunday paper. These sites often have many tutorials on couponing so if this is your first time, check them out!

Some Quick Tips:

• Did you know Target and many other stores will let you use a store and a manufacturers coupon on one item.
• Many local grocery stores double coupons.
• Check up on the stores current coupon policy, so your not embarrassed at the checkout.

• Plan! Plan your meals and your grocery store trips, this will cut down on impulse buys!
• Stockpile! If something is free or cheap, buy what you will need for the next month or even year!
• Shop weekly or at least check the match ups for the week, you never know when a deal for your favorite deodorant might pop-up!
• Don't buy things you are not going to use, no matter how the good deal!

An example of a Target store coupon + Manufacturers coupon deal:

 Tonight I used a Target $1 off coupon on a bottle of shampoo and Manf. coupon for $3.00 off a styling product when you buy a shampoo. 

So my deal looked like this: $2.84 shampoo - $1 cp. + $2.84 styling product - $3.00 cp.= $1.68 for 2 bottles or $.84 each! 

I know at first it can seem overwhelming and complicated but, once you get going you will catch on quick! And soon you will have a nice stockpile! 

This is my stockpile after 4 months, I have enough body wash to last at least 9 months and most of it I only payed tax on!

I hope you learned something new tonight or at least sparked your interest!

I forgot the cash, so who's washing dishes?

Everyday I wish cooked food could be bartered for.... I loathe cooking, cleaning, dishes... well pretty much any "household chore"... (I am pretty sure I was a Princess in another life) And so we often find ourselves on the receiving end of those restaurant bills. I have tried to pay with kids but no one seems to want a pair of twins!

So I have devised ways to pay less when we eat out.

Find out if the restaurant has a club/rewards/ e-mail program. Qdoba for example has a great program, you get free chips, salsa and soda just for signing up. And then every time you eat there you rack up rewards, which can be used to pay for meals. Ihop also does free meals on your birthday!

If you have kids, find out if any restaurants do a Kids Eat Free Night. Chili's puts out a coupon for free kids meals every once in awhile, and in fact they are doing it tomorrow, so just click here and print out your coupon!

Holidays, are the prime time for cheap/ free meals! Just Google "Freebies for Father's Day" and a whole list of various freebies for the day will show up.

Dining out of your home can be a rapid weight loss experience for your wallet, but hopefully with some of these tips you can find your wallet just a little bit heavier!