Well, let me begin by saying that the previous post was somewhat “a rant” of frustration at the system of finance.   Then again, it made for some fast writing and helped tremendously to “vent” on here.

The whole experience has caused my family to decide that we are making a plan and sticking to it.  We had a “loosely” developed plan, but it was subject to change at any given moment.  We weren’t committed to a frugal lifestyle. 

We aren’t impulsive buyers, we tend to think big purchases out. 

We do, however, love to eat out.  We’ve decided that, for us, we can still eat out but we need to watch the restaurants and their specials.  Normally, we eat out at night, and many of the restaurants in our area have a standard specials night each week.  One of the Mexican restaurants has a different special each day of the week. 

For me, I usually try to come home to eat lunch.  I live six miles from home and want to check on my son, who is fifteen.  My husband, on the otherhand, has just went to work at a new job and there is a restaurant next door who has made a deal to give the employees of my husband’s company a discount.  Most of the time, the owner of the restaurant or the owner’s son is running the cash register and they give the employees of my husband’s company free meals.  It’s a buffet, so he gets something different everyday. 

The transition to cutting back on the eating out will more than likely be gradual.  We’ve decided that we are not going to go “cold turkey”.  I’m going to go back and check the receipts (yes, I save every receipt) and figure exactly how much we are spending on eating out and how much we are spending on groceries.

I’m going to start using the financial tools that we have through our checking account.   I can set up categories and list the places that we shop and eat out at and it will place each check card purchase in the correct category.  

We are going to make a menu for the week and we are going to stick to it.  We are going to start couponing and tracking our savings. 

We are one step closer to our totally frugal lifestyle!!!!

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