Can you go an entire month without going out to eat? What about a week or a day? Can you cut your dining out bill by 20%, 50% , 75% or more? That is what I challenge you to do!
At the end of the 30 days, I will choose one winner who will get $50 to spend at a restaurant(s) of their choice!
The rules:
1. You must challenge yourself. Try to spend less than you spend now. If you don’t go out to eat at all, challenge yourself to try new meals this month. As long as you are challenging yourself when it comes to your family’s eating habbits, you can participate!
2. You must comment on at least 10 days worth of the discussion posts in order to be eligible to win the gift card.
3. The winner will be chosen at random. It won’t matter if you have been 100% successful or not.
4. You are allowed 1 freebie meal that you don’t have to count or report back to us about. Please report on everything else though so we can encourage and support one another!
5. Free meals do not count against you. This is a challenge to spend less money going out to eat than you usually spend. If someone else is paying for the meal or you have a coupon to make it free, great!
6. Here is a thought… consider keeping a tally of what you would of spent this month. For example, if you really want to go out for breakfast this morning and you resist… write that down! You could then donate that money to a food bank or save it for a goal you are working towards (like a trip to Disney World!).
7. Be sure to check out our list of casserole recipes here and the crock pot recipes here and the under 6 ingredient recipes here.
My progress:
Saturday night we went out to Red Lobster for my birthday dinner. We spent $50. Ouch! But I also got $50 from my grandmother for my birthday so it balances out. :)
How are you doing?
Leave a comment and let me know!
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We crock potted a whole chicken and had it with mashed potatoes and corn. An oldie but a goodie.
We had some mexi-chicken with tortilla chips. The kids have VBS all week and the church feeds them.
We ordered out for lunch at work yesterday…ten dollars…ouch! But i bringing the leftovers for lunch today.
Sat we did great. I made shrimp and corn on the cob then we ate a watermelon on the back deck. It was so good. Yesterday I had to drive an hour to the city because I had to have something faxed by the 13th and no one in our tiny little town was open that could fax things. Of course I wait til the last minute…so we made a day trip out of it and did some shopping at Target and the mall. Since we were out all afternoon we did grab ice cream cones from Dairy Queen at the mall. The kids were asking and I gave in so we had dessert then drove home and ate dinner.
We were pretty good over the weekend. We went out for my birthday on Saturday night…$32.62 total. It was a lot of fun. I have meals planned for the week and the groceries are in the fridge…so we should be in good shape for a few days…
I did not eat out any this weekend where I had to pay! I mostly ate at home but sometimes went out when others were paying :) I pay my share often so sometimes that a good thing.
We went to my mother in law’s for dinner and just ate leftovers the rest of the weekend….so no eating out for us
Weekend was just ok for us. Only ate two meals out but they were cheap!! Waffle House for breakfast Saturday morning but it was just me and my husband so it was under $15 and then had McD’s last night but we were grocery shopping and it was very late but again just me and the hubby so very low cost! Starting out the week fresh! Hope we can do it!
We haven’t eaten out in a while, except for ordering pizza for a birthday party. We’ll be eating pizza leftovers for awhile!
We ate dinner at my brother and sister in laws last night and let the kids play in the water it was a nice night.
I was so sick on saturday I couldn’t even get up so my husband got us some take out. :(
It was totally worth it though!!
We had Chilli and homemade bread for dinner. It was delicious and we have enough leftovers for another meal!
We were good with meals, but we did go to DQ for ice cream. But, we all just got ice cream with no bells and whistles, so it wasn’t much. My 8 year old son became lactose intolerant around March, so we told him that once school was out, we’d let him try a little bit of ice cream and see if he can handle it (since he LOVES ice cream). So, school was out on Friday, so Sunday afternoon we went to DQ, but that was it for us. All meals at home.
We did great this weekend. No eating out at all for us. Made pizza Friday night, grilled on Saturday and leftovers Sunday night.
we did great yesterday! home after church for lunch and breakfast for dinner. farm fresh eggs from my mom and toast. yum!
We ordered pizza on Saturday for dinner. But I think that’s all we ate out this weekend. So not bad, for us.
No eating out for us this weekend, and weekends are usually our weak spot. Plus my husband has gotten to where he wants to eat out for lunch after church every Sunday. We had leftovers for dinner Saturday, sandwiches for lunch Sunday and spaghetti for dinner Sunday. Yay for us :)
We had leftovers on Friday and heated up pizzas on Saturday. More leftovers last night, LOL. We won’t be going out tonight, but I’m not sure yet what we’re having. All breakfasts and lunches eaten at home too.
My daughter had recital on Sunday, afterward we grilled out at my house with friends and family. Simple and cheap stuff (burgers, hot dogs, potato salad, corn on the cob).
My husband made a variation of a green bean casserole last night — green beans, broccoli, cream of mushroom soup, and fried onions on top. I’m not a big fan of green beans, so this worked out well. It was fairly healthy as well, although I know that soup is not entirely healthy.
We are not doing very good. We ate out again yesterday! ouch! However, I’m determined to get back on track this week. Go me! lol.
We were good this weekend. The kiddos and I did have an Olive Garden craving, so I just made an Olive Garden inspired meal at home on Sunday night. Just standard meals the rest of the weekend. This is easy for us, as we rarely eat out.
We took our visiting family to DC on Saturday but took sandwiches, apples, and chips for lunch so only stopped for supper on the way back.
We were late getting home from chruch yesterday so we stopped and got 5 items from the $0.89 menu at Taco Bell. We ate for less then $5.
No eating out for us. We had hamburgers for lunch. I am not usually a big fan of burgers but these were really good. For dinner we had cabbage and smoaked sausage. I am so happy we have only been out twice this month and stayed under $15.00:-)
We were kinda bad yesterday. Got doughnuts before church for bkfst, then had a pot luck for lunch, then got burritos for dinner, Sadly my DD got sick from her burrito and was up all night! That’ll teach me not to be lazy and just make my own dang burritos!
Today is the 14th.
We did good yesterday. Ate supper at home!!
We had breakfast out yesterday morning. But did have lunch and dinner home.
So far so good, but I have to admit, it’s getting a bit tough for me this month. I’m in a cooking rut in that I just don’t know what to make or what I’m in the mood for.
Did good this weekend and didn’t eat out. Made a pasta salad at home with plenty left for lunch today.
Cooked at home all weekend, so now we have a fridge full of leftovers
I cooked chocolate chip pancakes for brunch, then cooked a ham that will serve us well as lunch/dinner for a couple of days. =)
Friday night we ended up out at Texas Roadhouse. Saturday night we each went to our parents house for the night (I didn’t eat out and I know he didn’t either). Yesterday we didn’t eat out either. We are doing soooo much better this month!!!
Last night we baked some chicken, had fried okra, and potato salad. it was delicious and cheap!
We did great yesterday. Breakfast was eggs over easy w/toast, lunch was ham sandwiches, and dinner was a yummy mexican casserole-and we have leftovers for today.
Monday nights our Albertsons has the chicken deal (a whole chicken, potato salad, potato wedges, Kings Hawaiian rolls, and a coke for $7.99) so that was dinner tonight-I didnt have to cook and its still cheaper than McDonalds!