I will admit that when it comes to money I am just a little bit anal. As an attorney with Halcomb Singler, LLP, in Carmel I meet with people on a daily basis that need to file bankruptcy. As a result, I am very careful with money. I see how easy it is to get into financial trouble and I do my best to make my money stretch. Needless to say I was less than thrilled that we spent 50 bucks on a meal we could have eaten for $10 to $15 bucks at home and it probably would have tasted better.
I am writing about eating out because it seems to me that the cost of eating out has really gone up a lot of late. Of course, this makes sense because it seems like the cost of everything has gone up of late. But when I was reviewing my budget for September I was thinking that eating out is really the easiest way to bust your budget. I review LOTS of bank statements. I do this in each bankruptcy case to make sure I am properly accounting for the expenses of my clients to accurately list them in bankruptcy. One thing that I often notice is that many of my clients, and I suspect most of the rest of Americans, are really hemorrhaging money on eating out.
The point is that now, more than ever, you need to keep track of how much money you are spending on eating out. I am not saying that no one should ever eat out. Lets face it. Sometimes you are just too tired or don't feel like cooking. Especially now that we are in a time when both adults in a household must work we just aren't going to cook every night. But I believe the majority of people have no clue how much money they spend eating out. And I think that if they did know how much money was going right out of their door and into the hands of a restaurant they would be shocked. Seriously shocked at the amount of money that could have put towards something other than a mediocre meal.
Here's the best way to figure out how much you are spending on eating out. If you are like most Americans you use your debit and credit card to pay for almost all of your expenses on a monthly basis. Dig out your last 2 months banking and credit card statements. Sit down with a calculator and add it all up. Try not to get sick. Are you spending more than you thought on eating out?
Now that you know lets talk about how to fix it. In my opinion, the best way to slow your spending on things like eating out, entertainment, clothing and other variable and somewhat elective expenses is to set a budget. And once you set that budget go to the bank and withdraw the amount of your one month budget in cash. Write "eating out" on an envelope and put the cash in the envelope. Eat out as much or as little as you want that month, but you must pay with the cash in the envelope and once you are out of cash you don't spend any more money eating out.
Let me know what you spent last month eating out. I would love to know. You can respond by posting your dollar amount in the comments section. For those who follow-through and complete this exercise let me know if you were surprised with the amount you spent on eating out or not.
Have a safe and happy Labor Day Weekend Everyone!
Halcomb Singler, LLP, is a debt relief agency. It helps people file for bankruptcy under the bankruptcy code. No attorney-client relationship with the firm of Halcomb Singler, LLP, is created through this blog. Also, please note that Erika Singler is an attorney licensed in Indiana and does not seek to practice law in any jurisdiction in which they are not properly authorized to do so. The information contained in this blog is general in nature and should not be relied upon for the circumstances of any individual(s) or businesses.
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