Hello. I'm new here but I'm so glad to have found this forum because me and DH are really trying hard to save money. I feel like this is a wealth of knowledge!!

Anyway, I just wanted to share what we are doing this month to save money. We have decided not to eat out for an entire month. That may seem silly to some people but we used to eat out at least 2 times a week, not to mention DH would go out to lunch 2-3 times a week.

We are going on our second weekend of doing this and so far so good!

That is great! It doesn't sound silly at all...eating out is an easy habit to get into. And a very costly one as well. DH and I used to eat out most of our meals as well. It was a special occasion if I cooked. It took us a while to completely break the habit, but you can do it!

Great place to start!

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Since I've been on MS I've been trying to do like these girls do...they have taught me alot!!! We cut way back on eating out, I started planning dinners, etc...They really know how to motivate....You can do it...just keeping plugging away.....every little bit helps

That is NOT silly at all! Its smart! Keep going you can do it! I admit we are starting to fall back into that habit, essp with summer here I just do NOT want to cook everynight. But its true how much money you can save by NOT going out.

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~Missy~Mommy
Meghan9.Samantha7,Cameron5

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You can do it! I cook all my meals at home, very rarely do we go out and if we do it is usually like Taco Bell where we can get the cheaper meals. I menu plan so it takes off the stress of figuring out what you want to eat each night. I also keep freezer meals for those lazy or busy days. Good Luck.

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Good for you!

One little tip, if you do slip up (like I always seem to), forgive yourself and move on. I tend to be an all or nothing person so if I slip up at all I feel like I've failed and then out goes the plan. I'm working on jumping back in there and continuing on. Not sure if you're like that at all, but just a little tip if you are!

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WE'RE DEBT FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Yes, I am definitely guilty of that. Thanks for the tip!! I am going to try to keep that in mind. I find it to be especially true if I'm trying to eat a little healthier but I slip up and have something high in calories. I'm like "Oh well, today is shot!! Guess I should make the most of it and eat everything!"

Thanks to everyone for the encouraging words!! The reason we are doing this is actually two fold -- we want to eat healthier and save money.

This morning we went to play tennis and on the way back home we could smell Jim N Nicks. It smelled delicious and we were like "AHHHH I wish we could go there." But we stuck to our guns!! It was tough though

Freezer meals are a good idea. I have never made any. I am a college student... so I consider myself a relatively new cook! What types of things do you make for your freezer?

I think the greatest thing since sliced bread are crock pots. With some extra time and preparation you can make them even more convenient to use.

I keep medium sized freezer bags filled with equal parts of coarsely chopped onions, carrots, and celery. Then I go to a bulk store and spend a few hundred dollars on meats of all kinds. We especially love beef stews. Then when we get home, I portion the meats into one pound servings and freeze. I also use this time to cut up pot roasts into stewing cubes cause it is cheaper to do this than to buy stewing cubes.

Then when you are ready, you just put in your beef broth, rip open the veggies bag and dump the veggies in and put in the thawed stewing cubes. I don't worry about using the veggies from a frozen state because I let mine simmer on high for an hour to kill bacteria. If you are using dried herbs, toss them in one hour before the stew is finished. It takes five minutes and supper will be done 8 hours later with almost no involvement from you

I find this saves me money numerous ways.
1. Veggies don't go bad before we get around to eating them because they are frozen
2. Dinner only takes 5 minutes of prep time so it saves me from saying "ugh I don't wanna cook. Lets just order pizza."
3. You can use cheaper cuts of meat because the crock pot makes it all so tender and palatable.
4. Crock pots use less in the way of utilities than stoves and ovens do. Such a bonus in the summer when you don't wanna heat up the house.

Some other benefits are that I don't have to spend much time in the kitchen cooking, and dinner dishes are a breeze without tons of pots, pans, cutting boards, knives, strainers, etc... to wash.

It's been a HUGE money saver for us.