I like top 10 lists.  There easy to read, easy to write, and they always seem to create a good deal of discussion.  This week, I’m writing my own top 10 list - Top 10 Ways To Save Money.  Expect two or three posts a day, as I want to have the entire list published by the end of the week.

Number 10 - Cook And Eat At Home

Like most families, we live our lives on-the-go.  With work, church, school, kids’ events, and family gatherings to attend and prepare for, life can get hectic.  But, even though we are very busy, we still take the time to prepare food at home.  Why?  It saves us money.

Let’s look at a typical trip to a “sit down” chain restaurant.  For a family of four, two adults and two kids, the average bill will be, what? $35 - $70?  Now, multiply that amount over 3 or 4 or even 6 times a week.  Pretty large number, right?

Now, imagine if both mom and dad eat out for lunch, each day.  What’s that?  $10 per person, per day, five days a week?  Mom and dad are spending $100 a week, just for lunch.  That’s $400 - $500 a month.

Instead of buying lunch, prepare a lunch at home.  Instead of going out to eat, start eating at home.  I can promise you that two things will happen -

1.  You’ll spend more time with your family, sitting around the supper table, actually talking.

2.  You’ll spend less - much less - on food.  Sure, your grocery bill might go up, just a bit - more on that later - but your eating out bill will shrink, dramatically.

If you don’t want to give up eating out entirely, make it a treat.  Instead of eating our 5 times a week, eat out once, maybe on mommy-daddy date night?  Or, take the kids for a special lunch after church.  When you do, splurge a little bit - if your wallet and waist line can handle it.  Remember, we want to sacrifice when appropriate, but we also want to enjoy our lives.

About those higher-than-usual grocery bills - I mentioned a resource a few days ago, my free printable grocery store price book - and I really think it will help reduce your grocery costs, if you’ll use it.  Print one out and give it a try.  See what you think.

By the way, my friend JD from over at Get Rich Slowly recently wrote a very interesting post about grocery shopping - and only doing so once a month!  This is an idea that I find very intriguing.  And, MBHunter has some excellent tips for brown-bagging it.

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