Eat before you go out
Cut your cost of entertainment by eating BEFORE you go out. While many people choose to go out to eat as their form of entertainment, there is a lot to be said about eating at home, and doing something else. Besides the financial benefits there are health benefits and fun benefits. If you eat at home, and do something else as your entertainment, chances are it will be more exciting then sitting in a restuarant. However, the point of this article is to see how much money you can save and put in your cash reserve if you eat before you go out instead of while you are out. So, let's look at some specifics.
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The cost of a meal eaten at home is typically 80% less than that of a meal at a restaurant, so by eating at home before you go out, you save 80%, which can be put into your cash reserve. However, eating at home before you go out is not just wise as a replacement to eating in restaurants, it also leads to saving in other ares. For example, if you eat dinner at your house and eat until you are full, then go to a movie, chances are you will save $5 to $10 in concessions. You will not feel the need to order popcorn and a drink, and will be able to make it through the two hour movie without spending money on overpriced concessions.
An additional way it helps you save is that if you eat before you go out, you are less likely to impulse eat, or eat based on cravings or hunger, which often results in overspending. For example, if you stop to fill up your tank at the gas station, and you are feeling hungry, you might pay $2 for a candy bar you could buy at the grocery store for sixty-five cents. If you are bored and do not know what to do, and you have not eaten you may choose to go out for ice cream rather than go to a grocery store and buy a tub for a fraction of the price. You always spend more money on food if you are hungry or bored. But, if you are bored and you just ate a meal at home, you will find another way to fill your time, and it is usually going to be a less expensive option.
Eating before you go out also means being able to have higher quality entertainment. You will feel less of a need to go out if when you do you make it a great choice of entertainment. It is like when you vacation. If you take a day and go somewhere lame, you will feel the need to go again much sooner than if you take several days and go somewhere really cool. So, if you save money by not eating out, and by eating your meal at home, you can spend a little more to do a better activity, and thus fulfill the need for entertainment better, while still saving money. So, instead of just hitting balls at the batting cages at your favorite family fun center, you can do the bumper cars, race track, arcade, and mini-golf too, and still save because that will still cost less than eating a meal out at a restaurant. So, you save money and have more fun!
