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Save Money | Dining Out vs. Groceries Analyzed

12.07.2009 by Matt Jabs //

It is amazing how powerful this is when you REALLY analyze it.  I know it was for me.

The Temptation of Dining Out

The other day after church we had a moment of weakness.  We were feeling lazy and wanton, and had no Sunday afternoon meal ready prepared… so when the preacher mentioned tacos in his sermon, it was all over.  As we walked out to the car after the church service I knew we were destined for one place and one place only – The all-you-can-eat buffet at the local authentic Mexican restaurant.  Mmmm.

Sounds honest enough right? Church couple goes out to eat after the service, you see it all the time.  So what’s wrong with going out to eat once in awhile?

Well… because we are in debt!

Also… since we know how overpriced and unhealthy restaurant food is we normally go without and choose instead to eat at home.  Many times if one of us gets lazy and wants to eat out, the other is there to quickly bring the situation back on track.  But not this Sunday.  For some reason both of us had lost our edge.  The tacos were too much for us… so off we went.

Money Spent Dining Out

The food was great!  I loved every minute of it… at least while I was eating anyway.

As soon as I was done eating, two things started to bother me.

  1. The meal would cost much more than I wanted to pay. And I was right, it did.  After leaving a tip the damage came to around $26.00, which may sound cheap to some reading… but to us that is a lot to spend on one meal.
  2. We ate way more food than either of us needed. Overeating unhealthy restaurant food was a behavior we practiced often before adopting our frugal and sensible diet and weight loss mindset.  Like most Americans, when we go to an all-you-can-eat buffet it is very hard not to get our fill – especially considering how much was being spent on one meal.  In this situation most of us really want to make sure we get our money’s worth!  🙂

Now $26 poorer, for a meal that would sustain us for about 6 – 8 hours, we left the restaurant grossly full, hopped into the car and headed over to the grocery store to pick up a few things before heading home.

Money Spent on Groceries

This is the part that really helped set our priorities back in order!

At the grocery store we picked up the following groceries for a total of $20.49:

  • 6 – 32oz. jars of organic applesauce (good for about 36+ servings)
  • 10 organic apples (for use in 10 lunches)
  • 4oz. of bread yeast (enough for at least 12 loaves of homemade bread)
  • 75 sq. ft. of aluminum foil (should last at least 3-4 months)

The grocery items purchased would serve us many times over far into the future.  You can also use a costco membership discount to cut grocery costs.

Save Money | Cost Analysis

So what is the moral of this story?

Dining out is much more expensive than purchasing groceries. Is this breaking news?  No.  But bringing the point up and analyzing the numbers so plainly gives us a very clear picture of the high cost of dining out!

We already have pretty strict rules in place for dining out… right now we loosely limit it to special occasions and business opportunities.

Do we miss dining out?

I would be lying if I said we are never tempted, but I can honestly say that since we began focusing our eating habits on healthy, frugal, homemade meals… most of the time we crave our own food more than restaurant food.

The less we eat out and the less junk we eat… the less we crave it!

Categories // Expenses, Money Management, Savings, Spending, Tips Tags // dining out, groceries, Savings

Our Capital One 360 Savings Plan

03.21.2009 by Matt Jabs //

Are you sick of the way banks treat you?  I was too… until I found Capital One 360!

I was recently introduced to the benefits of online banking with Capital One 360.  After reading a few other helpful reviews I was confident that switching to Capital One 360 was the right banking decision for me.  It may also be the best thing for you too.

Capital One 360 for Saving

Provebs 21:5 makes mention to the thoughts of the diligent tending only toward plenty.  This is a bible call to manage what we have, portion it accordingly, and save the excess.

After we give our tithes & offerings we make it a point to pay ourselves first.  Capital One 360 makes it VERY easy to do this.  Here are some of the features of their online banking accounts:

  • Simple creation of  multiple savings accounts encouraging goal-oriented & structured saving
  • Automatic savings plans (set amounts deposited automatically in designated accounts on an ongoing basis)
  • Free ShareBuilder account to manage your investments (preferably in index funds)
  • A joint account allowing integration of savings for you & your spouse
  • Linked external accounts allowing you to fund your savings from your other financial institutions

Just today the wife & I sat down to review our savings goals and tweak the structure of our Capital One 360 savings accounts.  The picture above represents the division of savings we are currently laying up in store for the future.

Why Capital One 360?

The Jabs family savings plan is  a “living” plan because we will update, change, & tweak it as the Lord leads and as our circumstances dictate.

Here are the main reasons I switched all our banking over to Capital One 360:

  1. Interest paid not only on savings accounts but also on checking accounts – though rates are currently low earning any positive rate is better than earning no rate.  At the present time I am earning 1.5% on my savings accounts and 0.5% on my checking accounts.
  2. Up to $1,000 of overdraft protection on checking accounts at no charge – with no fees for overdrafts.  You simply have to pay the going interest rate on any money they loan you to cover your overdraft.  The rate we currently pay is around 7% and is minimal because if we do mistakenly overdraw our account, we are usually able to correct the error the very same day costing just pennies.  This philosophy of customer service destroys that of other banks who charge around $36 every time this happens, which adds up all too quickly!  Her old bank was charging her $3/month for the overdraft protection.
  3. Free online bill pay – My old bank was charging $7/month for what Capital One 360 offers for free.
  4. Free paper checks mailed – to individuals or to companies who do not fit into the electronic payment system.  Before Capital One 360 I had never heard of a bank offering such a service at no cost (and you don’t have to pay postage)!

Let me close by stressing that my faith does NOT lie in Capital One 360 (or the FDIC for that matter), but firmly in the Lord.   I am simply using the available tools to better manage what I am entrusted with.

My Faith and Capital One 360

Thanks be to the Lord, who over the course of the last few months has wrought many positive changes in the Jabs home.  One of those changes is this awesome push toward biblical debt free living!  Not many things excite me more than the notion of having no debt & being able to go wherever the Lord calls.  I long to be like so many other great men in the bible whom when God called they were able to answer simply, “Here am I“.  I believe the first lesson the Lord is teaching me is to live the disciplined life of a faithful steward.

Proverbs 21:5 provides depth of wisdom regarding a proper relationship with our finances.

“The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.”

I encourage you to meditate on these words with a focus on your finances.  The bible says that if we will simply ask for wisdom… God will give it to us liberally!

To me this verse is a call to a faithful and diligent approach to the structure & handling of all that God has entrusted you with.

Remember, we do not own our stuff, we are simply stewards of what God owns. Armed with this knowledge, how can we better manage what we have?  We have found that banking with Capital One 360 has greatly increased our ability to handle our finances efficiently and effectively.

If you have been searching for a new bank Capital One 360 is a excellent choice.

Categories // Counsel, Savings Tags // ing direct, review, Savings, structure

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Disclaimer

Content on Debt Free Adventure is for entertainment purposes only. Rates & offers from advertisers shown on this website may change without notice: please visit referenced sites for current information. Per FTC guidelines, this website may be compensated by companies mentioned through advertising, affiliate programs or otherwise. We respect your privacy. Privacy policy.

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