Back to Basics: Meals

I believe that many families will in fact benefit from this economy. Of course I'm not referring to those whose lives have been drastically altered due to job loss or losing their homes. They are in a terrible state and my heart goes out to them. I am talking about those of us who are going back to basics: the type of family life that is simple, inexpensive and fulfilling.
A generation ago, most families were this way. Meals were prepared and eaten at home. "Entertainment" consisted of charades, game-show television and playing outside past dark. Toys were gifts saved for special occasions such as Christmas and birthdays and not weekly occurances. This economy has forced many of us to re-embrace this back to basics lifestyle, my family included. Although I pride myself on keeping things simple, I have to admit that looking back on the past year I have strayed a bit from this lifestyle.
I am proud to say that not only am I re-embracing it, I actually LOVE it! It's so fun to be so simple. For example, we have cut our spending in all the obvious places, perhaps the biggest was eating out. And I do love to cook and feel like I am actually cooking constantly. We probably ate out 2-3 times a week. And I'm not talking 2 or 3 dinners a week...I mean any meal not prepared by me in the kitchen. So ordering in a pizza on a Friday night...that's one. Bagels and coffee on Sunday morning...that's two. And sometimes my husband and I would get carry-out after the kids were in bed, three. So nothing outrageous, but it sure adds up. Quick.
Well, not only did we completely eliminate this 3x per week eating out, we ate no lunches out. So no Subway, Quizno's or any other type of lunch for my husband. He brings his lunch daily. Oh, and we bought a coffee maker so he brings his coffee too instead of buying it every morning.
It is really entertaining to see how much money we have saved...and it's just not that big of a deal to prepare 3 more meals per week. In fact, on Sundays I am making a "big" breakfast including eggs, bacon or sausage and English muffins. WAY better than bagels!
Guess how much we saved the first month by eliminating those 3 meals a week, the coffee and the lunches? Over $500.
And here is the best part. My husband and I both have birthdays in February, so we do one special occasion dinner and incorporate Valentine's day into that. We went to a great restaurant. And since it had been so long since we had eaten out, we savored every bite. Every single one. It was so delicious. It made it so much sweeter when you don't have it so often. We're already looking forward to next February!
Back to basics is going to be a reoccuring theme in this blog. Look for the next Back to Basics to be for all you clothes horses out there....I have some really cool tips!