When we spend money on things we don’t need, not only do we lose that money, but we permanently deprive ourselves of what that money, better applied, could have yielded. $1 million (and maybe much, much more) is not lost by your carelessly misplacing it. It is lost $50 and $100 at a time. When you buy $10 glasses of beer, $15 glasses of wine, $50 lunches, $100 dinners, $125 ties and $500 shoes, you lose out on the future value those funds, if invested even in a poorly performing market, would have produced. Over a lifetime, the poorly performing markets will fade into nothingness and the long term results take effect. Indeed, the financial crises of the hour will one day be but a memory. The shock of realizing what you could have had will floor you and last a lifetime.

$1,000 per month invested at 8% for 35 years amounts to almost $2.3 million. Adjusting for 3% inflation, you would still have over $800,000 in today’s dollars. Take a look at your annual expenditures on things you don’t need and you’ll find the $1,000 (and maybe a lot more) a month.

Ignorance of the concept of opportunity cost can mean, after 35 years of well paid employment, having a negligible net worth at 60 and parking cars under the direction of a high school kid at 70. You can be young in this country and be without money but it’s really tough being old and in that shape and much worse to realize it needn’t have turned out that way. James’ brother advised saving “until it hurts.” What did he know that you don’t?

Richard E. Savoy

Some caveats: Since I have no idea where you live, I have little idea how much this will help you. 99 restaurants were listed in Western Oregon. There are restrictions which vary by restaurant – have to spend a certain amount, have a minimum number of people in your party, can’t use it for alcohol, etc. Read carefully before you buy to make sure it’s still saving you money.

They’re kind of like coupons – It only saves you money if the item or service is something you would have bought without it.

Anyway, just something that might stretch your dining dollars further. It’s helped me discover some great new places on a budget.

I have a theoretical solution for cash, which may be what you previously advised. ATM withdrawals are entered as a TRANSFER to a PETTY CASH account (set up like bank or cc account).

What I’ve not been as good with is getting the whole family on board saving receipts or at least writing down the total (local farmer’s market doesn’t give receipts and workers look dumbfounded when asked to write the total on a scrap of paper).

If one carried a large wallet or a purse, envelopes of cash designated for various functions would work — that’s what I did on a vacation with a spendthrift partner. Each day had a stack of cash envelopes: food, activities, etc. We alternated being in charge of a day’s expenditures (envelopes).

I suppose you could stick a tiny Post-It to the front of a $20 and make a note on it each time you spend some.

I hate saving receipts and entering expenses, so I use a super-simple technique for tracking cash purchases — I only use cash for “going out” (restaurants and bars). That way, when I see an ATM transaction on my account, I label it as “out” and I am done.

Sure, it’s not foolproof, but no system is!

J.D.,

I have the same problem. Tracking each individual expenditure is a big hassle, I’ve tried but given up. I realised that almost all of the cash goes to one category (in my case, the cash expenses are mostly buying my lunch at work, vending machine for sodas, etc.) so now I set up cash withdrawls with a Food category and then I just itemize the non-food cash expenses. I use Microsoft Money, and it makes it easy to set a default category for a type of spending, and split an expense into multiple categories. To remind myself of the expense, I stick the receipt in my wallet or use my cell phone voice recorded for non-receipt expenses.

Thanks for all the work you do on this blog.

Recipe: Put lettuce in bowl. Crush tacos into lettuce. Instant taco salad! (You can add other crap you have lying around if you want–can of corn, thawed frozen veggies, etc.

Picnics don’t have to be elaborate; I tend to go to the fridge and grab a little of everything in there that is ready to eat and not too messy. Here are some items most people have on hand, which make excellent picnic food:

Baguette, pita, tortillas (or just regular bread)
hard-boiled eggs
sliced cold cuts
spreads (peanut butter, hummus, tuna salad)
cheese (string cheese, hard cheese, or soft cheese like Brie to put on your baguette – yum)
fresh fruit
cut-up raw veggies
beverages (iced tea, water, bottle of wine?)

Throw whatever you’ve got in a shopping bag (as long as you aren’t driving for hours, you don’t need a cooler), grab a blanket, head for the nearest park, and relax with your sweetie. Even simple, inexpensive foods like baby carrots and homemade hummus or peanut butter spread on a whole-wheat tortilla seem special when you’re lounging around on the grass in a park.

Voila! It’s cheap, it’s healthy, and you get out of the house with minimal effort in the kitchen!

Been reading your blog for about a year now. This is my first post. It’s great to hear that you’re a Decemberists fan! Hopefully some of your readers will check them out!

I’m with you on the tacos! I usually write a check for everything, if I get cash I spend it on Taco Bell Double Decker Taco Supremes. They are only a 1.59 not a budget buster but if I had a 20.00 bill…

Yesterday while eating my taco (or was that today) I thought they should have an option to come with chicken, could reduce the calorie intake.

Enjoy the blog, I’ve learned a great deal, thanks for sharing.

Sincerely,
Dolores

First, the local Baja Fresh in DC, that bastion of cheap living, has great baja tacos for 2.25. I think you’re getting a bum deal!

And secondly, should you eat 7 cha cha cha tacos a day, I think you’d have to change 1 letter in your fitness blog. It wouldn’t be getfitslowly anymore!

That aside, I definitely know there’s a relationship between groceries and dining out. WHen our kitchen is full, there is no impetus to eat out. But when its bare, and we’re left with leftover spinach pasta, or eggs, or eating out, that pizza sure is tempting (though we try not too)

I agree with Brad, try to balance your desires and hers. You are surely saving some money by working at home… buy her dinner.
I’ve been now working at home for one month myself and I’m saving a lot of money – 66 plus 27 euros per month for transportation and at least 100 for lunches and 20 for coffee specialties (hell, I’m in Italy, coffee break is important – and not as expensive as Starbucks) plus the little extras I couldn’t avoid sometimes. Wow!

More elaborate than tracking paper receipts, but lots of fun!

I loved the idea (post #60) about the occasional grocery luxury item to boost your eating at home “wow” factor.

So, in theory, if I only ate at Cha Cha Cha, I could have 220 tacos in 30 days. That’s seven tacos per day. In other words, I could have three tacos for lunch and three tacos for dinner every day, and leave a dollar tip, and I’d still finish $15 ahead of my current monthly spending on restaurants. I’d only have to worry about breakfast. That means I’d reduce my grocery bill significantly.

Summary: If I were to eat every lunch and dinner at Cha Cha Cha, I could save several hundred dollars a month on my current food expenses.

Last year, 2007, my vet bills were $4,000. And just 3 months ago, I had to spend $1,600 in one day on an ailing dog. That $1,600 was not spent on treatment – it was an after hour emergency, resulting in a nighttime animal hospital visit, tests & exam for diagnosis, and finally, euthanasia & cremation.

Pets can be hugely expensive, and a cost that people often underestimate. I now own two senior dogs (down from three), and their meds/supplements run $100 a month, then there’s food and annual check ups. After these two pass, I’ll never own more than one dog at a time again! But it will always be rescued dog.

I think it means you should try and reduce the amount of money you may spend on those things, and eliminate whatever frivolities you can.

Now that I’ve put myself on a tight budget, it’s interesting to notice how often I think of something I need (potting soil, materials for a silly project around the house, a non-necessary computer accessory, etc.) and then I realize I only have $20 cash left this week for random purchases, and decide I’d rather spend that $20 to take my wife to a movie, or whatever.

Turns out, I actually made out just fine without getting some potting soil. I didn’t need that all-in-one printer-scanner combo. My component pieces worked just fine!!!!