August 5, 2010
-
No more dinners and drinks
I find that the toughest part about planning a wedding is saving for it. Everyone I have spoken to, pretty much spent at least 10-20% more than they wanted to. At the moment, we don’t really have a set budget, but I would rather not go into debt because I couldn’t save enough.
One of my biggest expenses is dining out. Although I don’t eat out as much and have been good about bringing lunch to work, I still meet up with friends from time to time to catch up. Most of these friends, I see every three or four months, but the problem is that I have a lot of these friends. Anyone who knows me knows that they need at least two weeks notice to schedule anything with me.
The average dinner costs around $40-$50 with tax and tip. With even one a week, that’s an extra $200 spent that I could have saved.
This has to come to an end. Starting today, I am going to decline every dinner invitation. I still might go out to drinks but it won’t be often and even when I do, I will keep it at a two drink maximum. I’m just going to explain that I’m saving for a wedding and it’s not easy. On top of that, I still have a mountain of debt that I need to pay off.
So for all the dinner plans that are already in my calendar, I will still keep. Just no more new ones for the next year.
Do you have any excessive expenses that you need to get rid of or cut down on?
Comments (43)
The eating out thing is also killing my savings. I’m trying to save up for a trip to Taiwan in January. Right now it’s not going so well. I’m also going to be in NYC for a few days at the end of this month, so that’s not going to help matters any. <,<
Giving up eating out! That’s tough. Good luck, and I hope you stick with it!
Funny thing is, Peter and I decided the same thing two nights ago. Well…two last splurges…Socal, and HK in September, but other than that nada.
Women and golf. Both have me gripped by the balls. How do I say no?
I’ve been taking mini trips everywhere.
I really need to stop dining out as much, too.
totally down for doing free things!
but…. but…. but…… steak?!!?!?
@petitetokio - I think we already agreed to steak so it just because it’s not on the calendar, doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. lol.
-ray leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
@jigg - phew.
This puts things in perspective for me. My bf and I have pretty much decided we will have a formal Vietnamese engagement next summer, and a wedding the following summer. Neither of us has even considered the cost of either of these events. Apparently our families have provided for us so well that it never occurred to us that we may actually have to pay for both of these events. =X Sounds spoiled, I know. I’ve got a mountain of debt that I have only begun start shoveling away–rock by rock– while he’s still a student, so we never even thought that far. But I know everyone will do what it takes to get us married in 2 years. We would have been together for 7 years in 2 years. I don’t think anyone wants us to wait any longer than that. I should really start asking how all of this will be paid for!
Buying coffee instead of making it at home / work. I gotta cut down on those $3.00 cups of joe
Also – movies. ($13.00 a ticket!!)
Dreamlining Calculators and Worksheet
saw your blog on the featured section…any ways… the link gives a great .xls spreadsheet for figuring out your monthly personal burn rate… good for figuring out necessary and nice to have… or how much more you need to make.
@alanism - lol. The funny thing is that I am in finance and I’m really good at tracking expenses and figuring out what’s realistic or not. I think to be realistic, I just need to STOP. Once I do that, then I’ll be okay. Thanks for the link!
-ray leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
don’t worry! you have lotsa asian friends so i’m sure peeps will give you lai see and you’ll make the money back in no time!
damn newyorkers — everything is so expensive in new york, isnt it?
in california, your cheapest normal meal is as little as 3-4 dollars … fastfood. haha.
I’m actually trying to budget myself. A big part of that is…alcohol. So…I’ve cut my happy hours down to just once a week -_- Yeah, happy hour is cheap, but it can add up. I’ve also started to buy groceries daily, instead of always purchasing them in bulk. I’ve found that I waste a lot of food (and in essence, a lot of money) when I buy a huge slab of meat and don’t eat it for that week because I decide I’m going to eat something else.
The wife and I decided to go the route of the court wedding, saved us $20-40K! I don’t regret doing that at all.
Try eating in (= when friends and I are in need of savings, we all pitch in for groceries and cook it ourselves.
I have a bunch of unnecessary expenses. I just convince myself that they are necessary when the bills come.
Where I live, rents are horrendous and I chose to live by myself and in an area close to down-town. My biggest extra expense is traveling, esp. hotels.
You can do it! Good luck!
=D
i bought a house and was pretty much on the same boat. i had to cut down on my dining out a lot, but in return, i actually lost weight haha! not that i was fat to begin with. there was one week that i accidentally paid off my credit card in full, which left me broke with only $40 left in my account, so i had to make that work. friends understand when i say i don’t have money – all bazillion of them. but now that i just got a raise, things should be turning back to normal … though i really should be saving instead!
Yea, I should probably stop eating out so much. While they’re fairly cheap meals (ranging from 4-15 dollars at most), that’s all there is to do in Sacramento. But if I ate first then joined a group of people to “eat”, I guess that would help my money issue as well. I’m probably using a good 15-25 dollars a weeks easy on going out, and if I have back to back plans with people, we’re talking 30-50 easy on just food. @_@
@Slutburger_with_Cheese - Drop the women… more money for golf and saving. Win/Win, ^o^
i don’t shop anymore, because i have a mortgage to pay now. sadness.
Nah, I’m just cheap.
hanging out with friends to watch a movie or for a meal, per person it’d be at least $20. good thing i don’t drink.
i save money by bringing lunch to school and staying away from sweets and junk food… and turning down dinner with friends…. ;__;
i miss the days when my friends and i survived off an allowance (no job) and we’d be happy with going to someone’s house and watching t.v. or a dvd. that’s quality time on a budget. XD
what about small dinners . . . like fon hops or something.
btw i’m sure you’re not happy about it but i’m glad you’re saving even more now!
gotta make sacrifices sometimes.
I’ve limited myself to eating out only once a week. It’s so hard!! Esp declining!!
You know, My hubbs and I had the same issue, a good way to get around that is having “potluck nights” with friends. Saves money and you only spend the regular amount you would on groceries. That way you also get to chill with friends too!
dine-in and no alcohol..
you can think of your wedding as buying dinner for 500 people, and a nicer dinner at that. so thats 500 dinners you will have to decline , and that’s not even counting your other wedding expenses. sure , people have savings but a wedding takes out a big chunk. and some people will continue declining even after the wedding due to the amount spent. cutting back on drinks help too.
everything on the debt column needs to be cut
Using mint.com showed me how ridiculous my spending was. The pie chart that showed that I was spending a huge chunk on eating out and bars…looking at it made me feel so sad… it really accumulates and I keep thinking of all the things I could have had instead. So I knew I had to change.
However, when I first started “staying in” and cooking, I was spending wayyy too much on groceries. It turned out it was cheaper to eat out. I was buying steak and shrimp, and brie cheese and a bunch of different vegetables just for one dish…I would love buying exotic things at the grocery store… all the things I wouldn’t even have ordered at a restaurant. Especially as I wasn’t a very good cook, and had to buy stuff like Olive oil….and spices…That got expensive… but I kept on writing it off as “food” and “cheaper than eating out”.
I am still not very good at cooking, but I know better not to attempt fancy things from the food network. It’s pretty much pasta and meat sauce… or baked potatoes..but at least it’s affordable and edible. I still go out to eat, but I try to make it special, so as cliche as it sounds everything in moderation.
Long gone are the days of weekly dinners out, now it’s a monthly treat if I’m lucky.
You can invite out of towners over and have a home cooked meal. ^_^ Money saved and still meet up with friends!
the ironic thing is that some people have all the money in the world to spend on their wedding but their significant other doens’t want to get married yet. i find that many people who don’t have enough money marry while people who are quite well off don’t marry. i’m going to have my wedding ceremony in england or austria & i don’t care how much it costs. then i might have a reception in hong kong at one of the most expensive restaurants there called dynasty. both require flights but i will be putting whatever it takes into that. and i know i don’t have to cut down on anything i do in my daily life. plus, my dad said he’ll pay for my wedding, so if there are costs he doesn’t agree to, i can most definitely cover that.
good for you for cutting down. but it’s just sad for me that i’m sitting in a pile of cash & i have no idea what to do with it.
I’m the same, constant dinners out and after-work drinks…saving is hard with a constant stream of dinners and catchups.
this might not be completely off topic, but are you guys splitting the costs for the wedding? I’ve heard that it’s usually the bride that has to pay for everything…or at least that’s what the tradition seems to be.
@SieLuNgJuNfAn - We’re both paying for the wedding. We don’t want our parents to pay for any of it so we’re both saving together.
-ray leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
@jigg - smrrtt!! at least that makes it easier on both parties. no one has to dish out the moola for it alone. i don’t know when the next time i log into xanga is, but happy wedding to you guys. i hope you guys do something that will make your wedding completely different from the usual
maybe a boxing match between you and the fiance! hahaha
@SieLuNgJuNfAn - We’re having a BBQ reception. Different enough? lol.
-ray leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
@jigg - good enough!