Today everyone cares about the family dollar. How far can we stretch it? Of course, our money can go a long way if we never do anything and eat PB and J sandwiches three times a day. But how beneficial is that? Sure we’ll have more money in our account, but chances are we’ll be moping around with nothing to look forward to but old reruns and maybe fried bologna sandwiches for a change. There are numerous ways to save money, but I’m going to focus on one in particular: eat less away from home. Note that I said go out to eat less, while still eating out. And it’s not just about sacrifice here; there are many other benefits besides saving money.

Benefits:

1. Save money. We’ll cover the obvious first. We don’t have to be math geniuses to figure this out. You can easily spend $40 to feed a family at a fast food restaurant; We’re not even talking about a fancy restaurant where the waiter refills your drinks. If it’s a family-style restaurant, maybe that number doubles, but if we go a step further and branch out without chains, the sky’s the limit. Compare that to your weekly grocery bill. How many dinners can you prepare with 40, 80 and 100+ dollars?
2. Control in Ingredients and Weight Control. We all know that obesity is a growing trend. Just read any report and you can see statistics on weight trends and the number of times people go out to eat—a definite correlation. Think about how often you ate out as a child: it was a treat, right? Now think about how often we went out to eat today. The big culprit is portion sizes and consistency. We all want our money’s worth, so restaurants give us bigger and bigger portions. It is now the norm to eat huge portions without even batting an eye. When you eat at home, you can control what kind of ingredients, including the long, loose hairs that hide under your fettuccine. There are plenty of cookbooks out there with copycat recipes for the restaurants you love, so now you know the ingredients are fresh, cheaper, and portion sizes of your choice.
3. Strengthen Families. Think back to when you were a kid and it was a joy to go out to eat. This was a special moment for his family that we now so easily take for granted. If we eat out less and make it a unique occasion, your children will learn to appreciate it and it will be something they will learn to eagerly anticipate, and may even take turns choosing the restaurant, feeling even more special. And of course, those times that we are eating at home, we are teaching our children habits for life. This is a perfect opportunity to teach your children culinary skills and the importance of eating healthy and choosing food wisely.

If you’re looking at the family dollar, look at this habit and you’ll improve your pocket depth and family relationships.