Looking Forward to a Week of Savings

This is a week where we have the opportunity to save a lot of money, but still enjoy going out. Today we went out to Olive Garden for a Valentine’s lunch, where we spent just $4 on our food—the rest was covered by a gift card from Christmas. Then we went to a free movie using tickets I had one in an instant win game. That was followed by a trip to the mall where we got two shirts for my sister at Aeropostale where we had to do a mystery shop. We spent $18.51, and $14 will be reimbursed, so $4.51 for two shirts from my sister’s favorite store is a great deal. This will be her birthday present later in the year.

We have a supper out planned tomorrow for another mystery shop. We should be able to keep all of our food within the amount they will reimburse us for. At most we might have to spend a dollar or two on the tip, and that’s money I’m willing to pay for an otherwise free meal I don’t have to cook or clean up after!

For the rest of the week, meals are planned that should be easy enough to make, even after a long day at work. This should help us stay on track to spending $50 or less on food for the rest of the month, though we have been pretty good about eating at home so far this month. In January that was a struggle, but as we see our debt coming down, I think we’re becoming more committed staying in to save money to pay off our debts and then start saving for a down payment on a house and maxing out our Roth IRAs.