Project Take-Out-Tokens is complete!
As promised, yesterday we went to Michael’s and picked up some black card stock, a cute paper punch (50% off!) and we each picked out our own scrapbook paper so we can tell them apart. We punched 48 “tokens” out of the card stock, 24 “tokens” each from our selected scrapbook paper, and I glued them together using Elmer’s Craft Bond Extra-Strength Glue Stick (which dries super fast, so I had to be quick!). Then I just wrote the months on them with a nice fine Sharpie marker.
If you missed my first post about the tokens, to recap:
We have agreed to implement a new “Token” system for limiting our dining out. Every month we will each get two tokens apiece – one for a dinner and one for a lunch. The lunches are so we can go out together during the work week twice a month and the dinners are so we can phone it in twice a month. That gives us four times per month where I can choose to indulge a bit and we both get a break from cooking or eating the same ol’ same ol’ for lunch. It also cuts back on the egregious amount of money we spent on dining out last year.
When describing our little system to a friend, I found I needed to clarify that the tokens are spent on a meal together – so it’s four meals out a month where we both eat out together. I devised the system to:
- Allow us to enjoy a night (or weekday lunch) out four times a month
- Control the amount we are spending on dining out by limiting the number of times we dine
- Encourage us to eat healthier by preparing more meals at home
We spent a lot of money on dining out last year (sit-down restaurants, fast-food and convenience store purchases such as coffee, soda and chips). When I think about what we could have spent that money on, like an international vacation (at least part of it – some would have gone to actual groceries), it makes me a bit sick. It’s kind of crazy how one’s busy lifestyle can lead to habitually reaching for the car keys to grab some manner of unhealthy sustenance. Not all of our dining choices were terrible, but most of them were, which contributed to an emptier bank account and wider waistline.
We’ve already spent one token on Z’s birthday-night dinner and we’ve made breakfast, lunch and dinner at home so far all weekend (excepting the pizza night we treated ourselves and our friend’s to last night for Z’s birthday celebration – no token required since it was pre-planned). So far, so good! I imagine there will be some exceptions from time to time (for instance, if we go out of town or on vacation and have limited access to preparing our own food), but I am hoping for success. Please wish us luck and we try to keep it up for the year!
Love this idea 🙂 Look forward to reading more of your stuff
[…] or the few glasses of Moscato I treated myself to last night at Olive Garden (YES, I spent a take-out token on it, though we were celebrating… I’ll come back to that shortly…). I actually […]