Before COVID, I used to love going out to eat. It was my reward for everything – reward being the ambiance, the service, quality conversations with loved ones. It was all delicious and expensive. After stumbling upon FIRE, I did a little calculating and learned that my ex-husband and I used to spend $10,000 per year on going out to eat alone. 

After everything shut down, it was a shock to my system at first, but soon after I began to make interesting discoveries. For one, I enjoyed cooking, or at least trying to cook, more than I thought I would. And two, the savings were unbelievable. There was a third discovery that I didn’t expect. After having been out of the restaurant world for a while, going back felt different, and not in a good way. The service wasn’t what it used to be, and the flavors weren’t as magical as they once were. Cooking at home, I used less salt, no sugar, less butter, and air to fry thing instead of oil. It took a couple of years to get back out there and start enjoying eating out again.

After discovering FIRE, for one whole year, I limited restaurants to special occasions and once a month dates. Although the experiment did wonders to our budget, limiting my main reward system and an activity I found, and still find, enjoyable, after the COVID closures wore off, sapped my spirit. I’m glad I was able to prove to myself that I could do it, and if I must cut down at any given time, I have the skills now to pull it off. However, cutting out restaurants to the extreme did not work for me, because I realized it was one of those, “life is too short not to do what I enjoy” type of things. 

Having said that, I haven’t quite gone back to my old ways. I don’t go out twice a week for dinner and once for a weekend brunch like I used (yes, that amounted to 10k/yr). I just don’t say No to myself if the urge or a good opportunity to meet with friends arises. I believe that splurging on what I consider a good reason to be alive is a must. I still enjoy dabbling in cooking, and I would like to retire into knowing how to make gourmet meals. At this time, however, cooking outside of survival basics would have to be allocated to special occasions.

Instead, the following is how and what I save on:

• As far as shopping goes, I buy only what I need. If I don’t absolutely need it for my survival or work, I don’t buy it. 
• When I absolutely need to buy, I go used or go home.
• I walk to places as much as feasible in LA instead of driving (grocery store, CVS, to the metro station, Sunday brunch)
• I’m planning to continue driving my 2010 Toyota, Corolla to its dying breath.
• Cooking at home can still be a fun and adventurous event. 
• For entertainment, I only watch one streaming service (Netflix). I go out to listen to classical music, jazz, or folk at churches and other free or almost-free events. I also play music myself. Learning an instrument or having other creative outlets can save you a whole lot on entertainment. Much of my social life consists of free or cheap music events, and if I’m playing, I may even get paid for it. 
• Potluck events with friends and similar interest groups are both socially fulfilling and frugal. 
• I try to buy or create more heartfelt/crafty gifts.
• My next step is to figure out travel rewards. I know there are a lot of ideas out there and credit cards galore geared toward travel. To be honest, it’s all so overwhelming. I finally signed up for the Southwest travel rewards card and I have enough sign-up bonus points to make my first one or two free trips. 

How do you save? Let’s exchange ideas….