Will prepaid gift cards and debit cards help control my dining out spending?
Every analysis of my spending habits reveals the same weakness – eating out. Lately my husband and I have been spending an average of $300 a month on eating out. To be honest, that’s probably a low estimate–and we do have two kids. But, to me, eating out is one of those easy drips in the cash flow to plug. I’ve tried vowing to cook meals for a month, and that lasted a full two days until a friend of mine invited me out to go out to eat. So I’m going to give myself a gift card this month to see if that can reign in my eating out spending.
To find gift cards, I took a trip to the grocery store. There were cards for restaurants, home repair shops, toy stores, music stores, and coffee houses–but I just wanted the plain Visa or American Express ones.
After finding them, I had to decide how much I wanted to give myself and determine if I wanted to get a few cards and give myself a new one each week or just buy one to last me the entire month. After looking on the back and seeing that each card had a $3.95 to $5.95 activation fee depending on the amount, I decided to get one $100 card to get me through the month.
How will I use the gift card?
My plan for this card is to use it for all non-grocery store food or drink items for myself or my kids. When my husband and I go out to eat together, we can split the meal (he has a gift card this month, too) or maybe he’ll decide to treat me! Ah, the romance! Grocery items, gas for our cars, and other purchases will still be paid for with our bank debit card.
Why not just use cash?
You may be wondering why we just don’t use cash for the month. I’ve tried that before, and when the cash runs out, I just go back to my debit card. I’m hoping that since I’ll still be using my typical method of purchasing things (my debit card) my brain will be more receptive to the idea of liming myself. Being on a budget is all about tricking your brain, right?
So let’s see if using a card will help trick my brain into spending less money on dining out. I’ll let you guys know if it works!
What do you think about using gift cards to stick with your budget?
What are some other ways you trick your brain into saving money?
Related posts:
- Should I Cancel My Credit Cards Or Cut Them Up?
- “Budget Challenge: Reduce Food Spending by 10%”
- A simple trick to keep from spending your tax refund frivolously.
- Does your sex life mirror your spending habits?
- Meet SmartyPig–A simple tool to help you live without credit cards and still get what you want.
