Eating Out vs. Eating InMore Ways to Save with Tips on Eating Out and Entertainment. How often do you eat out, go to the movies, or buy that special coffee each week? Save by reducing each of these by at least one a week or month. You'll be surprised at how much you'll save each month. Take a lunch one day a week instead of eating out every day. Have a movie night at home and save half or more of what it costs to go to the movies. Dim the lights, make your own movie popcorn, you can even pick up some movie candy from the grocery store if you like that also. You could even have a double feature movie night. When you do eat out utilize coupons whenever you can. Fundraiser coupon books are a great way to save when eating out. The coupons in these are mainly two meals for the cost of one. Are you like I was? It was just easier to buy fast food on the way home from work. Who wants to go home after working all day and spend another hour or so fixing dinner. I sure know I didn't and still don't.  Frugal Mom teaches you how to do once a month cooking with easy step-by-step instructions. Click here for more information. Very seldom do I spend time cooking when I get home and I don't do fast food for dinner either. My money and time saving tip; Crockpot cooking, yes, Crockpot/slowcooker cooking. Crockpot cooking is not just for stews or soups. Did you know you can cook just about anything in it. We plan ahead what we want to have for the week. Most recipes only consist of 5 or less ingredients (not counting your spices of course). We like to keep dinner simple, so we seldom have a side dish or just have some french bread with our dinner. Weekends we spend a little more time cooking, so normally my husband will barbecue for us. If we plan ahead we can take one piece of meat for one evening & use the leftovers in the Crockpot for another meal the next evening. We may take a leftover roast (cooked in the Crockpot, of course) from the 1st evening and use it in beans the next evening. Or we may take the leftover barbecued tri-tip from one evening, add a few spices & make burritos the next evening. One little note when crockpot cooking chicken, make sure your chicken is boneless. The crockpot cooks meat so tender that it is hard to remove all the chicken bones from your meal. So watch for your boneless chicken to be on sale and stock up. We have also used the frozen packages of chicken tenders. These work great in the crockpot. The secret to Crockpot cooking is keep your pantry stocked with the basics to make your meals. Create your own recipes. The following links include some of our favorite Crockpot recipes and others. Remember, if there is an ingredient in any recipe you don't care for, modify it, leave it out or replace with it something you do like. Enjoy and remember Saving Money Makes Cents. Want some quick meal idea? Sign up below for our free 6 day quick meals ideas e-course. When you sign up, a couple times during the e-course you'll receive a great free bonus recipe e-book. Enjoy! Grocery Shopping Tips
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