Surviving the Poor Economy: Part 1

Lately, we've had to be super frugal. This economy stinks, and summer activities are not cheap. Here's an example of my nifty-thrifty adventures:

Today my girls and I headed out to Frances Meadows in Gainesville for some swimming. Since it cost $4 per person/per day to go, we typically only get out there once per week, and for the last 2 weeks, we've chosen Tuesday. We get there around 1 or 2, and stay until about 4:30 or 5:00. Leah is free, but the rest of us have to pay, so it cost us $12 each visit. Not terrible especially since it's basically a mini-water park! The problem with spending so much time in there, is that by the time we leave, we're all hungry!

Last week, though, I discovered that our very favorite steak house offers 99 cent kids meals on Tuesdays, and on top of that, they offer "early bird" dinner prices. $7.99 if you eat before 6 o'clock. When we went last week (just the girls and I) we spent about $21 (because I ordered food to bring home to my husband) Not only did I have our to-go meal bagged up, but I also had an additionl meal and a half boxed up from our left overs! (which we had for lunch the next day) The servings are huge!

Today, I thought better of ordering more food to bring home for Joshua! Here was our order:
2 Mini Cheeseburgers and Steak Fries
Chicken Tenders and Sweet Potato
Sirloin Bites and Steak Fries
Chocolate Milk, Regular Milk, Sweet Tea
Total So Far: $2.97

I ordered Beef Tips with Mashed Potatos and a (dry) Ceasar Salad. I always order water with lemon... aside from the fact that I save an additional $2, my favorite beverage just happens to be water... with lemon.

Since a Ceasar Salad is partially filling, I had already planned on setting aside the Beef Tips and Mashed Potatos to take home to Joshua. Kyla enjoyed her sweet potato along side chicken tenders that she shared with Zoe because she was stuffed! Zoe ate a cheeseburger, a chicken tender and fries- Leah ate half a cheeseburger, a chicken tender and fries as well. I ate the 'kid sized portion' of the sirloin bites along side my dry ceasar salad. (And let me just say- if I am allowed, I will always try to order a kids meal for myself if we're out at a sit down restraunt in order to save myself from the temptation of scarfing down the ginourmous proportions that most places offer. So, a side salad and about 4 ounces of grilled sirloin added up to a great meal)

We boxed up the Beef Tips and Mashed Potatos, and still had to have a second box for a 1/2 cheeseburger, an order of fries, and bread!

Our grand total came to $10.96, after tax and a generous tip a family of 5 ate dinner "out" for $16.

I'm sure that this place not be doing their "kids-night" for very long, but we'll certainly enjoy our opportunity to eat our favorite food while we can!

In the mean time, anyone that has a thrifty-tale to tell, please comment!