Sense to Save

Our $10,650.50 bill (sort of)

I just got the bill from the hospital — you know, the one where I had my baby awhile back. I was there for about 67 hours.

My bill (before insurance) was $10,650.50. Oh man. Fortunately, with insurance, my financial obligation is just $280, or about 2 percent of the total cost.

Out of curiosity, I requested an itemized bill to see how it all breaks down. Maybe they’ll send one to me.

I believe this figure includes all of my prenatal care and 6 ultrasounds.

I wonder what an epidural would have cost. Or a c-section. Yowza.

Thank God for our health insurance!

15 ideas for saving money at restaurants

Recently, a writer interviewed me about ways to save when going out to eat. I thought I’d share some of the things we discussed.

First, when I go to a restaurant, I generally have one of two goals: To have a dining-out experience, or to get filled up.

If I just want to get filled up, it’s usually because I didn’t eat enough before leaving home, and I’m out and about and hungry. I get all sorts of cranky when I’m hungry, so eating is essential. When I’m out and hungry (and too far from home), I’ll typically swing by a drive-thru and hit up the dollar menu. A baked potato or a cup of chili from Wendy’s will usually satisfy me, and it’s cheap enough.

I could save some money if I made sure to eat enough before venturing out, or if I packed some snacks to hold me over!

Other times, I go out to eat with the sole intention of having a nice dining-out experience. Going to a restaurant is intentional; not just a whim of my belly.

It’s nice to get waited on, not have to cook, and to get something different than I’d prepare at home.

We can go to a restaurant and get a lot of food, but sometimes, it’s just as fun to order appetizers or dessert only. You still get the enjoyment of going out to eat — but with less food, your bill is also less (and you’re probably healthier for it!).

Here’s some ideas for saving money:

• Go out for coffee and dessert, or appetizers only instead of ordering an entree each.
• If you’re hungrier than that, order one entree and split it, and share an appetizer.
• Go out for breakfast or lunch, where menu items are typically cheaper than dinner fare.
• Order water instead of a soft drink.
• Get discounted gift certificates from restaurant.com.
• Visit the restaurant’s web site to find coupons. You might need to sign up for their e-mail loyalty program, but if you get coupons for free dessert or $5 off your order, it’s worth it!
• If you have an Entertainment Book for your area, you might be able to find some valuable coupons inside.
• Use gift cards to fund your purchases. I like to earn gift cards from MyPoints.com and my debit card rewards program.
• Order the “daily special” if it’s a bargain.
• Don’t forget a doggie bag!
• Budget for eating out. Once you’ve spent your weekly or monthly allotment, you’re done.
• Some restaurants have promotions where your children can eat for free. Or, if your kids aren’t too picky, maybe you can share some of your meal with them.
• Celebrating a birthday? You won’t want to miss all the freebies you can get!
• Here’s a promo that I saw thanks to a MyPoints e-mail: Buy one entree at TGIFridays, get one free with coupon.
• Look at your receipts. Places like Arby’s and Wendy’s have deals where if you take a phone survey within a few days after your visit, you can get a freebie on your next visit.

One last thing: Always always tip at least 20 percent. If your bill is extremely low thanks to freebies or coupons, tip more. If you can’t afford to leave a generous tip, you can’t afford to eat out.

What else can you add to the list?

How do you budget and shop for for clothing?

I’m back to my pre-pregnancy weight, but definitely not back to my original shape. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get back to the way I was. I’m not counting on it.

Unfortunately (or maybe, fortunately?) none of my old jeans fit anymore. When it comes to clothes shopping, I don’t think there’s anything more frustrating than trying to find a good pair of jeans. I usually have to try on a lot of pants before finding some that will work, let alone look good.

In the past, I’ve just bought clothes as needed, and tried to keep my spending to a minimum. I’d flock to clearance racks and try not to ever pay full price for an item.

I’m going to change my strategy a bit.

First, I’ll take a complete inventory of what I have. I’ll get rid of clothes that I haven’t worn in awhile, and have no likelihood of wearing again.

Next, I’ll identify the gaps in my wardrobe. I’m predicting that I’ll need clothes for day-to-day wear and some nicer things for church.

I’ll create a shopping list of concrete items that will serve a specific purpose. For example, blue jeans for daily wear, nicer jeans, tops that will work well while nursing, etc. This way, when I go shopping, I won’t just get a bunch of things that I like on the rack. I’ll only get it if it has a specific place in my closet (and life!).

Finally, I’m going to try to do something that I haven’t really done in the past: Ignore the price tags. At least, initially. I don’t want to buy a pair of pants simply because they’re really cheap. I want to buy them because they fit well, are well-made, and will get plenty of use. If that means I have to spend a bit more to get an item that fits the bill, then that’s what I’ll have to do. Which makes more sense: Paying $50 for something you’ll wear a few times per week, or $10 for something that you wear once and never again?

Of course, if I can get that $50 thing for 20 percent off, all the better.

It might be a good idea to set aside some money each month for clothing for my husband and me. We probably won’t go clothes shopping each month, but over time we’ll be able to accumulate a good amount of savings to update our clothes when we need to.

I’ve heard setting aside 5 percent of your income to cover clothing. I don’t know if we’ll do that amount. Perhaps I’ll do a bit more early on while I’m getting a few key pieces.

How do you shop for clothes? How do you budget for them?

For more on the topic, check out my principles for frugal clothes shopping. Also, see this guest post at Get Rich Slowly.