The Dining Out Dilemma

Year after year, my husband and I tell ourselves that we’ll go out to eat less so that we can save money and eat a little healthier. But year after year, we continue to splurge. Let’s face it – Seattle has so many delicious food options!

This year, we decided that we’ll only go out to eat four times per month. I think we’ll actually follow through this time because we came up with a system to hold ourselves accountable!

The System

It’s really very simple.

Make four “dining out” cards. The front represents an opportunity to dine out, and the back indicates that you used the opportunity.

(“Eat Me” on the front is a nerdy nod to Alice in Wonderland, and “Was it worth it?” on the back is meant tonto encourage us to ask that question every time we use a card.)

Hang the cards in a high traffic area. We chose the refrigerator.

Whenever we go out to eat, we flip a card over. If we end up using all our cards well before the month is over, well we just have to be content with eating in until the new month begins.

So far, the system seems to be working. We’re ten days into the month and we’ve only dined out once!

How I Made My Cards

I’m moderately pleased with how these turned out. I may take a stab at a second version later on.

I used Canva to design the cards. (I love Canva!) I picked one of the business card templates and customized it for my own needs. If you don’t feel like spending time on a design, you can download mine.
I printed out four copies of the front and back designs and then used the good old classic Elmer’s glue stick to glue them together. (Don’t even ask me why I happened to have these on hand, because I have no idea.)
Then I laminated the cards, making sure to leave enough space for me to cut the hanging part. I used this laminator and these sheets.
I cut out the cards and used a hole punch to make the tag hang-able.
Then I used these fun magnetic hooks to hang them on the refrigerator!

Alternatives

If you’re not into the shiny reflection of laminates – or if you lack the desire to own a laminator – you could either print or stamp on good card stock.

Instead of having to cut anything out, you could use a tag punch. I have one of these! Why didn’t I think to use it?! If you go this route, I’d recommend using some cool stamps. (Seattleites, be sure to go to Impress for your stamping needs!)

And finally, I wish I hadn’t ordered such brightly colored hooks. There are so many pretty alternatives! I kinda wish I had picked them up in all white or silver.