I posted an ad on Craigslist last week to sell my son’s old Chicco Travel System. I got the stroller/carseat combo as a baby shower gift. The total cost for this set is still about $330 (for the system plus an extra car seat base) at Babies R Us. The expecting parents I sold it to bought it for $100.

In the past when I’d sold things on Craigslist, I’d immediately waste it on something like eating out. That alone would be around $40+ down the drain. When I think of that travel system in terms of monetary value, for the fact that I’ve put it to good use and the fact that it’s a year-and-a-half old, selling it for $100 sounds fair. But when I think of it as, “my Chicco travel system is worth 2 dinners at the Olive Garden,” I think it sounds absurd.

I love to eat out. Before I started this blog, I ate out daily. I have a 15-month old, so my excuse was always that I don’t have time to cook, but in reality, I’ve always been this way. $12 on lunch and $20 (for my share) eating dinner with my husband. That’s $32 a day. Plus my $4 daily morning latte. Make that $36 a day. Times 5 days in a week: $180! And that’s just on myself. Times 2 to include my husband, comes to $360 PER WEEK. And per month? $1,440!!! I knew it was expensive, but I failed to sit down and actually analyze the numbers. That is purely ridiculous. It’s no wonder we were living paycheck to paycheck.

So the husband and I have made an agreement to stop eating out and start only eating what we have at home. I can’t wait to see and feel the effects of this “sacrifice” — hopefully an extra $1,440 per month put towards paying off our debt!

PS. We finally get paid tomorrow, so it will be official. Tomorrow marks the launch of our quest to become debt-free!

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