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The dirty dish on saving money
The Web site for the award-winning alternative weekly, the Philadelphia City Paper.
The dirty dish on saving money
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| Scrub, scrub, rinse = more loot. |
I stumbled across the Web site Pioneer Thinking while researching ways to save money, and Jill Cooper's article "Dirty Dishes Cause Debt" stopped me in my cybertracks. Going out to eat, even when you can't truly afford it, is common amongst Americans. I am a slave to restaurants; when I'm not working in one, I want to be in one. I used to attribute it to spending too many hours scraping other people's plates, fetching other peoples' iced teas, and heading off to work at 5 p.m. when the rest of the world was on their way home. Like all good addicts on the road to recovery, I'm admitting I have a problem. And I'm not alone.
Cooper states, "Most people don't want to face the real causes of their debt. Their biggest problems are the things they like the most. Going out to eat is one of the top five causes of debt."
Keeping your kitchen empty of dirty dishes is the key to saving money. This is probably the #1 way to start getting out of debt. Most people are so overwhelmed with piled counter tops and dirty dishes that they would rather go out to eat than face a dirty kitchen. Do the dishes after every meal...Clean up as you go. If your sink is empty and the dishes are washed, your kitchen always looks good. This helps you save money because you have time and space to cook.
Chefs and restaurateurs can flame away: If you want to save money, you better learn to eat in. Restaurants were a treat for our parents; a special destination. When I was a kid, I thought Sizzler was a seriously expensive outing — that make-your-own-sundae bar was impossibly luxe. But for the past 20 years, farm subsidies and cheap fuel have kept food prices artificially low, and the number of casual restaurants has exploded. With belts tightening at every income level and exponential increases in the cost of food commodities, this glut of restaurants are in for the same tough year as their customers.
If you find yourself on the scary end of a pile of credit card statements, take the first step in the right direction. Pick up a pair of cheery yellow Playtex gloves and wash those dirty dishes.
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