Dining out really adds up.  Even if it’s a quick run to Subway for a $5 sandwich for lunch, I’m spending $20 a week on lunch alone.  And it’s a whopping $80 a month, just on breads and filler veggies!

I’m on a mission to save money on our monthly food budget again.  Kevin and I tried living on a $100 food budget a month one time by dining at home for 30 days, and we got very close (I think we ended up spending about $120 which wasn’t too bad to feed two hungry bellies).  I think I’m ready to do that again starting in October.

We still have a week before we dive into the lifestyle which consists of dining at home on most nights, but we got a head start last night.  Instead of going out to eat, we made Bahn Mi, a Vietnamese sandwich, at home for dinner.

We went to the Korean supermarket and picked up a pack of marinated beef (bulgogi) and chicken, and some staple vegetables (cabbage, onion, napa cabbage, mushrooms), and went to the nearby Fresh and Easy to pick up some breads.  We got lucky that we were able to pick up three rolls for only $0.65! Gotta love those after hour sales, when prices drop by half or more!

We made the radish and carrot salad in advance and let it marinate in vinegar (3/4 cup), water (1/2 cup), agave (3 tablespoon) and a pinch of salt.  When we came back from our grocery store errands, the veggies were perfectly flavored!  (We made a lot more than what you see here — I forgot to take a picture until it was almost all gone!)

The traditional Bahn Mi has liver pate and all the other good stuff, but we stuck to just mayo, beef and chicken, radish and carrot salad, and a few sprigs of cilantro.

A total amount spent on dinner:  For three sandwiches

Bread:  $0.65
Marinated beef and chicken (we only ate about 5 pieces):  $2.00
Radish and carrots (we had them already in the fridge):  $0.00
Mayo (already had it in the fridge):  $0.00
Gatorade that Kevin had with dinner (we had the powder Gatorade already in the pantry):  $0.00

Total:  $2.65 (about $0.83 per sandwich)

So far, so good.