Saving Money Doing What You Like to Do #2 - Pot Luck Dinners

I'm going to let you in on a little secret about myself: I love food and drinks. I suppose you might have been able to guess that with one of my first posts being about wine tasting. However, eating out all the time very quickly uses up all your hard earned cash. What is a responsible young adult to do?

My wife and I hang out with two couples on a regular basis. We used to do this every Friday night, but over the last month and a half or so, it's been tougher to be consistent, but it is a goal that we all enjoy and for which we all make time. It has been said that food brings people together, and this is the case with our friend group. Generally, we all head over to one of our homes, and we have dinner and play a board game or two.

When we first started, there was a bit of stress that accompanied this venture. It seemed very grown up and proper to have the hosting party provide dinner, but this was quickly repealed as buying food for six people is a bit of a strain, especially when compared to the two people for which each of the couples normally buys. In addition, one of the couples each lives with different families, and so they wouldn't really ever be able to host, which seems unfair too.

So, like so many Southern Baptist churches, we decided to make our events pot luck style. While we certainly could plan it a little better (sometimes we end up with three main courses), this plan of attach is generally very preferable, at least for my wife and I. My wife loves it because when I cook, I tend to use a certain combination of spices that end up making most of my dishes taste similar. I love it because one of our friends used to work at one of the fanciest restaurants in San Diego (Bertrand and Mr. A's), and so I am always looking forward to whatever it is that she puts together.

Generally, each couple gets away with paying $10 or $15 dollars, and we all get to enjoy a three course meal. There have even been times when one of the couples brought a big bowl of ramen noodles because it was all they could put together in time, so they certainly got off a lot cheaper (and it was delicious anyways).

In short, food is good. Friends are good. When you put them together, it can be a fun and inexpensive way to spend an evening.

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