Yesterday marked the beginning of the third annual No-Eat-Out November.

It’s a concept I came up with as a fun way to challenge Michael and I to reset our habits on eating out vs. making meals at home, which is a great way to save some money.

November works well for us because we normally go on our big trip sometime during October. When we get back we’re always in the mood to sharpen up on our money saving skills.

For whatever reason this month long challenge seems to work better than just saying to one another “oh, we should try and do a better job of eating at home” (we’ll say this every now and then throughout the year if we’ve fallen into an eating out rut).

And while we technically spend time together if we go out to eat, it’s not like the date nights you see in the movie. Going out to eat loses it’s luster if you do it pretty often.

Now, eating at home on the other hand can be pretty exciting if done with a little bit of planning. If you know you’re going to be doing it, you can take the time to plan out more exciting meals than normal.

We can all admit that we are guilty of getting stuck in meal ruts, eating the same thing day after day. And sometimes it just takes a little challenge to spice up dinnertime.

It was during this challenge two years ago that we first made Polish periogi, and were shocked to realize how easy it was. It’s a great time to try out different soup recipes and make big batches to eat over the course of a few days.

We did our grocery shopping for the week quickly last night, trying to get fresh fruits and vegetables as well as a few ingredients we could combine with things we already have at home.

But starting next week I will take the time to take stock of what we still have in the fridge and cupboards, and plan out a few new meals for the week before doing my grocery shopping.

So, if you’ve been looking for a little financial challenge, join me this year for No-Eat-Out November.