KCFreePress.com

Dear Emily,

My girlfriend and I go out a lot. It seems like we leave the apartment early on Saturday morning and my wallet is drained by mid-afternoon. We don't do anything too crazy, it's just that the little things pile up and suddenly my budget for the month gets thrown out of whack. We talk about how we need to have a little more self-control, but the problem is, we just don't. We need to find a way to be social, have a good time and enjoy the precious hours away from the office without spending as much cash. What is this young, hip and broke couple to do? Help! (This column is free right?).

Sincerely,

Broke as a Joke

Dear Joke,

Let me start by bitching about how much I hate the phrase "broke as a joke." I've been broke, there's nothing funny about it. How about "broke as a homeless person?" Or, perhaps "broke as Bobbi Brown?"

Now, onto your question. I think what you need is better planning. I know that as a young, hip couple, you want to be spontaneous and see where the day takes you, er, your wallet. And when you have more money you can be more spontaneous. But for now, you just need to plan your weekends.

Luckily, when you're with someone you really like even mundane activities can be fun — or at least not terrible. On Friday night, decide what meals you'll want for the weekend. Sit down over a cheap bottle of red and make a shopping list. Go to the grocery store together and play grab-ass in the bread aisle. When you wake up on Saturday, instead of going out for a $30 brunch, you can make your own coffee and eggs, or an egg and potato breakfast casserole (recipe below).

But really, you should start your planning before Friday night. Throughout the week, find out what free activities are happening around town. There's bound to be a free or cheap concert or show and, as a fallback, many of the city's museums are free. Go on a free tour of the Boulevard Brewery, complete with beer samples. Once a month, you can go out for First Fridays in the Crossroads. When the weather finally warms up, pack some sandwiches and take advantage of Kansas City's biking and hiking trails.

While you still might want to go out to dinner one night of the weekend, staying in and cooking together is always fun, even (or especially) if your culinary skills are less than stellar. You can spend $100 out on dinner and a movie, or do it all for less than $20 if you cook at home and subscribe to Netflix. A monthly membership is $8.99; that's $4.50 per person. And you can even make an entire date night out of filling up your queue.

If you begin to feel like you're becoming homebodies, host a weekly or monthly potluck and ask some friends to bring food items and others to bring drinks.

Whatever you do, plan to do it — or at least most of it. You'll find more creative ways to spend your time and your money. And that can't be bad for your relationship or your wallet.

Love,

Emily

Broke Breakfast Casserole

This egg and potato casserole requires you to boil the potatoes ahead of time, so this is one you might want to make before you go out on Saturday night if you’re planning to have it for Sunday brunch. You can easily add bacon to this recipe by cooking it with the garlic and onions and chopping it before it goes in the casserole. In this case, eliminate the olive oil, as the bacon grease will do the trick.

Ingredients

2 pounds Yukon potatoes, boiled, peeled and sliced

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

2 large white onions, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

4 cloves garlic minced or pressed

6 large eggs

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup finely chopped chives

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Layer the potatoes in a greased or buttered 9 X 13-inch baking dish. In a skillet over medium heat, sauté the onions, green pepper, and garlic in olive oil. Once the onions are translucent pour over the potato slices. In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, cheddar, heavy cream, cayenne, chives, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Pour mixture over the potatoes and onions. Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes until the eggs are set and slightly browned on top.

Recipe adapted from Casserole Crazy: Hot Stuff for Your Oven.

Have a question for Emily? Email it to emilyf@kcfreepress.com. Have other ideas for cheap dates in Kansas City? Leave them in the comments section.

• Comment
• Blog / Link
  • Grab the link

    Copy and paste the link:

  • Blog about it

    Blog about this page.

  • Close
• Share |