Retiree provides the skinny on how anybody can save money when eating out
My thanks go to all readers who share good thoughts and savings tips. Here are some:
Jerry Krueger, a retiree in Tucson who enjoys eating out often, tells us how he does it without busting his bank account.
"Those three rules will cut your cost in half, allowing you to eat out twice as much," Krueger said.
They also will keep you healthier, I would add. With their expanding waistlines, most Americans can safely skip dessert, especially those laden with calories. But if you absolutely must have one, you can always eat fruit at home rather than pay restaurant prices for a piece of pie, slice of cake, or scoop of ice cream (at many restaurants, appetizer and dessert cost more than a main course).
Don't be shy about asking for a doggy bag either -- why waste good food? That way you can eat out not twice but perhaps three times as much.
Here are more tips from Krueger:
. . .
Richard Warnke, a reader who has followed this column for years, feels my investment philosophy is more conservative than his. But he wrote to say I was "right on the money" with a recent column about the need to assume responsibility for our own financial security in retirement rather than leave it up to the government or our employers.
"Sadly, too many people have chosen to 'invest' in the lottery instead of their company's 401(k) plan, or made just plain other imprudent investment decisions," Warnke said. "When my wife worked in a small-engine factory, she tried hard to convince her co-workers to invest to the maximum in the company's fine 401(k) plan, but very few put in anything."
"When I retired from the pastoral ministry at age 62, in a phone conversation with a colleague age 68 I asked him why he hadn't retired yet," Warnke said. "He said he had put his entire retirement savings (other than Social Security and a tiny pension our church gives) into the stock of one single company, based on a 'hot tip.' That stock has done poorly. I've learned that other pastors in our circles have done the same thing."
Warnke and I believe that the recently enacted Pension Protection Act of 2006 will help. The legislation, signed into law on Aug. 17, encourages automatic enrollment of new employees into 401(k)-type plans, automatic increases of contribution rates when workers receive a raise, and automatic investment in diversified portfolios. The law also makes it easier for employees who hold company stock in their plans to sell the stock to seek greater diversification.
Ultimately, however, it is up to us to make sure we have saved enough. That's why I appreciate this e-mail from Charles (Chip) Simon, a certified financial planner in Fishkill, N.Y.
"Keep telling your readers to keep saving and be patient," Simon said, and the part about being patient is the key, as a bit of math will demonstrate.
"Let them know that the magic of saving is this," Simon said. "In 15 to 20 years, their saved money will start to earn more than they themselves are able to sock away each year. When they get to that point, they will be well-positioned to be in control of their own financial futures."
I'll give you this example: Save $100 a month for 15 years at a modest 6 percent rate of return and you will have in round numbers $29,000. And $29,000 in turn will earn another $1,740 a year at 6 percent, more than what you save yourself.
Humberto Cruz is a columnist for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. 
