Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Paint: The "Fat Burrito" of the Home Improvement World

We're on a budget. My family. We're trying to save money . . . trying to watch what we spend. Yet, we're also still trying to have fun . . . to keep things happy and exciting in our little home.

Now, one of the things that we enjoy a lot as a family is eating out. I know that may sound bizarre with 5 kids . . . but really, it's one of the fun things that we all look forward to most of all.

However, as I just mentioned, we have five kids. And I don't know what happened, but about a year ago, they all found their appetites. See, before that, we used to be able to go to a restaurant and order 2 adult meals and 2 kids meals and divvy everything up. And everybody left happy.

Not anymore. Now, our children eat like . . . well . . . pigs. They polish off their meal and spend the rest of the time scanning the remaining food on the table . . . they're already laying claim to any leftovers that may survive the meal. They grab at our plates when we're not looking. They try to sneak things off when someone or something distracts us. As a result, meal times at restaurants have become one of two things: either we go and drop a boatload of money so everybody can have what he or she feels is enough food . . . or, we buy reasonable portions and then hunker down over them, growling and snarling at anybody who comes near our pile of food with their greedy little fingers.

Well, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that neither of those options is terribly appealing.
But, there's good news. We found a new option. See, on accident, we stumbled on a restaurant out kind of by Target. It's called the Fat Burrito. Yes, we've driven past it many times, laughing at it and asking what self-respecting person would drag themselves there.

Well, not too long ago, we dragged ourselves there. We'd heard decent things and we were sick of McDonalds and Pizza and Wendy's and all those other "affordable" options. And so we thought we'd give it a try.

Here we are at the Fat Burrito.  Madi's starting with her meal--everybody
else's is on the way.  (Just so you don't think we let the little girl go hungry).

And what a happy thing that we did. And I mean happy--happy as in giddy as a school-girl happy. See, not only do they have some of the best burritos I've ever had . . . but they also dole out huge portions. And, to top it all off, for every adult meal we buy, we can get a kids meal for $.99.

In the end, what that means is this: Everybody eats. Everybody's happy. We leave with leftovers to be eaten later. And we only drop about $25 - $30. Which is less than we typically spend when we hit McDonalds. In fact, of all the places we've looked for deals and value, this is easily the best. Even Little Ceasar's with it's cheap pizzas still ends up, (after the necessary breadsticks purchases), running us about $28. And let me tell you . . . this food at the Fat Burrito is easily 10x better than any of the fast-foody junk you're going to find out there.

Being on a budget, this was a great find for my family. We can still have a weekly or every other week outing, we can all eat, and we don't end up dropping $50 on dinner. 

OK . . . now, you may find that interesting . . . you may not. But even if you do, you've got to be wondering what in the world that has to do with paint.
Allow me to explain.  Most of us are on budgets right now. Most of us are watching what we spend. And this isn't just evidenced in our food purchases. We're limiting what we do in our homes as well. We're "living with" stuff that just a couple years ago we would have replaced. We're sticking with the same decor whereas a couple years ago we would have been mixing things up. We're watching our money. We're making due.

But then we find something exciting like the Fat Burrito: good food, good value, a decent price. It injects a little fun into our lives--and without the guilt that normally goes along with a $60 dinner.

Well, as the title of this post states, paint is the "Fat Burrito" of the home improvement world. Paint is your way to make a change in your home--a big change--without dropping tons of money. Most folks can completely change the feel of any room in their home--using just paint--for under $70. Less than $70 for an injection of life and fun into homes that haven't been updated in a while. Less than $70 to make a change that will last for years. It's a no-brainer. It's a great value in the grand scheme of things and it's definitely something to look into.

So stop out at RepcoLite and let us dish up some change for your home . . . and then, when you're done painting . . . head out for a cheap . . . (but really good) meal at the Fat Burrito. Trust me, you'll thank me later.

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