10 years ago the financial meltdown came to my industry, my small business, and my three mortgages. We all survived and are now thriving when many didn’t.

My wife (who helps me run my business) and I took a look at our lifestyle and decided to make some permanent changes. What I highlighted above from the article is our life ~97% of the time — right at home. We eat out ~3 times a month or 3 meals out of 100 (not including my frequent business trips).

We bought a powerful blender. I make smoothies 6 mornings a week. I play with the ingredients; constantly tweaking. I have separate recipes for my wife and myself. I exchange ideas with other smoothie makers.

The rest of the time my wife cooks (and films). She cooks probably 80-85% of her creations from scratch. One of us picks up ingredients several times a week, and she combines different things to make unique dishes. Most recently she “vegan-ized” Turkish Pizza (Lahmacun), making everything herself except the pizza dough.

Not only have we saved an unbelievable amount of money and time eating at home, we appreciate much more when we do go out.

Instead of drinking a $5 glass of sparkling water while waiting 30 minutes to be seated and order, I chat with my neighbor about his most recent mountain biking exploits while setting the table.

I realize this is not for everyone. I’ve never been a “crowds” kind of person, even in my 20s. I enjoy spending time with my wife, family, and friends without being somewhere “in.” I like knowing exactly what I’m eating. Making it ourselves just makes it that much easier and to my mind, better.