We eat out toooooooo much!

[lovemore]

When I sit down with the budget the truth of the matter is...we blow so much money eating out. I know, just stop right! I have no good excuse what so ever. The good news is its about all we blow money on. We dont buy "things" ever and are very frugal for the most part. But, we use eating out as our entertainment and do it too much. Any ideas for how we can curb this without an all out scolding of " just stop". Anyone have fun tricks like save up your quarters and do fast food once a week just to get out?

[zebra15]

Coupons, things like Groupon, the local entertainment book, getting there for lunch-which tends to be cheaper.  All those added up can save you tons!

I also get on the email list for my favorite places, join the frequent/rewards club etc.

[Momsteader]

Pick a day that you can eat out and only eat out on that day.

Set an amount for eating out and keep it in cash, when it's gone...you're done eating out. Finding coupons and deals will help you stretch it out.

For me, what broke me of the habit was moving to the sticks....65 mi from any big box stores/fast food...so it's impossible!  There is a small, local cafe here that is open a few days a week and makes amazing chicken friend steaks on Friday night, so we go out about every other Friday night. I feel good supporting local and the three of us can eat out including soup or salad, veggie, and homemade pie for dessert for $30 WITH tip!

[BetsyS]

Oh, I love to eat out!

The only thing that has worked for us is to set a budget and when it's gone, it's gone.  Of course, adding 3 small children in 4 years means that it's not as much fun to eat out as it used to be, which helps as well.  LOL

We also use groupon, know where kids eat free, are facebook fans/email lists of a couple of local places that run specials, we eat at lunch to stretch a dollar, and in general, we try to stretch our eating out dollars.  I would rather do these things and get to eat out 3 times than eat out with no limits only 1 time.  YMMV, of course, as to which style you prefer.

[woodchick]

We have found that no matter how strict we say our eating out budget is, if there's money available we'll end up going out to eat.   What we've done is 'spent' that money elsewhere first.  For example, we recently upped our church donation and it came right from our dining out budget. 

You could 'spend' it other ways as well- direct deposit into a savings acct, upping your grocery budget to include more fun foods, put it in a travel savings acct with a specific destination in mind, earmark it for a specific debt (and celebrate heartily when it is paid off!)

For us, the key is making sure that our money is working in places we want it to and not available for us to blow at the local Mexican place.

[MaryElizabeth]

I just did our Feb. expenses and was disappointed in myself! I really was trying hard to limit it to once a week and really be on top of sending lunches with hubby to work. Last month we did terribly!  This month I am grounding myself and DD to no eating out and giving my hubby a set amount of money each week that if he wants to use for his lunch...then fine, but I will still chase him to the door with his little lunchbox!!

[Alyantavid]

Come and join our homecooking challenge!

[AZgirl2207]

I love to eat out and every restaurant you can think of is nearby.  I feel your pain!  I try to evaluate why I want to eat out--tired, bored, change of pace, etc.  I"m a SAHM and I was interpreting my need for a change of scenery as wanting to eat out.  Eating at home and walking to the park solved that problem. 

My trick to eating at home is to try and recreate restaurant items at home...now if someone else just did the dishes I would be set.    Search for copycat recipes of your favorite dishes.  Last week I made Papa Murphy's Garlic Chicken pizza, Panera broccoli cheese soup, and Girl Scout Samoa cookies.  Even if I end up buying a 'special' ingredient, it's still tons cheaper than going out. 

[kristandthekids]

Originally Posted by CrunchyClark 

Pick a day that you can eat out and only eat out on that day.

That's the method I'm going with.*

I realize we had spent +$400 in Jan eating out. That's just disgusting. But I'm a single, working, pregnant, homeschooling mom and I am TIRED.
I've started doing more slow cook foods. I can toss a pot on and let it cook all day while I'm doing other things. And I'm allowing myself 1 day a week. I work 12 hours on Tuesdays, I will go ahead and cave just to have one less stress in that day. Even if we're having a $50 meal, that will be cutting my eating out budget by more than half.


*Starting in April. It's SxSWi this month so I'll be eating out every day for about a week.

[Momsteader]

KristanD have you ever looked at the Cuisinart Pressure Cooker? They are amazing! Work like a slow cooker, but super fast! I can put in a few ingredients and have dinner in 20 mins all in one pot. They aren't scary like the older pressure cookers. Electric and on the counter just like a crock pot :)

[NewBeginnings1]

We eat out for two reasons : We're tired or we're looking for something to do for entertainment. If you can eliminate the unnecessary eating out and allow yourself regular splurges, you'll still be able to enjoy eating out. 

Case in point, I was tired and told hubby. " I'm not cooking" which = "Fast food". As I spent 20 min round trip driving to go get the fast food and paid $20 for two meals (a 40% difference over eating at home), I realized that I could have done something at home easier, healthier, and cheaper.

Try:

Plan your menus and nights to eat out

Double meals every so often and freeze them so that you have something easy to make on hand.

Grocery shop regularly

Coupon

Pack lunches, snacks, and water when out on the town

Thaw your dinner meat the night before ( so you're inclined to use it)

Enjoy eating out when you do.

Try different restaurants and find who has great deals and support mom and pop places.

Eat at restaurants which serve family style.

Find other forms of entertainment.

Best of luck.

Edited by NewBeginnings1 - 3/1/11 at 6:42pm

[CameronsMama]

Originally Posted by Alyantavid 

Come and join our homecooking challenge!

 That's what I was going to suggest! It really helped me last month- we were eating out a LOT (Sometimes 3 times a week!) until last month when we went out a total of 4 times! Not only do we have more money left, we feel so much better. We weren't even eating fast food or anything, we were eating at reasonably healthy restaurants, but it still is not as healthy as what I can make here at home.

Like a PP said, I try to think about why I want to eat out- usually it's because I'm tired, so I started keeping more convenience foods at home. More expensive than cooking from scratch, but significantly cheaper than eating out.

Another thing that has helped is to think about what goals we have that can be met sooner if we aren't wasting all our money eating out. We want to buy a house, and we need to save a little more for a down payment to get into a good neighborhood. DH also really wants to take DS to Disneyland, so we are saving for that, too. So now when we're tempted to eat out, we talk about what that money could buy us instead of just one meal that is gone before you know it.

When we do eat out, we try to choose places that have specials/coupons/email lists that save money,etc.

[LadyJayne813]

One way we've dramatically cut back on eating out is keeping foods in the house that can be made quickly, or when other dinner plans fall through. In the old days, if I forgot to take out a package of meat the night before, we'd be ordering takeout.

I keep meal sized portions of cooked chop meat in the freezer. This defrosts quickly, and can be made into chilli, one dish spagetti and meat sauce, tacos, stuffed pepper soup, whatever you would make with cooked chop meat.

I cook ahead, and keep meals frozen in the freezer. They are completely cooked, and frozen. All I have to do is pull it out of the freezer, and let it defrost. At meal time, I just heat and eat. I would just make a side dish, and some veggies, and we are ready to eat. Right now in my freezer I have meatloaf, cooked pork chops, homemade meatballs in sauce, chicken cutlets, and stuffed cabbage.These are great when I know I won't be home early enough to cook. We can still have a real meal without having to cook it that day.

We have soup and sandwich night once a week. I don't buy lunch meat that often. Usually our sandwiches are grilled cheese, egg salad, tuna salad, or chicken salad. I always keep tuna on hand. I also have cooked chicken breasts frozen in broth in my freezer. They defrost quickly, and can be made into a quick chicken salad. A farm market near me sells portuguese rolls 4-$1, so we usually use these instead of sliced bread. This is also a good way to get rid of extra salad veggies. We love cucumbers, peppers, onions, and lettuce on our sandwiches. They are more like subs then regualr sandwiches. Sometimes I make a pot of soup, and sometimes we have cans of the Aldi brand Chunky soup.

Also, I think it is worth it to keep a few convenience foods in the house for nights you just can't get it together. One of my favorites is from BJ's wholesale club. They sell a 5 lb bag of raw breaded chicken fingers, These are real chicken, not nuggets. We have eaten these with potatoes and a veggie, as chicken parm, in green salads, and with french fries and corn on the cob. They are really restaurant quality, and about $14 for 5 lbs. Also, Stouffers has family size entrees such as meatloaf and lasagna that are pretty quick to heat up, and decent tasting. You still save boatloads of money than if you had gone to the drive through. We also keep in the freezer some walmart deli pizzas if we want to have pizza night. They are very similar to take out pizza, and half the price.

These are just a few things my family does to avoid eating out. I hope this can help someone out!

[bobandjess99]

what the previous poster said.  

I found that what really helped was having some yummy junk around the house, quick prep convenience meals, etc.

i found that i was going to the store and getting all nice healthy foods......which tended to be annoying to prepare.  And if pre-preparation wasn't done, like thawing, etc....well, we had nothing to eat.

I have to have QUICK and EASY and YUMMY foods in the house.  

Basically, i have to make what we have at home as easy and tempting as what we would get out.   

So now, when i do the weekly shopping, i get a few frozen dinners, or prepackaged meals, pre cooked meats, etc.   

And i also plan and budget for going out.  it HAS to be there in the budget somewhere.  cutting it out entirely doesn't work.  Once per week didn't work for me, it was too little.  Now i am doing a pretty darn good job with $20/week plus one family meal.  The $20 is for me and the kids to pick up lunch or snack out...$5 here, $5 there on stuff while dh is at work...and the one family meal out is a complete meal out somewhere when dh is home.  That means I'm actually eating out 3-4 times per week, even though the little lunches with the kids might be an item from a dollar menu, or some fries, or just an ice cream cone or shake, etc.  It's really nice to be out doing stuff and be able to say "sure" when they ask for a hot chocolate from the machine at the library, or a quick snack at the zoo, a pretzel at the mall, or to have some chicken nuggets and play at the play area at BK, etc.  IMO, it becomes a quality of life issue.  I realize some people don't LIKE to do those things, but I DO.  I really DO.  I like to be out and about, I like to have a few dollars to spend on myself....trying to live without those little perks makes me very depressed and unhappy with my life, I know, i've tried it.  

[ExOfficia]

Originally Posted by LadyJayne813 

Also, I think it is worth it to keep a few convenience foods in the house for nights you just can't get it together. One of my favorites is from BJ's wholesale club. They sell a 5 lb bag of raw breaded chicken fingers, These are real chicken, not nuggets. We have eaten these with potatoes and a veggie, as chicken parm, in green salads, and with french fries and corn on the cob. They are really restaurant quality, and about $14 for 5 lbs. Also, Stouffers has family size entrees such as meatloaf and lasagna that are pretty quick to heat up, and decent tasting. You still save boatloads of money than if you had gone to the drive through. We also keep in the freezer some walmart deli pizzas if we want to have pizza night. They are very similar to take out pizza, and half the price.

I so, so second this!  I used to be brutal with take-out and going out.  I thought carefully about why it was happening so much and I realized that it came from all-or-nothing thinking.  Most of the time I make everything from scratch, but we all have those days where it's just not going to happen because we're too tired, too stressed, too everything.  On those days I'd throw up my arms and just say, I give up, we're ordering pizza.  Then, $30 later, I feel lousy about the pizza (because mine is frankly better), and I feel guilty because I could have done so much more with that $30.

What I do now is make sure that I have some ready-made, easy to throw together 'convenience' meals floating around.  Either things that I've made from scratch and frozen (soups, stews, etc.), or boxes of whatever from the freezer section at Costco (not as cheap or healthy as from scratch, but it's better than ordering out!).

[msmiles]

I am so happy that you shared this, because now I know I'm not alone!

We have the exact same problem. Eating out is what swallows up most of our extra money. I find myself putting off a haircut for months because our budget would be squeezed by it, and then feeling ghastly when I sign the check at the restaurant because what it cost could have easily bought me a hair cut or two. We do it for the same reason, as well--the entertainment value. We don't go to the movies, go out to the bar, etc. We don't get any adult time, and I'm a SAHM isolated and without transportation on a boring military base (in other words, I don't get out much). We don't spend our money on anything except bills and necessities (except DH's cigarettes). So it's our only relaxation and makes us feel human…and yet it always seems silly after the fact, because what was accomplished? What can I say I have because of it? I could have gotten full at home.

It seems like every month, we have a talk where we recognize we need and want to spend less eating out but never do. What's helped (but not resolved it) is allowing ourself either two restaurants or a restaurant/fast food per paycheck. It's been hard to stay within an ideal limit, though--I would like it to be $40, but it can very easily become $100 per paycheck or more.

I'm glad to see everyone's advice.

[GearGirl]

We eat out like we are multimillionaires living in New York City, we don't go with fast foods or chains either, so we are spending (wasting) a ton of $.  This is my first week being done with that so I don't know if it will work but it feels like it.  What I am doing is figuring out a grocery budget (a little higher that it will be at first just to figure things out...), and putting it in cash in a clear jar and labeling it grocery $.  That is it for the week.  If there is $ left we can go out, if there isn't (there already isn't!), we won't.  I then wrote a weekly menu of what we are having for dinner and taped it to the fridge so we know way in advance what items we need and what we are having.  I am going pretty boring, pretty simple at first.  I then told the kids they have $20 mad $ a week to spend so they are handling the transition ok because they feel like that is a ton of $ but they are considering seriously what they want to spend it on (pizza or Chipotle).  So far I think it is going to work much better than what I was doing, and it is helping me to realize just how much we have been wasting.

[kristandthekids]

Originally Posted by kristandthekids 

Originally Posted by CrunchyClark 

Pick a day that you can eat out and only eat out on that day.

That's the method I'm going with.*

I realize we had spent +$400 in Jan eating out. That's just disgusting. But I'm a single, working, pregnant, homeschooling mom and I am TIRED.
I've started doing more slow cook foods. I can toss a pot on and let it cook all day while I'm doing other things. And I'm allowing myself 1 day a week. I work 12 hours on Tuesdays, I will go ahead and cave just to have one less stress in that day. Even if we're having a $50 meal, that will be cutting my eating out budget by more than half.


*Starting in April. It's SxSWi this month so I'll be eating out every day for about a week.

bah! We spent all weekend car shopping so we weren't at home to cook/eat and now I'm over my $200 budget already. And it's only the 12th!

And I didn't even decide on a damned car!


Someone yell at me.

[CameronsMama]

Originally Posted by kristandthekids 




Someone yell at me.

I would, but you're doing a pretty good job of that on your own :)

If it makes you feel any better, I haven't been doing very good with the eating at home so far this month either.

[imogenlily]

We eat out too much, too. It's gotten worse since I've been pregnant, because from time to time I'm too tired to cook, too scattered to do stuff I need to do for meals that have to be started way in advance (soaking beans, starting the slow cooker, etc.), or bored from being stuck in the house all day since I've been on mat leave.

I think the boredom related eating out is the hardest habit to break. I feel more frivolous going to a movie than going out to eat (I guess because food costs money no matter where you eat it, and you have to eat food - no one needs to see a movie), but recently I've realized that as expensive as going to a movie is, it costs $25, vs. the $40-60 we usually spend at a restaurant.