Anyone want to do a "No Eating Out" July?

[mightymoo]

I'm not up for a no spend challenge, though I am trying to stick to budget, but one of our major money eaters is eating out. (Well, not super major, but we will might eat in a restaurant 1-2 times a month and get take out another 4-6 times - it adds up big time especially if we do it alot) Actually we mostly eat in, getting take out when we are too lazy to cook. I know this is something I can do without completely!

Anyone with me? My plan is to not buy food from a restaurant or take-out place for the whole month of July. (If someone else wants to buy me dinner, that's okay!)

I was thinking maybe if we shared our meal plans or helped each other brainstorm on dinner ideas and whatnot it would be easier.

[Jennisee]

I was going to start a Pantry Challenge thread, but that would probably be redundant, so I'll join here instead. I'd like to cut back our eating out, not stop it entirely, but what I really need to do is use up things in my pantry and freezer. We have too much food stockpiled for three people, and I need to use a lot of it up. It's going to be kind of tricky because my oven is broken, so I'll definitely need to meal plan.

[maggiemae]

Count me in! I am going to lunch tomorrow, but after that....

[Sihaya]

We have been eating out way too much since I got pg! Now that I'm out of the first tri and can actually stomach non-fast-food, we need to cut down drastically. I'm in, but my goal is to only eat out once during the month of July (that's how often we used to eat out and what we budget for).

[sweetfeet]

Yes! Our spending on take out, mainly Panera and Chipotle, has quadrupled(!) in the past 2 months. We spent about $200 in June vs. our normal $50. We usually eat out every Weds with my dh but I think we'll just pack something. The places we go to are fairly inexpensive but it adds up quick. I can think of better things to spend $200 on.

Thanks for starting this. I wasn't up for a no-spend challenge because we are going to visit relatives in another state this month. I'll even keep eating out to bare minimum there as well. The last visit we ate out maybe once.

[mightymoo]

I had another idea that I want to implement. I am going to go through my budget and add up how much we've spent eating out (near as I can tell) since I began tracking last year, and I'm going to post that number where I can see it and update it whenever we do eat out. I think looking at the actual total might be real motivating, especially since I suspect its in the thousands...

[sallyg6]

I'm in.

My biggest problem is poor planning during the day. When I go out to run errands with my little ones, I'll usually stop at a drive through on the way home. What I should do is make sandwiches and other snacks they can eat in their seats. Any great ideas?

We also eat out in the evenings when we don't like what's on our menu or I didn't pull the chicken out to thaw in time (or some other equally lame excuse - I could always thaw it in the microwave). I'll probably buy a few frozen pizzas/meals for this. Frozen pizzas are still cheaper than eating out.
My meal plan is nothing special, I just plan meals that sound good then buy the stuff for them, and make them - I usually have the leftovers the next day for lunch but other than that I don't do anything fabulously frugal to share.

Some weeks I eat out as often as 7 or 8 times!!! And it is a big drain on our budget because the purchases add up and it's not something we specifically budget for (our budget is not super regimented, we pay our bills, save the decided upon amount, and the rest is fair game).

So, for the month of July I won't buy food from a restaurant (my birthday is in July, though, so I will accept a lunch/dinner out from DH).

[mightymoo]

We plan a budget for holidays like birthdays (including presents) so I feel like if I spend my birthday budget on food rather than a present, then that's okay, but its the 'I don't feel like cooking / there is nothing in the fridge - lets just pick up some subs' problem. We used to go out to eat a lot with my parents, but they've realized they need to cut down on that too, so they haven't suggested we all go out to eat in a while - those meals are really costly - we'll pick up subs and stuff for $20 around the corner, usually will get us dinner and another meal for lunch tomorrow, but going out to eat with my parents will easily cost us $80-90 and if we feel obligated to 'pick up the tab' with the whole family around - $150 or more :P

[jlazx2]

I think that I would like to be in too@@

[mommaof3boz]

We are leaving for Colorado tomorrow and won't be back til July 8th. After that I am totally in. We MUST. CUT. DOWN. OUR. SPENDING.

[SugarGlider]

YES YES YES!!!!!

We spend FAR too much on eatting out.

[CarrieMF]

I am in on this one. It'll be good for me as every Tues after my weight loss group we go out to eat.lol

I am going to take the $ I'd spend on eating out(and on paydays & the Tues nights my kids come with me & I spend even more) & put it into retirement funds.

[Matt's Mom in MT]

I was in until subs were mentioned. That sounds sooooo good.

[sweetfeet]

Originally Posted by mightymoo

I had another idea that I want to implement. I am going to go through my budget and add up how much we've spent eating out (near as I can tell) since I began tracking last year, and I'm going to post that number where I can see it and update it whenever we do eat out. I think looking at the actual total might be real motivating, especially since I suspect its in the thousands...

Thats a great idea! I'm going to post it on the fridge. Our total for the year so far is:

$569.91!

What a waste of money. I could have bought some really nice groceries with that money.

[mightymoo]

I did the math $790.94 so far this year. Ugh.

[SusannahM]

Yes, I'm in. We're going out on Saturday to celebrate my grandmother-in-law's birthday, but I guess since that's June 30, it doesn't count .

The toughest challenge for us will be to not eat out while we are on the road. We usually stick to the $1 menu at Wendy's when we do that, but having fruit and such in the car would be more nutritious, anyway.

We also go to the grocery store here that hosts live music and has a playground beside the patio to "eat out". I try to limit our spending there to $15. We usually get two meals out of what we buy there. So, it's kind of like eating out. I'll challenge that part of our budget to be $10/outing instead.

[angelcollector1]

I am so in on this challenge. I posted that it's my biggest problem with staying within my budget every month. I don't want to go look at how much I've spent this past year so far.. but I think I might just do that to see what I come up with from the debit cards, I know I won't be able to account for what I've spent cash on, but I'll get some type of idea.

[mtm]

I need in too. We're bad for the too hot to cook/lets do take out in the summer. I need no oven ideas.

[FamilyFriendlyLife]

Oh my goodness...just ran our dining out expenses ytd, and we have spent $936.30 - halfway through the year + we have burned through almost the entire annual dining out budget! It gets worse, as this does likely not include many meals for which we paid cash.

Apparently, I really need this thread. I will be stopping in for inspiration + willpower (we just moved to "town", where the lovely pizza man actually comes right to your door; also, ice cream window is a 3 minute walk), in addition to the July no-spend thread.

Good luck all!

Kim

[Nursingnaturalmom]

TOtally in!! Its those little stops that add up. A Sub here, whole foods there

Mcdonalds Iced Coffee.....THATS my addiction lately.

Hmm, I'll go for toning it down. Not sure I can do NO eating out just yet : :

Chandi