Guess how much money we've spent on eating out this month?

[Sari]

I just added up all the little debit charges on my bank statement. I'm afraid to even type out the total. Drumroll please..................$300.00!!!!!!!!!!!! O.M.G.!!!!!!!!! This is NOT including all the cash DH has taken out of the bank. I don't know where it goes, so it could possibly be up to $400.00, and the month is only 1/2 over! I am in complete shock right now. $50.00 of it was taking my dad and stepmom out for dinner, but STILL!

What the heck is wrong with us?!?!?!?!?!

[Mamaw]

I understand. Took DS and DDIL out over Easter holidays to the tune of 140.00. Then took DD and BF out for his birthday and another 120.00
I could have fed us for several weeks for that amount. I had to be crazy!!!!
So.....new goal is NO eating out the rest of the month for us.

[Darlene]

Now that you see the troubling truth you can make some changes. You can do this!

[rachelMcK]

Yeah, I hear ya!! I'm in the same boat right now. This was supposed to be my no spend month and we've spent about $80 on eating out...Its bad cause we really didn't have that $80 to begin with. Isnt just so frustrating that eating out is so convenient??

[mom2hancj]

I totalled it up in Jan and it was astronomically high. It shocked me. So now I am doing an eat out fund, in an envie. When it is gone it is gone for the month.

[FrugalMomof3]

wow that sure is alot, now you know what things have to change, it's a goal you must set for yourself and have to stick to it. Our family hardly ever eats out, once in a blue moon we order chinese food to the tune of $15 but it feeds the 4 of us.

[julieb]

We struggle with the same thing. We both love to eat out, but the last two times eating out we have gotten bad meals and thought, I could have done this at home and it would have been good.
We ate out only those two times this month, breakfast after church cost of 32.00 for both times. But I can make omelettes and fry eggs at home. No more of that for us.

[ubumartin]

We are so guilty of this. I have tried to cut back during the week. We do spend a lot on Dunkin Donuts plus eating out.

[monkeywrangler71]

I was scared to look at my total because we were just away, 4 days driving, plus takeout the day before we left and the day we got back. I just looked and we are already over budget for the YEAR! Guess I drastically underestimated the amount of eating out we do. Time for some changes around here as well.

And I don't know where all that cash my husband takes out goes either.

[frugalfriend]

We are definitely spending too much in this area too. Problem is when there is an Open House going on here we usually end up eating out because we have to be out of the house. I haven't been organized enough to pack a picnic lunch or something because it is all I can do to get the house in order! Feel like I'm standing on my head already! LOL

[i.m.cheap]

"The first step is admitting you have a problem..."

That is a lot of money spent on dining out. We don't spend anywhere near $300 in a year on dining out. We (dd and I) have been going out to lunch once every other week or so, but we spend $5.00 for the both of us. It is a challenge, but you can find cheap fast food meals if you know where to look. McDonald's and Wendy's both have "Value Menus" We always drink water instead of soda, and that really helps keep the price (and calories!) down. My favorite lunch at McDonald's is the Grilled Chicken Snack Wrap ($1.20) and the Yogurt and Fruit Parfait ($1.00). At Wendy's, it is the Sour Cream and Chive Baked Potato ($1.19) and Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger (.99).

Eating lunch out once in a while helps us feel not so "deprived", and it gets us out of the house (we homeschool).

[frugalfriend]

Yum! I love those chicken snack wraps!

[Laurie in Bradenton]

Okay for you statistic junkies heres something to chew on.
According to Resturant Magazine (the Mag that rest. owners read)
most American families eat at least half of their weekly meals out.
Thats figured on 3 meals a day on a 7 day week for a total of 27 meals which means 13 are eaten away from home. At an average cost of 12.00 per person. Do the math ITS Insane!
But then that explains why DH and I have a booked schedule throught the 1st of August. We paint nothing but resturants and have a waitng list of paint jobs. Now for the shocker we don't eat out but one meal a week thats Friday night for date night and we often go to a local Mom and Pop place. We will eat at a chain place if we've traded work for food coupons but I often save those for gifts.
Our society wonders why its in debt so bad. Way too many eat out on credit cards and don't cook at home. (My personal vent!)

Laurie in BRadenton

[3pups]

We've really been working on this too. It's hard sometimes with DH schedule, so we just run out and get a quick bite to eat instead of me cooking. We don't do this a ton, but we don't really have too becuase it still adds up so quickly! We do have an eating out fund but you have to stick to it for it to work.

[mikandmari]

Wow Laurie that is really interesting stuff!

When we made the decision to get out of debt, I knew I could do the majority of it just by taking control of my kitchen and stopping the expense of eating out.

We used to go to 1/2 price burger nite at our favorite trendy neighborhood restaurant. We get an appetizer, couple of beers each, and a dessert to split. We would end up wrapping most of the burgers to take home, thinking it was a great deal, we even had lunch for the next day! But "1/2 price nite" would end up costing us $35 + tip! Tuesday nites alone were costing us about $180 each month!!!!

Then one Tuesday night we stayed home. I cooked 'fun food' that night, just like we ate at the restaurant. Then I sat down on the computer, pulled up my credit card account, and made a payment online for the $40 we ~didn't spend~. I was hooked!!

The most challenging part is probably taking control of the kitchen. Getting organized and getting a plan. I found LOTS of help here reading thru the kitchen threads. It takes time to get things set up to work comfortably, but now (less than 2 months into it) my husband is impressed with my organization and great meals, and my friends are making fun of the tight ship I run (while they eat their Lean Cuisines for lunch and pick up KFC for the kids at night).