a shocker......

[lucyem]

We live in a rural area so the places to eat out are limited and the quality ones are few and far between. For me, looking at the bill for a mediocre meal for 4 is more then enough to keep me home.

We have learned to make more special/fun meals at home. Friday night we generally have homemade pizza. Dough in the bread maker, we make our own sauce which is beyond simple, fresh mozzarella. So much better then anything I can get locally. Plus DH loves a certain non HFCS soda with it which is expensive but not so much when you compare to a soda when eating out. Sunday night I try and make a large roast or big lasagna, chili, something with lots of leftovers I can freeze or use the following week. Then have a fancy dessert. Or I experiment with a new recipe for fun and to expose the kids to new things.

We make sure to always have a few quick and easy meals on hand. A can of black beans + a jar of salsa over chips with cheese and microwaved for 1 minute. Hotdogs. We have chickens so omelets with whatever we have on hand are always available. A frozen orange chicken meal from Trader Joes. I work as a substitute and often get last minute calls. It is much easier for DH to have the quick and easy dinner to make.

Another thing I do it try and plan double or triple meals out of one thing. A really big turkey on a Sunday can turn into sandwiches for school/work, leftovers the next night, more sandwiches, pulled turkey in a chili or soup or on a salad. We had a 26 pound turkey at Thanksgiving that we managed to get 8+ nightly meals out of and that does not include sandwiches at lunch. We did freeze a lot of cooked turkey for reheating later. Granted doing this weekly would be too much but once every month or so. And you can pick up a couple of frozen turkeys on sale after holidays.

 

[Florida Princess]

Being semi-retired, I do try to keep track of our eating out expenses !
Living in Florida, we are blessed with many early bird deals as well as some fairly inexpensive decent restaurants. I do purchase from Restaurant.com and clip coupons from our local paper for restaurants that we like


When preparing dinners at home, I always over make and either freeze or have them as leftovers a few days later. I use coupons (from our local Paper) when food shopping and watch sales closely and stock up on needed items when they are on sale (combine with coupons and usually you will find terrific bargins).

We have really saved on our food costs by watching our spending and it made us aware of how much we could actually save for our trips up to WDW !!!

 

[MariDisney]

I subscribe to e-mealz.com which gives me a whole week's menus, recipes, and shopping list each week. I pay $5 a month for the service, but it is SO worth it not to be tempted to go out. I post the menu in the kitchen so everyone knows what we're having. I'm saving a ton of money plus have cut my planning time down a huge amount.

 

[MEM]

We only eat out while on vacation - unless you count the $20 we spend a month on 2 pizzas from Domino's. I work full-time and have learned to love my crockpot. We buy the 10 pound bag of frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts from BJs or Costco and that makes quite a few healthy crockpot dinners. I just add brown rice or whole wheat couscous when I get home. We also have fish once or twice a week - I broil it or make foil packages with the fish sitting on a bed of succotash and bake them. Sometimes we'll have peppers-and-eggs sandwiches using liquid egg whites and Trader Joe's fire-roasted frozen peppers on whole wheat buns. Easy meals don't have to mean hotdogs.

If you are tempted to eat out, sometimes it helps to view the expense in Disney terms: the $100 you spend on a mediocre restaurant meal would pay for one night at a Value resort.

 

[MEM]

I want to try this as well. My problems are my DD8 is picky, soccer practice and family night.

DD8 is getting better but she is still very picky. At least we can now get her to try things. Soccer practice 3 times a week, makes things hectic as well. I got a new crock pot cook book, BUT my family is not in love with the recipes in there. So I am still trying to figure out some great meals that my family will eat.

Lastly is whenever it is my week for family night. There are a lot of us (Mom, Dad, 2 brothers, 2 Sil, 1 aunt, 2 nephews 4&6 months along with me, hubby & DD8) so coming up with something to feed everyone is always fun --NOT. Thankfully we rotate houses, I do the cooking no matter what. Cause everyone loves my cooking. But if its not at my house I do not have to do the buying.

So any suggestions, I would certainly be grateful.

kelli

Which cookbook? If you take a look at Stephanie O'Dea's website http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ you will see that when she evaluates her recipes she includes what her young children thought of them...often hilarious comments. I bought her first cookbook, "Make it Fast, Cook it Slow" and most of the recipes are keepers. She has a second one out "More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow" - haven't ordered that yet.

 

[disneymom2one]

Our budget for three people used to be over $500 a month. It's now easily under a hundred. What has really helped is that we never, ever leave the house without a small cooler of drinks (water, juice, soda) and a small bag of snacks. Sometimes the snacks are hundred calorie packs and sometimes it's low fat cream cheese on a bagel or a veggie wrap. That so helps when you're hungry and out running errands. The motivation was not money at first - I've recently lost about 80 pounds so most fast food doesn't fit into how we eat anyway. But our budget has greatly improved.

 

[nikkistevej]

I just added up our totals too, and this was just from our checking account, don't know how much cash it is too, and it was more. I also signed up for the website, as we have decided we are going to try to eat in more as well.

 

[figment3258]

come try our eat at home thread on this board you can post a weekly menu or whatever works for you. We have a lot of recopies and support

 

[EKW]

I'm a single mom, so eating out isn't a regular option for us. For the past several years we've eaten out once each weekend. One weekend we do a table service restaurant...the other three we do fast food (which wasn't bad back when we lived near a Fazolli's and Panera).

This month my budget is tighter, so we're only eating out on Tuesday...when Del Taco has 3 tacos for $1.

I find it's easiest to stick with this if I plan meals ahead of time, making sure that many of them are easy. This week's menues are: tuna/mac bake, sloppy joes, salmon patties, waffles and sausage, meatloaf, Del Tacos, pork chops.

I'm not saying that's the healthiest menu I've ever served, but there's nothing that takes more than 30 minutes to prepare and cook, and nothing that requires multiple-pan clean-ups! The other secret is that there's nothing that is pre-prepared. When you start buying those type of items your cost starts to soar...it can easily cost as much as a fast food meal out!

 

[indimom]

We average about $200/month. But, we are in major save mode for a new car now (we thought we had another couple years in the car, but it's not looking good), so our goal for 2011 is to keep the dining out budget under $100/month so we can stash the extra in the car account. Wish us luck.

 

[charming23]

I did this a few months ago and was appalled at how much we spent on eating out and thinking how many meals I could have made at home for that amount of money.

I now use the crock pot a ton and plan meals out each week based on sales and what we have in the freezer/pantry. I also have one meal out and one take out meal now budgeted in the monthly budget. I take it out in cash and once it is gone it is gone.

 

[sk!mom]

Getting back on the bandwagon here, as well. We ate out way too much in December. Too many get togethers at restaurants, too much company, and too busy to plan good meals at home.

What works for me is planning good meals at home. When I read some of the "cut your grocery budget" threads, it's no wonder to me that some find themselves wanting to eat out. I buy salmon, good cuts of meat, lots of fresh produce and then we are generally happy to eat at home.

I meal plan a week at a time and keep a few quick things on hand for when things truly get busy. Black Bean nachos, Black Bean Quesidillas, produce for salads.

 

[lillygator]

I think having a well stocked kitchen will help too...I know we have some nights where neither of us wants to cook (put together a meal) so if I get things like frozen pizza or something to have on hand instead of picking something up on the way home.

 

[kkacar]

Which cookbook? If you take a look at Stephanie O'Dea's website http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/ you will see that when she evaluates her recipes she includes what her young children thought of them...often hilarious comments. I bought her first cookbook, "Make it Fast, Cook it Slow" and most of the recipes are keepers. She has a second one out "More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow" - haven't ordered that yet.

Cool! I am going to use this website. As far as the name of the cook book, I am not sure. I think "crock pot" put it out. LOL! By so far my DD8 does not like much of anything in it at all. And there is only so much bbq pork you can eat. LOL

kelli

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

one idea -- do you have a best friend or a nice neighbor who may do this? For example, pick a night this week and tell your neighbor that you'll make a huge pot of ___________ (for example white chicken chili) and you'll make enough for both your family and hers. That saves her one night of cooking. Then in the future, she'll make something that will serve both her family and yours.

It's a nice break from "what shall we make for dinner" syndrome.

In fact, I have decided that next Christmas season, instead of making cookies and sweets for the neighbors, I am making a big container of soup that can be frozen and telling them to freeze it until january when they don't want to cook one day and get it out then.

 

[TiffanyK]

one idea -- do you have a best friend or a nice neighbor who may do this? For example, pick a night this week and tell your neighbor that you'll make a huge pot of ___________ (for example white chicken chili) and you'll make enough for both your family and hers. That saves her one night of cooking. Then in the future, she'll make something that will serve both her family and yours.

It's a nice break from "what shall we make for dinner" syndrome.

In fact, I have decided that next Christmas season, instead of making cookies and sweets for the neighbors, I am making a big container of soup that can be frozen and telling them to freeze it until january when they don't want to cook one day and get it out then.

That's a great Christmas gift idea!

 

[ConnieB]

part of my ny goals are to really track our spending.....I just added up our out to eat meals for December......

$666.83

this does not even include xmas eve dinner at $150+ and no groceries. it does include a trip to gainesville - of course had to eat out there. but an eye opener for sure. the girls are out of school and came to work with me and of course I took them out to lunch, so more than usual.

more importantly, best way to wean ourselves from going out to eat?? I already have a meal plan and menu for the week.....and went grocery shopping......


writing it down really does open your eyes though......

now to do better!

Yep, eating out is truly expensive! Good for you for putting the numbers out there in front where you can see just how bad it is! Years ago I made my husband keep track of his "it's just a buck" expenses....you know, a soda from the vending machine ($1 each), or a candy bar here, or a Starbucks there, etc. He kept track and saw that it was more than a car payment...and he'd been wanting to get a new car, lol. I'd already talked him into packing a lunch long before this experiment, so now he actually needs very little "pocket money" and has been known to make a $20 bill last all month, lol.

With that in mind.....consider rethinking your statement "does include a trip to gainesville - of course had to eat out there". Why did you HAVE to eat out there? We pack lunches when we know our errands are going to keep us out past lunchtime. In nice weather we find a park to sit and relax...in not-nice weather, we eat in the car, chatting to pass the time. A cooler and a "blue ice" make it safe to bring nearly anything with you, including a mayo filled sandwich. We make Jello or Pudding in small storage containers so that we can take along a treat too.....which they wouldn't get if we ate out, so that's a small incentive to keep them from asking for Wendy's, lol. Packing your lunch also means that if you're running behind you can just let the kids eat while you keep driving so you don't have to take away time to find a fast food place, wait in line, eat, and get back on the road. I try not to do this, though because I really enjoy a short break myself!

It takes a little planning ahead, and the first few times will feel like more work than it's worth but that's only because you haven't found a rhythm yet. The kids make a large batch of jello/pudding each Sunday for Daddy's lunches.....knowing that at least once or twice we'll need them also....and if we're out a lot that week, refilling the supply takes literally 5 minutes to boil the water or mix in the milk, so doing it after dinner while we do dishes is painless. Making too much is never a problem, because it keeps for more than a week, so it's good for next week if need be. Even the kids can make Daddy's lunch, and a cooler for the 3 of us in about 10 minutes....I can do it in half, lol.

 

[kelcoppens]

One thing that I started doing that saves a few dollars is... when I have a craving to go to Chick fila or any other drive thru for lunch, I order a kids meal for myself. That way I get everything I wanted but in a smaller portion which is okay usually, and its cheaper

 

[MsDisney23]

We hardly eat out as it can get very expensive. In the summer time, I enjoy cooking our own steaks on the grill and eating from our garden, it is awesome. I enjoy cooking so look forward to the winter time.

We do enjoy going to Olive Garden, picking up a pizza or cheesesteaks, but we eat most of our meals at home and enjoy the savings.

 

[CherylA]

My goal is to get down to $600. I just put my spending data into a tracking system and I spent over $2400 on meals out in Dec. I've got to get that down and save at least half of that in my emergency fund.

My good Lord thats $80 every day on eating out. You must eat out almost every meal or have 8 people in your family . Come see us on the "eat at home" thread. You would save SOOO much money!