How many days until I don't eat out...

[Disneyhayes]

I am trying to see how many days my family can go without eating out. Now I have laid some ground rules. It doesn't count if

1) We didn't pay for it
2) We had a gift card (goes with #1)
3) It's for a FAMILY MEMBERS birthday
4) Someone is in from out of town
5) We get someone to come to church with us and take them to brunch after

Coming up we have a few birthdays but I plan on asking my FIL to make my favorite meal for mine and my mom will pay for my dinner with her. My husband won't care and I may be able to skip the others and just meet up with them at the house after for cake. I think I have to work those days anyways

Anyone else who wants to join is more than welcome to! I know sometimes we get resturant cravings so I plan on trying to duplicate meals I would normally order out. General Tso's chicken from my favorite chinese place is going to be the first one

 

[lady9]

That will save a lot of money. We live a couple of hours from you. We love the Cheesecake Factory, Brio, and Rusty Nail. Thankfully we live far enough away it doesn't tempt us. There are a lot of restaurant recipes online to help you get started on recreating those meals. I also found trying a new recipe tends to break up the monotony of meals.

 

[wendow]

It's been about 2 years ago but our family went over 6 mos without eating at a sit-down restaurant and we only grabbed fast food two or three times within that time period that we paid for.

We didn't even eat out for birthdays. I just made that person's favorite food at home and made a dessert. We did eat out once or twice when family was in town cause they always treat us since they stay with us. Otherwise, we ate at home exclusively.

It was actually kind of fun and time ticked by without us really realizing how long we'd gone. It helps that we don't eat out much anyways...maybe once a month...so it just wasn't too hard for us to do. I did and still do take snacks or sandwiches if we are going to be out over meals.

Good luck with your mission to save money!

 

[SamSam]

We used to eat out 'a lot', then I finally added up what we were spending each month to eat out and just said 'ENOUGH'. I started cooking all meals at home, at first I missed eating out but over time I didn't miss it at all. In fact, when we would occasionally go out we found the food lacking. It's a bit embarrassing to say but what we eat at home is generally way more flavorful than when we eat out. So unless we're traveling, we eat at home.
We do make exceptions when life gets particulary hectic, or we have visitors who like a particular local restaurant, or friends just want us to go with them for an evening out.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

In the winter time its real easy for us not to eat out. Once I get home from work I don't want to go back out into the cold to get something to eat. I use my crockpot a lot during the winter.

 

[cjbcam]

We have ordered pizza one time in six months and that was for my DD birthday. My DH watched some show about mc Donald's and fast food and now refuses to eat out. I obviously don't need to because I haven't missed it or even really thought about it. Now I'm worried though because we are going to WDW on the 22 and I have no clue how our tummies are going to handle the food.

 

[pigletto]

We have ordered pizza one time in six months and that was for my DD birthday. My DH watched some show about mc Donald's and fast food and now refuses to eat out. I obviously don't need to because I haven't missed it or even really thought about it. Now I'm worried though because we are going to WDW on the 22 and I have no clue how our tummies are going to handle the food.

Not only your tummies… but I guarantee you the thing you are going to notice is the SALT!!! Holy cow.. we had been eating very healthy for about 6 months before one trip, and when we got there and went to the restaurants some things were almost inedible due to the salt. Not something I had ever noticed before that. Just go easy and try to make healthier selections.

 

[wendow]

We used to eat out 'a lot', then I finally added up what we were spending each month to eat out and just said 'ENOUGH'. I started cooking all meals at home, at first I missed eating out but over time I didn't miss it at all. In fact, when we would occasionally go out we found the food lacking. It's a bit embarrassing to say but what we eat at home is generally way more flavorful than when we eat out. So unless we're traveling, we eat at home.
We do make exceptions when life gets particulary hectic, or we have visitors who like a particular local restaurant, or friends just want us to go with them for an evening out.

Same here! We still rarely eat out and when we do, it's almost always disappointing and SO not worth the money. When we do eat out (and it's been a couple of months), we always choose one of a couple of places that we know will be good. I'm tired of paying too much for junk food that I feel yucky after eating Don't be embarrassed to say it. Food cooked at home is almost always better. And I say that as someone who doesn't even consider herself a great cook.

 

[wishesuponastar]

I will join you to try not to eat out. I say try because I do enjoy going out for pizza once in awhile. Weekends are the most tempting since I cook Mon to Fri. We also go out for birthdays. I would say that we eat out about one time a week so if I could cut that down in half I would be happy to save the money. Good luck everyone!

 

[southlakejr]

DH and I are terrible about eating out. We both commute about an hour each way, so we usually get home hungry and tired. Added to that, most of our friends live about 30 minutes away so we tend to eat out with them alot. And did I mention we live within 5 minutes of just about every fast food joint there is? Anda bunch of amazing Mexican restaurants. And...and...and...so often it just seems easier to grab something.

but its awful for our walllet and our waistlines. So we're back to cooking at home. Four days in a row! Very sad to say that we're actually proud of our "streak" We've been good at eating at home in the past, we just need to get back in our groove

 

[Couchy]

I would fail this test horribly...We eat out waaayyyy too much...

 

[wiigirl]

In the winter time its real easy for us not to eat out. Once I get home from work I don't want to go back out into the cold to get something to eat. I use my crockpot a lot during the winter.

Same here.

 

[Deffenm]

I will join you. I am trying to save as much money as possible and I can only cut expenses is in groceries, gas, and eating out. So I set a budget amount of $50 to eat out for the month. For a family of 5 that is basically one meal.

So far having a menu planned out, using the crock pot a couple days a week, and making things that we like when we got out to eat is helping. I am making enchiladas tonight for our Mexican fix. My kids actually perfer to make their own pizza instead of ordering one.

I will come back and report how we did at the end of the month!

Good luck!

 

[Iowajes]

In the winter time its real easy for us not to eat out. Once I get home from work I don't want to go back out into the cold to get something to eat. I use my crockpot a lot during the winter.

I agree- in the winter I rarely eat out, less than once a month. In the warm months I'm often going once a week or once every other week. Too much.