How much do you eat out?

[VAfamily1998]

There wasn't an option near mine...

About once a month

 

[eliza61]

Fridays are "moms day off" so most of the time Dh will order take out or we go out to dinner.
Hey this mom lady needs a break also.
during the summer we tend to eat out a lot more because we are out and about more especially on the weekends. If we hit the beach all day on Saturday, no one's cooking when we get home.

Ironically when we lived in NYC we ate out all the time. There is such a wide variety of foods for take out. Now that I'm in suburbia we've cut back.

 

[Happiest mommy]

Eating at home is how I save money I make large Dinner portions so that we also eat it for lunch the next day, but we basically eat out every other Saturday or Sunday ..

 

[RN01]

Wow this is pretty inspiring. I can't imagine all the money I would save if we just ate out 1-2 times a month. I feel like if I just stuck with the 3 times I do a week we would actually save money because there are times when maybe 2 of my kids are gone and my husband is like" Lets' just grab something out.. it's easier". I think planning ahead is the key, and having stuff on hand to make easy things when time is and issue is important too. I'm also trying to find new recipes to try. It's soooo much healthier to eat at home too, even if it's not the healthiest recipe because I usually want fries or pizza when we eat out.
Thanks everyone..keep em coming!

 

[summersalt]

Never more than once a week. We made a New Year's Resolution to stop eating out so much. I can't believe the money we have saved. The savings has allowed us to pay off over $12,000 in debt since January 2010.

Another thing I've noticed since we stop eating out so much, is that the food is so much better cooked at home! My DH makes the best grilled salmon I've ever had!

 

[Kitzka]

If we are not on vacation we eat out 3 times a year.

we do ocassional carry out but that is maybe 3 times a year? My family is pretty picky and loves how i cook (which is a good and bad thing.)

A PP mentioned pho. YUM. I make my own. it takes FOREVER but is great! plus i know what is in it.

Lara

 

[mistysue]

Holy cow, I can't believe how infrequently people eat out.

At work, we go out to lunch 2-3 times per week.

As a family, we go to breakfast Sunday and dinner Monday and Thursday. (often pizza, or somewhere like Panera bread where we all split a pick two with a bagel or something) Then on Saturday we usually have a day out and do fast food for lunch on the way to some outing and either pick up dinner or eat at DH's parent's house.

So we are 4-5 times per week plus lunches.

DH and I both love cooking, we just also love going out! We know all the ways to make it not too expensive, so we regularly get out of places for $20 including the tip. In the end, our eating out and grocery expenses are still only adding up to what others spend on groceries, so it's not too bad.

 

[blessedby3]

Never more than once a week. We made a New Year's Resolution to stop eating out so much. I can't believe the money we have saved. The savings has allowed us to pay off over $12,000 in debt since January 2010.

Another thing I've noticed since we stop eating out so much, is that the food is so much better cooked at home! My DH makes the best grilled salmon I've ever had!

HOLY COW!!! Did you eat out breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday??? $12,000 is a ton of eat out money in 7 months!

 

[Tinkerbell3014]

I didn't vote, but would have said "other". We order pizza or pick up subs to eat at home a couple times a month. We only eat out a couple times a year.

I would have to pick other too. This is about the same as what we do. It feels like we are wasting money if we eat out more.

 

[TxRabbit]

We've been moving. It's been a long drawn out process of getting out of our house and into storage, crashing at the inlaws (who live in a virtually empty house, don't ask, long story), to finding our own place, to finally getting stuff out of storage this weekend. We've been living without real chairs (have the bag em up "lawn chairs") or tables, so it's been nice to actually sit and eat at a table somewhere.

I'm hoping to get organized and into a rhythm in the kitchen again after this weekend. I can tell you, I'm sick of the choices around here and am ready for some home food. Lately, we've been eating a whole lot of PB&Js.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

Normally it is one sit down and one take out per month... but with that being said, I am having a really bad summer.

Health wise, time wise, and adjusting to my baby going off to college has me in a funk.

Our plusses are:

We never ever eat breakfast out, not even donuts.

DD gets free pizzas and subs because she works there so its not a financial problem, just health wise it is really bad for us.

DH never buys lunch out, always brings his to work, and the same with the kids when they are in school.

Lastly, I am admitting this openly, so hopefully I can get us back on track!

 

[LaDonna]

I'd say as a family(5of us) we eat out 1-2 times per month, and even then we choose those places I have coupons for so we normally end up spending no more than $30. I think maybe we might eat out like 1-2 times a year without a coupon :lol Of course we do run thru drive thru more than that when we are doing errands, but we always choose those places with dollar menus and that is maybe once a week or less....

For those time we are just super busy and I'm not going to be able to cook a meal I just make sure I have several frozen options. So many complete meals now in a bag, or even the frozen entrees and add your own sides, gee even veggies are quick now, just pop them in the microwave in the steam bags they come in.

 

[disneydreamersx4]

This is an area that we cut way back on since we bought our house in 2004. During the school year, DD12 buys lunch at school about 3x a week, DD9 buys at school about 2x a week. DH usually brings lunch from home 4x a week. I treat myself to lunch at Costco 1x a week.
We save on pizza night by making our own with our homemade dough. We might do take out chinese maybe once a month or dinner at the mall 1x a month.

It really helps to plan out your meals for the week so you don't have to run out last minute for ingredients.

 

[MEM]

I checked "never" but it would be more correct to say "only on vacation" or "other". I wish I had the budget to be able to eat out more often, but in order to afford DVC and 3 vacations a year, eating out had to be sacrificed. I bring both breakfast and lunch to work. Its a little bit frustrating working in Boston's Chinatown area and not being able to eat out with colleagues, but I remind myself what's really important.

 

[Swimalie]

Saturday night is "mom's night off from cooking". We will go out then but usually to a place that has a coupon. Then I usually take my son (5) out to lunch once a week. There are only 3 of us so eating out isn't hugely expensive. My husband joined the gym in his office building which costs around $500 a year and saves us a lot more since he will not eat out those days. He will eat out 1 to 2 times a week, though.

 

[summersalt]

HOLY COW!!! Did you eat out breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday??? $12,000 is a ton of eat out money in 7 months!

lol... Both my DH and I used to eat out EVERY day for lunch. Then for dinner we'd eat out 3-5 times a week. We were spending about $300 a week on just eating out!! The first two weeks I was able to pay off a credit credit. By the end of month, I was able to pay off Best Buy. I used those amounts that I paid off to add to the next debt. The amounts that I send to the next debt gets bigger and bigger. This also motivated us to cut back on entertainment and several other areas within our budget. It is thrilling to know that in just 16 short months, we will be free of ALL debt (even the house)! We have been blessed with several bonuses too, by the way...

 

[cindycastle30]

We go out about 3 times a week. 1st on Wed because we weigh in at weight watchers that night and by the time we are done we treat ourselves, try to keep it under $30 to $40, a place near us has a $3.95 burger special with fries so that one is a favorite, usually $25. 2nd we go out Saturday night because a little dive near us has the best broasted potato only on Saturday nights plus it is supper cheap 1/4 broasted chicken with salad, bread and those potatoes for $4.75, my husband gets the 1/2 for $6.75. This is one meal that I can't give up since not only does it taste so darn good it is so cheap. 3rd we will pick up Subway or take and bake pizza one night. Our kids dont like to go out with us and actually prefer to eat ramin, hamburger helper, or cereal. In fact it is a treat for them to be able to eat that kind of food so it is a win win for all of us.

I might try the excel spreadsheet idea from a different thread to maybe cut down our dining out down a little. Like the idea of saving more money.

 

[JENOS]

We do take out EVERY FRIDAY (unless we are going somewhere Saturday and would rather have a nice dinner), and I don’t remember how many years ago we started this.

 

[Ava]

We usually have a sit-down meal once or twice a month (brunch or dinner), and I might buy lunch once or twice a month as well. Some months we do more, depending on what's going on (birthdays, traveling, etc) but we try to limit it to only a few times a month.

 

[JENOS]

lol... Both my DH and I used to eat out EVERY day for lunch. Then for dinner we'd eat out 3-5 times a week. We were spending about $300 a week on just eating out!! The first two weeks I was able to pay off a credit credit. By the end of month, I was able to pay off Best Buy. I used those amounts that I paid off to add to the next debt. The amounts that I send to the next debt gets bigger and bigger. This also motivated us to cut back on entertainment and several other areas within our budget. It is thrilling to know that in just 16 short months, we will be free of ALL debt (even the house)! We have been blessed with several bonuses too, by the way...

I can defiantly see how that adds up, I use to do Starbucks EVERY DAY, which totaled up to about $2300 a year. I now do 7-11 coffee only Mon-Fri which only adds up to about $450 year, which then probally would go to vacation.