How often do you eat out?

[pearlieq]

Yet another set of DINKs here. Our situation is a bit complicated. DH travels for work, so from M - F he eats every single meal out on his expense account. When I'm home without him during the week, I'll maybe do Chinese or Taco Bell once, but otherwise I'll eat at home.

When he's home, it's almost like a tug of war. He's so used to eating our for every meal that he wants to continue that at home. I'm not crazy about the cost or the health consequences of that, so we usually compromise on eating out once a day with breakfast and either lunch or dinner fixed at home.

He can't/won't cook and by the weekend I'm usually a bit fried between working, holding hown the homefront without him, and taking care of my mom. Cooking and cleaning up isn't that high on my list either.

Going out to eat is especially important to DH and I now since he's on the road and I'm at home with my mom and BIL who moved in with us to help out. Going out to eat is one of the only times we have to talk and reconnect without an audience!

So, to answer the OP's question, DH eats out about 17 times per week and for me it's usually 3-4.

 

[christa112]

We eat out way too much. On an avg of 3 to 4 times a week including fast food. This is definately not budget friendly.

 

[marcyinPA]

I'm kind of curious, for those who maybe have no time to cook: Why not make something fast like grilled cheese and tomato soup, or soup and salad? Those take very little time...in the amount of time it takes to drive to a restaurant, order, and receive your food, you could have dinner ready and be eating it.

Not every cooked meal here is gourmet....we have "fast" home-cooked food at least once a week.

Also, wanted to mention that it is easier to eat at home if you plan out your meals, and make sure you have everything you need to make those meals on-hand. I sit down on Sundays and try to make a meal plan for the week. I don't necessarily make a menu, but I do pick out three or four meals and make sure I have all the ingredients needed.

I enjoy eating out too, but if you are worrying about your budget, it's really not that hard to cook at home! (I know for some of you that the budget is not the worry, and in that case, if you really want to eat out, then enjoy!!!)

 

[angelmav]

This is an interesting question. We eat out a few times a week if you count fast food, but it is also our entertainment budget, so not sure that it is really a budget buster. Besides neither of our schedules match, so its nice to have 1+1 time even if it's just meeting for lunch. Really, if not for these times together we would hardly see each other! Works for us.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

We are a family of four. We love to eat out. DH and I ate out alot way before the kids came and having 2 kids sure did not stop us.

DH works 3 weeks daylight, 3 weeks evening shift, so when he's on daylight we usually go out twice a week and then on the weekend.

When he's evening shift, I'm the only one carting to all the activities so we usually do drive-thru to make it easier for me.

I hate to cook and DH knew this when he married me. When we built our house 3 years ago many things were factored into how much we could afford, including vacations and eating out.

 

[edk35]

21 years of marriage, 3 kids ages 19, 16 and 11......Trust me we have eaten out a TON over this marriage.....a lot was due to our crazy kids schedules. My 30's were a blur really.......dd19 was BIG TIME into dance.....older son BIG TIME into sports (still is) and then the younger one is in sports but not as much as the older one. I could NOT get it together for years and years on how to cook when you are gone from 4 to 8 or later most week days and the weekends were filled with sports too. So we ate out way toooooooooooooooo much. I would hate to go back and add up (from quicken) the money that was spent on eating out. HOWEVER.....now that dd is in college, ds is in high school and plays high school sports things have slowed down some. So NOW in my 40's.....we are eating at home more. I kinda LIKE IT actually. We still eat out usually on the weekends once or twice ..counting pizza as one of the two. We eat out LESS fast food than all the other years....WHICH IS NICE. We also tend to eat at better places now for sit downs too.

Like others have said......I would rather have a very good meal occasionally than to eat at chain type restaurants over and over. We have cut way back and no one seems to miss all that eating out.

 

[Cdn Gal]

It's bad- we eat out waaaaay too often- about 1-2 times a week. But I am trying hard not to eat out so much during the weekends.

 

[gillenkl]

2 adults/2 kids and one income family. We eat out about
2x a month - and that is usually a carryout meal like cheesesteaks or pizza. Yesterday was DHs birthday and we ordered from Macaroni Grill carryout which was cheaper than if we'd eaten in the restaurant. Since we don't eat out often this is still a treat for us.

 

[katie111]

We have 3 young kids & we eat out a lot. I hate to cook and its something to do on weekends. We probably eat out twice a weekend and do takeout for dinner at least once, sometimes twice, during the week. If its something you really enjoy then I would continue doing it...and don't feel guilty about it! But you could also take the money & do something else for entertainment, i.e. go to the movies, a comedy show, bowling, out for drinks, whatever. That's what DH & I try to do when we get a date night. Sometimes we do a nice dinner but other times we'll go somewhere casual & then do something fun afterwards.

 

[KirstenB]

Almost never. Everyone spends money their own way, and I have a hard time paying to go out to eat. Even when it was just dh and me, I felt the same way. Please, this is not a slam on anyone here---believe me, I do spend money in ways that would seem foolish to others.

 

[mward73]

We have 2 small kids, so finding a time when they're both not going to yell makes it tough to go out. We try to eat out 1-2 times a week (usually one weeknight and one weekend lunch). My friend loves to watch the kids, so maybe once a month we'll drop the kids at her house and go out to dinner without them (still nothing really fancy - maybe Outback or Carrabbas). If we don't go out to eat, we'll do takeout during the week one night. My mom will come visit a couple of times a month and we usually get out every other month to a really nice restaurant without the kids (other times when she's here, we'll treat her to dinner out with us or order takeout).

 

[bigbabyblues]

We very rarely eat out. I'd say once every 2-3 months, including fast food? Maybe less than that. Usually when one of us has a dr appt, because our docs are all an hour or so away.

 

[traviesojmt]

As a family, we have always enjoyed eating out. We have DH, myself, DS12 and DD6. We use to eat out all weekend too, but my DH and I are eating more healthy and trying to lose weight. Now, my DH and I meet for lunch once a week and then the whole family goes out to dinner on Sat. night. We move quite a bit and have always enjoyed trying new places. I rarely ever go out to eat fast food. We might pick up fast food on occasion when things get really hectic, but when we go out to eat it is always a sit-down restaurant. We have a budget and eating out is a part of our budget. It is something we absolutely enjoy doing.

 

[DMickey28]

Before DS we would eat out all weekend too. Not really breakfast but usually lunch and dinner or if we had a big lunch we would have a very light dinner at home. We also ate out during the week out of convience. I'd say we averaged about $300/week at least on eating out. We lived right on Las Olas Blvd in Ft. Lauderdale the year before he was born and could walk to A LOT o restaurants. It was just too easy.

Now, with DS and only one income, we still eat out 2-3 times a week. Typically that's one pizza meal during the week, one dinner on the weekend like the Olive Garden and one lunch or breakfast on the weekend.

 

[Derby4me]

In the last year, had a baby, quit my job to be a stay at home Mom, repaired a leaking roof, new dryer, went to Disney...we eat at home! With an 11 month old that is on the go, the crockpot is my friend! We eat out MAYBE once a month.

 

[DMickey28]

I just wanted to add that we recently started eating out again. There was a period of time when DS was impossible to go out to dinner with. It just wasn't worth it so we didn't bother. Now he is getting a lot better so we tend to go more.

DH and I also work on doing date nights at least once every two weeks. We usually go to a nicer restaurant then, The Capital Grill or Joe's American Bar and Grill depending on the budget that week!

 

[fiveforall]

I have three kids (14, 12, and 10). The kids are involved in sports and numerous school activities. We used to eat out a lot (4-5 times per week). Several months ago, I began to really feel crappy. I changed our diet to mostly organic, no processed foods, and little to no sugar. We all immediately began to feel better. The extra effort in meal planning and cooking has been worth it. Needless to say, we now rarely eat out. We may eat out maybe once per month at a local, family owned restaurant. As far as Saturday night, we usually have some kid activity. If not, we'll make our own pizza and watch a movie or have a Wii tournament. Of course, a lot of Saturday nights involve me crashing on the couch with a book.

 

[robsmom]

We are in the have cut back a lot group. We have been dieting and trying build a healthier lifestyle so we have cut out almost all take-out, fast food etc. We used to do take-out or fast food 2 or 3 times during the week, go out every fri and sat night and eat breakfast at the diner once or twice on the weekends. also used to eat out for lunch at work a few times a week. Now we eat out every Saturday and sometimes a second night. These are sit downs usually involving a fish restaurant or Asian style meal. We have switched to healthy choices and spend more per meal but significantly less in total. In 9 months my DH and I have lost over 150lbs and have probably saved close to $100 per week. A win for the pocketbook and the waistline. I grocery shop on Saturday night or Sunday morning. I buy to cook three "real meals" during the week. This covers 4 or 5 nights. I cook a big meal for my in-laws and us every Sunday and try to make sure that I have enough for at least a second meal on Tuesday. I buy what looks good at the Fish counter and usually cook that on Monday. I can do baked fish/a boxed rice mix and a veggie in 30mins or less! The third meal for later in week is chicken or pork chops. This is enough for one or two nights. The other Wed/Thur/Fri nights we have "pick your meal" from the freezer nights and have healthy choice or lean cuisine.

 

[Bribrittmom]

I know we eat out a lot,but on work days I'm usually too tired to cook.We usually eat out about 3-4 times per week.This includes at least one lunch on the weekends.

 

[KimFIGFern]

For those who rarely eat out...do you cook every night of the week? do you work too??
Its so hard to come up with new stuff to cook.

I work and we rarely eat out (my children thought we were "living the high life" when we got free dining for our last 2 trips .

I truly try to avoid eating out ... mainly for the cost ... but second for eating healthy. I find that when I go out to dinner, I want to eat what I like ... instead of the healthy choices. Perhaps this would be different if I ate out more ???

Anyway, I have gotten very good at using crock pot recipes, pulling out frozen chicken breasts, pork chops, etc in the morning and then cooking something that takes about 20 to 30 minutes prep time during the week. On the weekends, I will cook something a little more elaborate and make enough for leftovers during the week.

I have also started to teach my two teenagers how to cook. (This advice was given to me by one of my dear friends whose sons are now in their 30s.) My sons have one night to cook something they like. I make sure they have all the ingredients and I help them prepare the food. They are responsible for cooking, setting the table and clean up for the night. If they don't tell me what they would like to cook ... and on what day, they are responsible for buying pizza for the whole family (neither of them have done this yet ) It has been a great bonding activity with my sons ... and the last few meals they have prepared didn't need too much help from me ... so, I could relax and get other things done. It has been great. I also feel like I am teaching them a life skill for when they go out on their own some day.