How often do you eat out?

[lila]

At least once a day. Often two times a day. Sometimes three times a day.

I don't lead a lifestyle or have a job that allows me to be at home much and spend a lot of time in hotels.

 

[hipchickie]

When we were DINK, and even DI one K, we ate out a LOT - on average, ate out 3-4x a week, a maybe takeout 1-2 other nights. The 1-2 night we were home, it was generally leftovers.
Honestly, I pretty much had no food in the house to cook with anyway, I worked a lot of hours, and was so exhausted by the time I was out of work, the last thing I wanted to do was shop. My husband did not work as many hours, but had a long commute, so he ended up having as long of a day as I did.

We now have 2 kids, and we currently go out to eat about 4x a year (not including vacations). I took a while to get out of the habits we had gotten into, at first we cut down to 1x a week, the 1x every couple weeks, now I am loathe to fork out money for something I can make out just as well myself - especially since when we go out we enjoy having a drink or 2, and that alone can add up to the cost of the meal (especially margaritas! ) not to mention the calories!!!

Also when I started changing to cooking more, I spent more time planning out a weekly menu - that way I knew I had what I needed to make it. Now that I have "learned" how to stock my pantry, I don't have to do that anymore, I know what I like to have in order to cook meals we enjoy.

We have "movie" night on Saturdays, I make pizzas and we pick out a movie to watch with the kids. Occasionally we mix that up with game night. Right now we have made and ice rink in the front yard, so lately we have been having friends over with their kids, ice skate, and have dinner, then the kids hang out and play, the adults play pool - it has been really fun.
Why not try having friends over for a board game, or if you have a wii that is pretty fun. Maybe you could plan with some friends to have a cooking club ala "dream dinners" - everyone come over, make a weeks worth of meals while chatting and hanging out - kill 2 birds with one stone.....hey, that is a good idea!! I should ask some friends if they want to do that!

 

[mel&me]

We eat out all the time, 3-4 time a week. that's not counting the take out.

 

[IndayMichelle]

DBF and I get take out probably twice a week. We go out to eat maybe once every other week on date night.

While I love to cook, I don't always have the energy to do it. And I agree it's hard to think of new stuff all of the time, especially because DBF does not eat meat. But there is a solution to this. And his name is Trader Joe.

Have of my freezer and pantry is stocked with Trader Joes food. Frozen entrees and desserts, and heat and serve things in the pantry make up at least four or five meals a week. And there's such a variety so it never gets old. They have Mexican (Trader Jose), Italian (Trader Giotto), and even Thai and Indian. It's super affordable too.

 

[squirrel]

Maybe 4 times a year.

That must be why I love Free Dining. No cooking for me for 2 weeks.

 

[blanq]

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 have been reading more recipies online lately...although Paula Deen's website could be dangerous

My family of three eats out about once a week. Sometimes it is a sit-down restaurant, and other times it is something quick like Subway, pizza or takeout Chinese. Both DH and I work FT, and he is a shift worker with very strange and long hours. The key for me is to meal plan. I sit down on the weekend, looking at the grocery ads for what is on sale, and I plan out each meal for the week. I do some cooking/freezing on the weekends too. Also, I have a freezer full of meat (1/4 of a beef, and about 50 lbs of chicken). I have oodles of cookbooks, and like to try new things, so that is an incentive for me to cook.If I am prepared like this, I am much less likely to eat out.

 

[snowbunny]

For those who rarely eat out...do you cook every night of the week? do you work too??

Yes I work. Two words: crock pot!

I have two kids and I am not good at making a three-course sit-down dinner on a daily basis like my mother did, I admit that. But we have good food and we eat at home. Just can't see spending all my extra cash on restaurant food.

A few weeks ago I read an article in the real estate section of the New York Times about a couple who had bought their first apartment...to save money they were eating take out food most nights instead of going to restaurants. Uh, hello! Turn on your oven!

 

[rockundergirl]

For me its 2 times a week, but varies a bit. I have a small son (4) who does not enjoy eating out at all, hes very picky and never eats what he orders and has trouble sitting still. Its rare that I take him to a restaurant because of this. I usually get take out for me and my son one night a week. Then my boyfriend takes me out to dinner every Sunday ( his treat). Some weeks I'm bad and get sucked into ordering out for lunch at work! and it can be as much as 4-5 times a week.

 

[Kit'smommy]

We rarely eat lunch at home and eat dinner out once a week.

DH, DS and I usually eat dinner out on Friday (Outback, or something similar $-wise). We eat lunch out both Saturday and Sunday (Pizza Hut, a local seafood place, Chili's, etc.) and fix a lighter dinner at home on those nights. We spend $90-$120 for the three of us to eat out over the weekend and it is social time together to catch up on things as a family.

DH and I both work downtown and grab a slice of pizza or sandwich most days for lunch. The lunches during the week are not that much more than we spend when we take lunch so it isn't worth the time and effort to me to pack lunches.

We are both professionals who have great jobs with somewhat long hours. One thing that offsets what we spend on eating out is that I am a very good and economical cook and we don't spend that much on food that is eaten at home at dinner. But I am not about to start cooking every meal that we could be eating at home.

 

[DW2010]

When I think of eating out, I think of everything including even going to Starbucks or a fast food place. We eat out way too much and are hoping to limit it. I've been doing it since I was 18 or so, but I really need to get in the habit of eating at home!

 

[mjkacmom]

Maybe 6 times a year? It usually costs us about $80 when we go out, when you factor in tax and tip. Also, many of the kids activities are around dinner time, so it's rare we'd all be around to go eat at the same time. Plus, I find I eat healthier when I'm eating at home. I do love to to out, though - mealtimes are crazy here!

 

[disney4us2002]

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!!!)

I'm not sure many people saw your question Marcy, but I'm just catching up so it caught my eye. For whatever reason, my dh does not consider sandwich and soup or soup and salad to be a "meal". He wants meat, veggie, starch, and some type of bread/roll/biscuit for dinner every day. I DESPISE cooking at this point. Actually, it isn't the cooking I dislike; it's the deciding and planning. If he or anyone else would plan every dinner for a week, I'd happy to cook it. I just hate the whole open the freezer at 5pm and think "what can I make tonight?".

We eat out or carry out at least once per week. I will not cook on Fridays so we often have date night that night. Our kids are older and often have plans with their friends anyway. Saturday is dh's night to cook. Sometimes he does; sometimes we eat out again.

 

[savannahcat]

Two kids and one income here. We usually eat out once a week. We attend church on Saturdays at 7PM about 45 minutes from our home, so we usually eat dinner out before church. Saturday has become a great family day for us.

 

[Disney-Kim]

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!!!)

Grilled cheese and tom soup type meals work their way in to our weekly dinners. I do meal plans for the week and I have those items in my pantry and I do plan....but..

I will admit it is hard to come up with things to cook week after week...so by the time the weekend comes...I am done and look forward to eating out

I also think that I am not a great cook and not that creative...I pretty much make/enjoy what my Mom made like tacos, enchiladas, cream mush pork chops, taco salad, etc.
I do have a few things that are my specialty...I try to cook chicken breasts a lot since my DH loves chicken...its not my fav. I love fish

 

[marcyinPA]

I'm not sure many people saw your question Marcy, but I'm just catching up so it caught my eye. For whatever reason, my dh does not consider sandwich and soup or soup and salad to be a "meal". He wants meat, veggie, starch, and some type of bread/roll/biscuit for dinner every day. I DESPISE cooking at this point. Actually, it isn't the cooking I dislike; it's the deciding and planning. If he or anyone else would plan every dinner for a week, I'd happy to cook it. I just hate the whole open the freezer at 5pm and think "what can I make tonight?".

We eat out or carry out at least once per week. I will not cook on Fridays so we often have date night that night. Our kids are older and often have plans with their friends anyway. Saturday is dh's night to cook. Sometimes he does; sometimes we eat out again.

Thanks for responding!

I see that a lot of people go for fast food/drive through a few times a week, and I often wonder why not just make a sandwich? It's basically the same as eating a burger and fries, only healthier and cheaper!

I completely understand about your DH being a meat/potatoes/veggie guy at meals. My best friend's DH is the same. She's tried to make meals that are meat free and he really protests!

I'm fortunate in that my DH doesn't care what we eat, as long as we eat. He'd eat the same food every day for a month if he had to. He's very easy going about food!

 

[MEM]

We only eat out on vacations (but we take 2-3 vacations per year). I am the worker bee and DH is the SAHD. Our kids are DS15 and DD13. I bring my lunch to work, DD brownbags as well and DS buys his (ordering lunch is part of his Special Ed curriculum - helps with communication and handling money).

I use my crockpot at least 3 times during the week, often on weekends too. DH has learned from me how to cook with the crockpot - I leave the house at 7 AM so its really too early to start anything in the crockpot, since we eat between 5 and 6. As long as I write out the recipe for DH and he doesn't "experiment", everything comes out fine. DH and I are on low-sodium, low-fat and low cholesterol diets and DD doesn't eat red meat or pork, so cooking can be a challenge. Eating out would be even more difficult, to say nothing of expensive.

 

[fac]

when we were DINKs, on average we cooked less than 1x a week. When we sold our house, the buyer was suprised our kitchen looked so new . Trust me, it was spotless.

We have 2 kids and when I worked, we had take-out about 2x a week and sit-down restaurants on the weekends.

Now I don't work, we have sit-down restaurants about 2 to 3 times a week and they are usually on weekends. We don't really go to high-end restaurants, mainly chain restaurants, say TGI Fridays, outback steakhouse etc. When we go out so often, I found the food to be boring. I am trying to cut-down the eating out to 1 or 2x a week partly because of the cost and partly because it takes too much time from the kids. It also helps that I am learning how to cook now and I love my cooking. DH may have a different opinion LOL.

 

[averysmom]

We eat out once a week forsure - we always go for lunch on Saturday afternoons.

We probably go out for dinner with or without the kids 2x/month as well.

 

[mamo-4-wdw]

We usually eat out about 20+ times a month.

My DMom77 likes hambergers, but not the ones I make at home, so when she gets paid (about 5 times a month) she treats us all to Burger King whopper meals.

I love mexican and we usually have that about two or three times a month.

My DS28 likes chinese so he will treat us to chinese 4-6 times a month.

My DS20 has a friend who works at a pizza place, so when he goes to talk to his friend he will bring home a few pizzas about 4-6 times a month.

On Sundays after church I will take the boys (mom has to work) to applebees,chili's or longhorn for lunch.

My mom works at the mall and she will get french fries and pizza pretzels every so often.

My DS20 works as an electrician and the company he works for always go out to eat lunch everyday.

My Ds28 works from home,but will sometimes walk to a coffee shop down the street for lunch.

 

[Docwoods]

My husband is an executive chef/food and beverage director.I'm a kitchen manager of a private preschool.Between us we have sixty years of cooking experience,and we STILL have a problem coming up with meal ideas.I guess it's like an accountant coming home and hollering "Yippie,I get to balance my checkbook!".There is nothing in the WORLD that is better than enjoying a meal out.