How often do you eat out?

[nighttowll]

Wow, I'm at the other end. I didn't realize people still ate at home so much. I remember the whole meat, 2 sides, and bread for dinner thing as a kid, but that stopped for me when I was in high-school and my dad started teaching college. Everybody in the house was on a different schedule, and my mom just gave up trying to cook real meals when no one was at home. I guess I just got in the habit of eating out from that point forward. College didn't help as I worked 3 jobs and had an internship, so I either skipped meals, snacked, or grabbed something quick in between point A and B.

Now we eat out all the time. Most of the people I know do as well. Everyone is just always so busy running from work to school to activities. It's a lot quicker and much more convenient to grab something out, especially if you are short on time.

I also just enjoy eating out at a nice restaurant. It's something my extended family and friends do regularly. I think it is because there really isn't very much else to do where I live. You either go out to the bar or out to a restaurant, and those are really the only two choices of activities available without driving a few hours to a larger city. All our restaurants are packed with hour long waits or more being the norm at night and on the weekends.

I probably eat out 2-3 times a week for lunch at work, some business lunches, some just with co-workers for fun. It's more because we just really want to get out of the office, than that we want to go eat. We don't even have any decent restaurants nearby.

Dinner is probably another 2-3 times a week, some fast food, but mostly sit down restaurants because I really don't like fast food. Fast food is only for if there is no time to go to a sit down restaurant.

Weekends really depend on if I'm traveling or not. When I travel, it's 4 meals out, 2 lunches, 2 dinners. I don't eat breakfast. If I'm at home, it's only about twice, usually 1 lunch and 1 dinner.

I would guess I probably average 7 times a week.

 

[wendow]

I see nothing wrong with what the PP considers to be a dinner meal. I was also raised the same way, except that there were always 2 vegetables and a starch in addition to the protein. The only times I served breakfast-for-dinner in my own home was when my husband had late hours at the office and it was just me and the kids. And even then, it wasn't a bowl of cereal! It was pancakes, waffles, bacon & eggs or some other hot meal.

I never thought of it as "demands", since I felt the same way as my husband in that regard. They are preferences just like someone who chooses to eat organic or paleo.

It's the way I was raised also. And still how I cook every single night. My family loves it

 

[lovin'fl]

My kids do light grab and go breakfasts and I pack lunches. For dinner, I mostly cook during the week 3-4 times (nothing too fancy or great...one of my 3 kids is still a picky eater so I have to make very plain things and we sometimes do breakfast for dinner) and have help yourself night 1-2 times (microwavable stuff or left overs or frozen pizza). Weekends, we grab carry out stuff a lot. We used to do sit down restaurant dinners frequently...when kids could get kids meals, but now they are too expensive so we don't go out too often anymore (maybe twice a month and to places like Red Robin or Applebees). But carry out is probably twice a week (Chipotle, Panera, Taco Bell, Chick Fil A, pizza and subs, Chinese and Subway are the frequent flyers- so to speak) and is too much, I know. And every now and then, probably 1-2 times a month, I'll make a hot breakfast on the weekend.

 

[EMode]

We eat out at least once a week, some really busy weeks (sports or other activities) we'll grab some fast food one night too.
A few weeks ago we ate out Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That is very rare, we were doing alot of stuff around the house and I didn't feel like cooking at all.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Wow, I'm at the other end. I didn't realize people still ate at home so much.

.

Dinner for 4 out is going to be at least $50 if not more. Doing that 3x a week is $600 a month minimum. You could easily buy groceries for the whole month on what you would pay for 3 meals a week eating out.

 

[wendow]

Dinner for 4 out is going to be at least $50 if not more. Doing that 3x a week is $600 a month minimum. You could easily buy groceries for the whole month on what you would pay for 3 meals a week eating out.

This is exactly what cause us to quit eating out so much. It's been a few years ago but my dh started actually tracking what we were spending on eating out. I was just floored at how much it was between sit-downs and fast food a few nights a week as we ran from activity to activity. And I thought we weren't spending a ton cause I knew other people who ate out more. It was like $300-400 a month.

 

[CdnCarrie]

This is exactly what cause us to quit eating out so much. It's been a few years ago but my dh started actually tracking what we were spending on eating out. I was just floored at how much it was between sit-downs and fast food a few nights a week as we ran from activity to activity. And I thought we weren't spending a ton cause I knew other people who ate out more. It was like $300-400 a month.

It really depends on your priority in life. I know someone who eats out 3-4 a week but purposely bought a super small house, one small car, never vacations besides a few weekends of camping, and only buys second hand clothes. She lives for eating out.

We like to have a nice home, a cottage, 2 SUVs, couple vacations a year, etc. We can't do that and eat out 3-4 times a week on our salary.

 

[nikkistevej]

Once a week to a sit down place, usually Saturday or Sunday. Maybe 1-2 a week fast food, Chick Fila, Subway, Royal Farms type stuff. We are a family of 3(DD is 11). This is a lot less than we used to.

 

[JanyJan]

Part of the difference is also probably what you eat at home...Cooking dinner for my family takes at least 45-60 minutes, plus clean-up.

Same here. We usually get take-out one night a week and then eat out somewhere over the weekend (either lunch or dinner). If we're running around a lot, we might eat 2 meals out over the week. But, when I cook it's a full dinner with protein, a veggie or two and a starch--not cereal or sandwiches. Luckily, my family enjoys leftovers so I don't necessarily have to do a full prep every night. If I did, we'd probably eat out even more!

 

[CdnCarrie]

We don't eat out that much and I can't imagine it taking 45-60 min to cook supper unless you want it to!

Start up the grill and throw on some burgers or chicken breasts. Throw something in the slow cooker the night before.
Put the leftover meat and some veggies in a big pan and do a stir fry.
Brown some ground beef, put in some jarred spagettii sauce and mushrooms, toss a salad, heat up some garlic bread.
Supper in 15 minutes for very little money.

Easy peasy.

 

[mombrontrent]

Like I said before we never eat out going out for a meal wouldn't even cross my mind, it is just not something we do. I cook a full meal every night for dinner plus breakfast and lunch (leftovers or something easy like sandwiches) on weekends. It really does not have to take a long time to cook a great healthy meal from scratch.

Tonight we had burritos. I took out some refried beans from the freezer that I had made a huge batch of last month and froze in containers. I sautéed some onion and peppers. Made some seasoned rice in my rice cooker (I make my own "taco" seasoning in bulk and keep and container of it in the pantry). Chopped up some lettuce and tomato. Served with homemade guacamole and salsa. While the rice cooked I got everything else ready. It took 30 min to have dinner on the table. It could have been less but the rice had to cook. A meal like this for our family of 5 and Chipotle could easily cost $40 (I'm guessing as I have never actually been to one). I made the meal for about $15 and I am sure it tastes better. Cleanup took me about 15 min.

 

[nighttowll]

Like I said before we never eat out going out for a meal wouldn't even cross my mind, it is just not something we do. I cook a full meal every night for dinner plus breakfast and lunch (leftovers or something easy like sandwiches) on weekends. It really does not have to take a long time to cook a great healthy meal from scratch. Tonight we had burritos. I took out some refried beans from the freezer that I had made a huge batch of last month and froze in containers. I sautéed some onion and peppers. Made some seasoned rice in my rice cooker (I make my own "taco" seasoning in bulk and keep and container of it in the pantry). Chopped up some lettuce and tomato. Served with homemade guacamole and salsa. While the rice cooked I got everything else ready. It took 30 min to have dinner on the table. It could have been less but the rice had to cook. A meal like this for our family of 5 and Chipotle could easily cost $40 (I'm guessing as I have never actually been to one). I made the meal for about $15 and I am sure it tastes better. Cleanup took me about 15 min.

I could never do all that in 30 minutes. I guess I'm just not that efficient when it comes to cooking. Also, I'm pretty sure there's no food in the house to begin with, so I'd have to find time to go grocery shopping. I can barely find time for the laundry. I work pretty long hours. My idea of cooking is sticking something in the microwave or oven. If I get really ambitious, I might sauté something. Anything that takes longer than 15 minutes for prep, cooking, and clean up is too long to me. The microwave broke awhile back, and it was a major crisis in our house.

But it really doesn't matter, because if we are at home and we do have a good 45min to an hour we will eat at home for dinner. The problem is we are never at home. I'm usually picking up someone from location A while on my way to location B, C, and D. That's the main problem. If I'm lucky, we have a 30min to 1 hr break in the schedule where I can pick something up or stop somewhere quick. But, we aren't always feeding the whole family either. Everyone doesn't eat together every night because we are all on different schedules.

Like others have said as well, I choose what I spend my money on. I don't drink or smoke or have cable. We didn't even have a tv until this Christmas, and it only plays movies. I don't care about expensive cars or designer clothes. I really don't spend very much money at all. If I can't pay cash for something, I don't buy it. I have zero debt.

I enjoy a nice night out with friends, and I love to travel, so that is where I spend my money.

I'd say I eat out half the time for pleasure and half the time for necessity.

 

[Trek Girl]

This has been an eye-opening thread for me. I thought most people ate out more often. I now realize that we're on the high end of the spectrum, as we eat out 6 or 7 times a week. I only have time to cook twice a week, and my husband doesn't cook at all (unless you count heating up frozen stuff). We don't have kids, though, and we'd probably eat out less (or at least eat at cheaper places) if we did have kids.

 

[JediBonas]

This has been an eye-opening thread for me. I thought most people ate out more often. I now realize that we're on the high end of the spectrum, as we eat out 6 or 7 times a week. I only have time to cook twice a week, and my husband doesn't cook at all (unless you count heating up frozen stuff). We don't have kids, though, and we'd probably eat out less (or at least eat at cheaper places) if we did have kids.

We ate out pretty much every meal until the kids were born. We just never had the time or inclination to cook. I still eat out for lunch Monday - Friday.

 

[Judique]

I've spent so much time reading this thread I had to send out for food! $30 for 3.

We eat food prepared outside the home 1-3 times per week. Sometimes we will cook all week and do lots of meals and leftovers. Other weeks the fridge will empty and it will be takeout. We rarely sit in any food place to eat unless on vacation. The takeout ranges in quality and price from pizza and burgers to midrange restaurants. There are many, many choices close by and most of them will pack it up nicely. The budget is not much of a concern for me, but I try to balance it out.

I can remember the budget days when every two weeks we had a payday pizza night out.

Those were the days when I cooked many of those meat, 2 veggie and starch meals, plus a homemade dessert. I don't have the time anymore - now it is more salad and grilled foods - which also tend to be quicker to prepare.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

Do those of you who cook the whole protein, two sides and bread type meals also work? I couldn't imagine doing all that after work! I can't even imagine giving up an entire weekend day to cooking lol.

I also kind of hate to cook as well so I think maybe that makes a difference.

I'm so thankful for places like Chipotle that are quick, yummy, use real food and make it fairly easy to eat fairly paleo friendly. I'm lucky to have a lot of those type of places near me. Of course it's much easier to rationalize eating out when you're just one person and the cost difference is negligible (at least for the type of foods I eat) especially when I factor in my time and the fact that I prefer not to eat the same thing 4-6 times in a row.

 

[ebradley23]

Do those of you who cook the whole protein, two sides and bread type meals also work? I couldn't imagine doing all that after work! I can't even imagine giving up an entire weekend day to cooking lol. I also kind of hate to cook as well so I think maybe that makes a difference. I'm so thankful for places like Chipotle that are quick, yummy, use real food and make it fairly easy to eat fairly paleo friendly. I'm lucky to have a lot of those type of places near me. Of course it's much easier to rationalize eating out when you're just one person and the cost difference is negligible (at least for the type of foods I eat) especially when I factor in my time and the fact that I prefer not to eat the same thing 4-6 times in a row.

I not only work, but I'm a director and officer at a financial institution. I put in a significant amount of hours. I tend to do a lot of casseroles and one pot meals during the week. I'm a huge fan of the crockpot - especially on Mondays and Fridays. I've also started getting into freezer meals. I did a workshop a couple of weeks ago. I spent maybe 1 1/2 - 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon putting together 20 meals. Each takes 10-15 minutes to cook in the evenings.

 

[EMode]

. Running through the drive-thru at Panera is faster. :)

I'm so jealous that your Panera has a drive thru!

We don't eat out that much and I can't imagine it taking 45-60 min to cook supper unless you want it to!

Start up the grill and throw on some burgers or chicken breasts. Throw something in the slow cooker the night before.
Put the leftover meat and some veggies in a big pan and do a stir fry.
Brown some ground beef, put in some jarred spagettii sauce and mushrooms, toss a salad, heat up some garlic bread.
Supper in 15 minutes for very little money.

Easy peasy.

It takes me 15 minutes to clean, peel and chop the veggies for our salad. Not that I'm complaining, I enjoy cooking and most nights I do like to make meals that are more involved than throwing some meat in jarred spaghetti sauce. Tonight was supposed to be braised chicken thighs in a lemon garlic sauce with artichokes and roasted asparagus over orzo. Unfortunately I opened the chicken and it was foul smelling so I grilled up some hotdogs and threw some frozen corn on the stove. Wasn't even 15 minutes

 

[ellone]

We rarely eat out. We eat out on vacation and we usually go out for our anniversary.

I try to eat organic and use minimal processed foods. Went this way because I wanted to have the kids eat healthy and it ended up helping me lose weight & more importantly cured my acid reflux.

 

[mrsbicewdw]

I'm so jealous that your Panera has a drive thru!

It just opened a few months ago, I think it is something new they are adding to the Paneras. We LOVE it. When we lived in Orlando we had Panera a lot because it is pretty healthy and fresh, but we always had to go in. Having the drive-thru here is so great. My 3 year old inhales the mac and cheese there, and I like that they do organic yogurt and juice with it.