How often do you eat out?

[mrsbicewdw]

Out of curiosity, I added up what we spent eating out the last six days, which were pretty typical, schedule-wise. We spent about $165 on 14 meals for 4 people.

And I just spent $175 on food at the grocery for 5 days of meals for two adult and one three year old who eat like a bird (and baby just eats off my plate). Oh vey.

Is that 14 meals x 4 people? Or 14 meals / 4 people?

 

[Carina]

Out of curiosity, I added up what we spent eating out the last six days, which were pretty typical, schedule-wise.

We spent about $165 on 14 meals for 4 people.

You ate out WHERE at an average of under $3pp per meal?

And how healthy are $3 meals in a restaurant?

 

[JanaDee]

And I just spent $175 on food at the grocery for 5 days of meals for two adult and one three year old who eat like a bird (and baby just eats off my plate). Oh vey.

Is that 14 meals x 4 people? Or 14 meals / 4 people?

That doesn't include any cash we used, just is what is written in the checkbook for debit cards. DS eats after practice (fast food usually or a local diner where it is really cheap to eat), DH will eat lunch out during the day at work and we typically eat dinner out at least twice a Monday-Friday and at least once on the weekend.

 

[JanaDee]

You ate out WHERE at an average of under $3pp per meal?

And how healthy are $3 meals in a restaurant?

You've already said it "blows your mind" that people eat meals in restaurants. If that doesn't work for your family, fine.

It does for mine and many others just like mine. Many of the families I know with older kids in sports or other activities rarely eat at home.

 

[Carina]

You've already said it "blows your mind" that people eat meals in restaurants. If that doesn't work for your family, fine.

It does for mine and many others just like mine. Many of the families I know with older kids in sports or other activities rarely eat at home.

Yes it does blow my mind, but we already discussed that... And I didn't say it blew my mind that people ate in restaurants, just that they ate out THAT many meals.
BUT...
My question was WHERE do you eat for under $3pp per meal. As you said you spent $165 on 14 meals out for 4 people.
New question, new discussion...lol

 

[kkmcan]

We eat more than we used to. When the kids were little we rarely ate out. Now that they are teens and we are on the go to assorted practices and rehearsals its easier to swing by somewhere and pick up on the way home. Also, with dh being a firefighter he isn't home on a regular schedule and often has union meetings or fire board meetings he has to attend in the evening so I don't cook a large meal just for the 3 of us. The kids and I will eat simple meals at home or pick up a Little Caesars pizza.

 

[JandJ]

Uggg. If I ate fast food 4-5 times a week I would weigh a TON!

I would be sick. I haven't had fast food (McDonalds, Taco Bell, KFC, Subway, etc.) in 7 years. Before that I would limit fast food to once per month, but after a particularly disgusting experience at a Taco Bell on the way to Disney 7 years ago, I decided that was it. I bought one of those Secret Recipe cookbooks and now if I get a craving for something I make it myself. I make the Taco Bell tacos with ground turkey and they're amazing. Same with chain restaurants (Outback, Red Lobster, TGIFriday's, Chili's, etc.). I think we've eaten at a chain once in the past year and that was because we were meeting old friends out of town and let them pick. Otherwise, DH won't go near a chain restaurant, but I like some of their items, so I just learned how to make it at home. My Alice Springs Chicken, Jack Daniels Salmon, and Cheddar Bay Biscuits rival the originals! It's healthier (and tastes better) because I know exactly what went into it, and safer because I know exactly what didn't go into it

 

[Marionnette]

You've already said it "blows your mind" that people eat meals in restaurants. If that doesn't work for your family, fine.

It does for mine and many others just like mine. Many of the families I know with older kids in sports or other activities rarely eat at home.

I'm not the PP that you addressed but I'm also surprised that you can eat out so often for so little. I'm not judging because I know how busy evenings can get when your kids each have busy schedules that force you to drive all over town as the chauffeur. But like the PP, I'm kind of curious what kind of meal that $3 (on average) purchases at a restaurant?

 

[JanaDee]

I'm not the PP that you addressed but I'm also surprised that you can eat out so often for so little. I'm not judging because I know how busy evenings can get when your kids each have busy schedules that force you to drive all over town as the chauffeur. But like the PP, I'm kind of curious what kind of meal that $3 (on average) purchases at a restaurant?

I don't know. Most of them I was not along when they were eating.

It's a mixture of local and chain places. The meals I purchased averaged anywhere from $3-$6.

 

[TwoMisfits]

If that's all you spent, you are extremely lucky! Most areas of the country have kid meals averaging $4-$5 (+tax) at fast food places and $5-$7 (+tax) for low cost meals at casual sit down restaurants. Most areas of the country also have adult meals averaging $5-$8 (+tax) at fast food places and $7-$12 (+tax and tip) for low cost meals at casual sit down restaurants. The only way the math could work in most places is if someone was limiting themselves to kid's meals, value menus, kids eat free nights (where 1 adult eats and gets 2 kids free), and coupons/groupons...

 

[ellie05]

We usually eat out a sit down meal for pleasure and very rarely fast food and when we do is for convenience (maybe twice a year). The number of times depends on the restaurants we choose, we have a budget for eating out. Usually 2-3 times a week. We try to eat healthy and I cook from scratch every meal so when the weekend comes around I want a break from cooking. I also don't work outside the house so that might have something to do with it.

The other reason we try to keep it to not more than three is because we know it is not as healthy even if we find places that do organic. I can't imagine eating fast food every week .

 

[MrsPooh]

Interesting comments. I actually was surprised at how few people only eat out once or twice a week (or not at all). It is a struggle for our family to stick to just twice a week.

I grew up with the protein, 2 veggies, and bread each night and usually a homemade dessert served as well. We only ate out a few times a year most of the time I was growing up. My husband grew up going out to dinner every single night since his mom didn’t like to cook. It has been a struggle merging our dining expectations.

Back a number of years ago we would eat out constantly. Both dh and I would grab breakfast on the go at a fast food place or gas station every morning, eat lunch out every day, and then go out as a family for dinner 5 - 7 nights a week. Yes, this meant we usually only ate a few meals at home. It was easier than having to make dinner after work and everyone could order what they wanted.

Times and finances change things. Unfortunately we are still foodies at heart and have high food expectations.

Now we usually eat out one planned dinner a week and often eat lunch out on Saturday. Everything else is made at home. The challenge is that we are used to the variety of eating out and our family has some dietary challenges due to health issues. Dh does not like anything made in the crockpot or casseroles and cereal doesn’t cut it for a meal around here.

Dh and I both have salaried positions that require far more than 40 hours/week from us. That said, our finances have never recovered from some major setbacks and I struggle to prepare food we will enjoy within a reasonable budget.

Last weekend was typical in my life. I spent almost three hours grocery shopping to get the best prices from several stores as well as fresh meat from a local meat market. Dd and I spent 3 ½ hours prepping foods for breakfasts, lunches, and snacks. This way we have fruits, veggies, and bagged sausage/cheese cubes ready to pack in lunches or grab on our way out the door.

I have a menu planned for dinner each night. I get home from work and picking up youngest dd about 5:45. It takes me about an hour to get dinner completely on the table most nights so if I begin immediately that means dinner is ready at almost 7pm. After dinner we still have to clean up and wash dishes. Our dishwasher has not worked in almost two years so this is not a quick process either. I usually finish with the whole process about 8pm at the same time I am tucking the youngest in bed – so two hours a night to fix dinner, eat, and then clean up. Dh is not allowed on his foot for extended periods of time so he is not able to help much with prep or clean up.

Needless to say, I find eating at home exhausting. It could be easy. We could have mac ‘n cheese, frozen prepared meals, hot dogs, chips, sandwiches, etc. but that just doesn’t work with our health needs or satisfy our expectations.

Our home eating habits are not super cheap and are time-consuming but I judge our food costs against going out. If we aren’t satisfied with the at home options it is way too easy for us to slip back into going out to eat which is a huge hit to the budget.