Eating out is EXPENSIVE. My family of 5 can easily spend $60 at a casual dining establishment. Usually it’s less thanks to getting waters instead of soda and looking for coupons and specials. I sat down and really thought about the last few times we’ve eaten out- the most common reason is that I got busy & forgot to start dinner in time for us to eat! So instead of using some of the food in my overstocked pantry we ran to a sit down restaurant and paid $9+ for a hamburger when I have ground beef in the fridge I had paid just $1.35/lb for!
Now, we all deserve to eat out every once in a while because it’s fun and enjoyable to sit back and have your food cooked, served and cleaned up for you- but it should be the exception to the rule rather than a common place occurrence (for the benefit of your budget anyway!).
Here are a few things I have implemented in my life that has allowed me to avoid the impulse decision to eat out rather than eat the budget-friendly foods I already have:
- Prepare the night before. As I cook dinner for tonight- I plan & prep a little for dinner tomorrow. If we are having pot roast today – I decide what we’re having tomorrow. Chili? Ok- chop some extra onions & green peppers so I don’t have to do it tomorrow. Saves time & saves me from the impulse of dining out.
- Marinate & prepare before even putting it in the freezer. I marinate my chicken and beef before I put it in the freezer! I use Italian dressing or a brine (I mix about 1/2 gallon of water, a palm full of salt, pepper, and about 1 tbsp of sugar and mix it up. I put the chicken in a freezer bag- and pour the water over leaving a little space at the top- seal the bag & freeze. Once thawed for use- rinse the chicken with cold water before using) for my chicken and this allows me to simply take out of the freezer & use!
- When I get hamburger for a steal I make some of it into hamburger patties. I make extras into patties and place them on pieces of wax paper or parchment paper and lay them flat into freezer bags and freeze them. Knowing I can grab a bag of pre-made burgers makes that $9 hamburger a little less appetizing.
- Double duty- If we’re having tacos tonight I may brown an extra bit of hamburger to use in spaghetti tomorrow. If I am making lasagne (one of my favorites!) instead of doing all that work for a single pan- I make two pans. I wrap the second pan in foil and overwrap in plastic wrap- date and put in the freezer. Those cheap aluminum pans from the Dollar Tree are wonderful for this!
- Make your own frozen dinners. Like the lasagne above there are a lot of meals that freeze well. Here is a good list of 101 meals that are freezer-friendly! Sometimes I cook extra- like my favorite chicken caccitori on purpose and put 1/2 of it in a freezer bag before I even serve it- date and label and freeze for a busy night when I’m too tired to cook! These are cheaper & healthier than any frozen meal you can buy in the grocery store!
- Use your crockpot! Many times it is 4 p.m. and I realize I forgot to take ANYTHING out of the freezer for dinner! So now I have a pile of frozen meat and I personally just can’t stomach microwaved meat. So we end up eating out. Now I use my crock pot many nights of the week! The night before, I take out whatever meat I will be using and before I clean up the breakfast mess- I put it all together in the crockpot (HINT: Crock pot liners are the BOMB! Check them out- no clean up- just pull out & toss!). It cooks itself and by the time my husband gets home a home-made FRUGAL dinner is ready!
- My family LOVES baked-fried chicken (where I bake it instead of frying it) but it takes forever to bread that chicken. So now I make double batches and freeze 1/2 of it breaded and ready to bake! I just thaw in the fridge & bake when I need it.
- Remember that it’s OKAY to eat out! I am just personally working on making it a special occurrence rather than an every week event. Besides being healthier (I can control the salt and other not-so-healthy additives) but I want my kids to learn how to cook and it’s a family affair when we cook!
What tips do you have for avoiding the eating out temptation?
*This was originally posted on MSM in 2012.
One of the most helpful ways for my family is to make a menu! I am a huge list maker and we plan a menu for two weeks at a time. We make list based on what we have on hand. My grocery list then includes the dozen or so items we need to make the meals complete. Then I can just pick up things that are a really good deal to use in a future menu.
I have found that the menu is great not only to keep me organized but I don’t get the constant, “What’s for dinner?”.
When I find hamburger meat at a great deal I buy extra and go ahead and brown it all. I freeze it in zipper lock freezer bags with approx 1- 1.5 pounds per bag and you can thaw in the microwave within minutes. Pre-cooked meat makes Spaghetti, Lasagna, Tacos, Sloppy Joes, Chili Beans, etc. just minutes away from a quick and easy meal at home.