How Often Does Your Family Eat Out?

We eat out once or twice a week. I would love to cut down on that but with kids in sports and me and Hubs working full time it's just too hard to cook every night.

I have a list of meals we like to eat and when I get the grocery list going on Sat morning I always consult the "what's for dinner" list to see what sounds good and/or what is weather appropriate. I also ask my kids what they would like for dinner and I make my husband come up with at least one dinner idea. We tend to eat the same favorite or easy meals but I try to make one new meal each week. Sometimes that happens, sometimes not.

We eat out on Wednesday nights (yay, it's Wednesday!) and usually once on the weekend. Other than that I cook. Sometimes someone else cooks, and on rare occasions we eat fast food.

We go out once a week or so. I write out 10-12 dinners, and we pick up basic staples for lunch and breakfast. I have a list of recipes, and I just go through it and pick what I feel like eating over the next couple weeks. Once a week I try to find something new.

We eat out about twice a week. Usually one night during the week and one night on the weekend. Sometimes more. I'm trying hard to get rid of the "sometimes more" in our household. When you pay attention to how much it costs it just make sense to plan meals and eat at home.

M

We go out once or twice a week. It is expensive and we try to enjoy it. We 'plan' our menus based upon what we bought at the market - if the artichokes look fantastic, we will eat artichokes. If the salmon looks great - that is what we will eat. During the farmer's market season, I buy what looks best and plan around that. I do always keep staples in the house (dried pasta, canned beans, chick peas, tomatoes, garlic, onions, carrots, frozen peas, Parmesan cheese). I am not sure how one would plan first and then shop - what if the green beans are mushy and there are no strawberries, but there are baby eggplant and a special on clams?

Maybe I'm not normal, but I cook almost every day. Well, I should say we eat home cooked food every day - I do make extra to turn into something else the next night. We have food additive sensitivities and my husband can't have garlic so I make everything from scratch. I make huge batches of things like stuffed cabbage, meatballs, meatloaf, tomato sauce, etc and I freeze some for easy meals when I don't feel like cooking. I keep my freezer stocked with chicken thighs, chicken cutlets and other proteins so I can just pull out what I feel like cooking.

My DH takes lunch with him almost every day (that does save money even though I buy turkey at about $8 a pound). I make a fresh salad with some kind of protein for my 15 year old DD every day. I keep cheese, apples, oranges, bananas and yogurt on hand at all times for snacks. I buy very little processed food. I'm at the grocery store at least 2-3 times per week for fresh veggies and fruit. Yes, my grocery costs are pretty high, but I believe overall, we spend less than if we ate out more often. We might get chinese take out 1X per month and maybe pizza 1X per month. We go out for a nicer dinner a few times per year. Because of this, I don't worry about splurging on, say, organic salmon if it's $14 per pound. It all balances out.

If I had a Chipotle within walking distance, that would be a dangerous thing for my scale. We have to drive to ours and we do that once every couple of weeks.

We don't eat IN restaurants too often, but we do order in quite a bit or pick up pre-made food. I cook maybe 3 - 4 dinners a week. But we DO sit at a table together to eat most nights. The food itself may have come from somewhere else, but the time spent together to share the meal is non-negotiable.

And, no, I don't plan menus. I usually start thinking about what we should eat for dinner around 3pm. I'll ask the family "what are you in the mood for tonight?" and we'll all kinda decide on something. Tonight I made baked ziti. Yesterday we had yakimeshi (Japanese style fried rice). The night before we had grilled steaks with brussels sprouts au gratin. I've cooked 3 nights in a row now. Tomorrow will probably be Chinese, Indian or pizza...I'll think about it tomorrow around 3pm.

I work two jobs, don't plan menus and I seldom buy fast food.
I keep basic staples on hand - ground beef, chicken thighs, frozen vegetables, rice, pasta, flour, corn meal , eggs, cheese, etc. - and figure out how I want to combine them on a given night.
Right now, my restaurant budget consists of a $5 pizza from Little Caesar's once a month.
I don't cook seven nights a week. I cook enough on Sunday to have leftovers thru Tuesday.
I cook enough Wednesday to have leftovers til Friday.
On weekends, I wing it.

We eat out as much as we like. Sometimes that is more than others. The math for me is simple - if I can get a bit of extra time with my family by picking up takeout, then that's worth it to me. Cooking with two little ones is not always easy at the end of long days for everyone. Why add stress when all I want is full tummies?

I don't menu plan because it is my one rebellion against routine, planning and organization. Sunday or Monday night after my children go to bed, I head to the grocery store and buy food to last until the following weekend. I buy food according to my whim but I have a full rotation of quick meals I can throw together and which are all more or less built on the same basic ingredients. We don’t enjoy leftovers so I’ve learned how to make meals which feed us but do not generate excess. If we fall short in our food, then we eat out more or head back to the store. For me there are reasons to stress and meals/food do not make the list of acceptable stresses. Besides when I die, slaving over a hot stove will not make my list of ‘must have done more of.’ Good luck.

We have 2 kids, ages 12 and 15. We eat out every Sunday after church for lunch and leftovers or something easy for dinner (its the day of rest so I try not to cook). I usually cook Mon, Tues and Wed, leftovers Thursday, pizza and salad on Friday that we have the kids (they go to their dads every other weekend) or my husband and I go out on the Fridays we don't have the kids. Saturday is hot dogs, sandwiches, quick pastas, etc. Good luck.

When we raised our kids, maybe McDonalds once a month when grandma and grandpa came to visit. We never set out. No one ever did. We planned and cooked. I shocked when I see families eating out in decent restaurants during the week! You want to save money, eat home.

Very rarely during the week but often both nights on weekends. Partly my ideas of what to make are used up quickly so for variety, we go out. Our budget can handle it fine but it does get to me a little how costly it is and I don't like the example it's setting for my children. We go to nice sit down restaurants. But while I'm working, it seems to make sense. On weekends we also often eat lunch out. Ouch. What you're doing doesn't seem excessive at all. Feeding a family can just be expensive unless you're willing to make a tight food budget a top priority.

My daughter has moved out and on her own now. Even when she was at home, I never menu planned. I am one of those who is atill at the grocer almost daily picking up fresh fruits and veggies.

We typically mention dinner around mid morning and I may put something out to thaw from the freezer. We have a great high end butcher so I keep great steaks, chicken, and pork stocked. I also keep my home made marinara stocked with some in the freezer as well for a quick meal with Italian sausages.

That said, we eat lunch out almost daily. We usually have a light breakfast, great lunch and dinner is snacks of cheeses, antipasta, etc. Even when daughter was home, we ate out pretty often.

We don't head to the nearest fast food.. our go to's are PF Chang, Maggianos, Carrabbas, Pei Wei, High end burger places, country club, and other favorites.

This is what worked for us and still does after 30 yrs. I love to cook but we don't care for leftovers so if I make a huge pot of chili or marinara, I save 1 family serving in the fridge and then freeze the rest. For other meals, I make as much as I know we will eat at that meal time.

My dogs are enjoying the leftover giblet gravy and turkey from last week right now.

Sometimes twice per week, sometimes zero.
I don't like rote, scheduled planned meals.
I think of 2-4 dinners for the week and shop with that in mind.

Sundays we have a nice, home cooked meal 95% of the time.

I think you're missing your own point though...work your takeaways into your meal plan and budget for it!

We order delivery almost every Wednesday night. It's family night - we order pizza, Chinese, etc.

I write up a menu for the week.

Sunday is leftovers.

Monday is pasta - for example last night was home made mac & cheese with Polska kielbasa.

Tuesday is "Taco Tuesday" - well, Mexican - tonight we are having pulled chicken enchiladas and beef enchiladas, with chips and salsa.

Wednesday - order delivery - not sure if it will be Chinese or pizza yet. We've even ordered the pasta dishes from Pizza Hut.

Thursday - Fish with rice

Friday - boys night in - they fix their own food. I go out with girlfriends

Saturday - pork chops with buttered noodles and broccoli.

I don't have to worry about snacks as I keep apples, oranges, bananas, veggies on hand - as well as "sweet" snacks....

What I have noticed for me? If I order on-line? I do less impulse buying. I can still use my coupons and stick to my budget.

We eat out for dinner about 1x/month. I go grocery shopping every two weeks for a big shop and then the off weeks for produce and stuff. I plan out 14 dinners and buy stuff for breakfast and lunch (hubby & 2 kids take lunch, me & 1 kid eat at home). I do our meal plan based on food they like. We also will do left overs occasionally!

I'll meet friends for lunch/play 1x a month, too (usually Chick-Fil-A). And, we may get bagels at Panera 1x a month for a weekend breakfast.

We are not cheap, but eating out is a lot of work. First, we don't live in a huge town, so there aren't a lot of choices. We don't eat fast food--except Panera and Chick-Fil-A and hubby won't do that for dinner.

During the week is impossible. Hubby doesn't get home until after 6. Taking 3 kids out to dinner after 6 would be a nightmare for us. Kids are usually heading to baths around 7 and bed at 7:30 (for the youngest).

We usually do family date night once a month. We'll go see a kid movie and then go to Chili's (right across from theater). The theater we like is about 45 minutes away.

Whenever we do eat out, it's always crazy busy, so you're not alone!!

Every 10 days or so we get take out or go out for dinner as a family. Where we blow money is in my daily breakfast and lunch out during the working week. Also, we are in the habit of grabbing breakfast and sometimes lunch out when doing fun things on the weekend. I paid $1.75 for a banana for my kid this weekend at the Museum of Natural History's canteen, because we were a captive audience, and I hadn't packed a snack.

We economize our time and money by cooking 2-3X the amount of food that we might need and eating left overs. We also cook smart. i.e. If I am cooking up rice pilaf, I can set some frozen veg over top to steam. If I am sauteeing chicken for a stir fry, I cook up twice as much, and set aside a few breasts for sandwiches.

A box of pasta takes 7-12 minutes to boil. In the meantime, you can cut up some sausage, onion, and diced fresh or canned tomato and have a pasta side dish (or even quicker, open a jar). It can be quicker than getting takeout/ delivery.

Rice a can of kidney beans, some boulion and adobo cook up in 15 minutes.

currently we are gnoshing on
dahl (red lentils, tomato, onions and curry spices),
spinach, chick pea, tomato, onion curry
rice pilaf
home made mac & cheese
home made pumpkin bread with chocolate chips

I've got some peppers and onions, and am thinking of making some sweet potato home fries in a cast iron frying pan, which I will then top with egg and cheese and maybe sliced tomato and put under the broiler for some spanish style tortilla (picture crustless quiche).

We take turns cooking, and cook whenever we feel up to it.

You might want to look into "freezer cooking" where you buy and prep en masse, dump your ingredients into a gallon sized ziplock, and store in the freezer. You can have food on the go all the time and avoid the urge for the take out.

We don't "menu plan" but make use of sales and are adaptable in terms of our ingredients. If I was thinking of poached pears, but apples are on discount, guess it might be some baked apples instead. You'll get the hang of it.

Best,
F. B.

The kids and I have fast food one night a week when we are running straight from school to evening activities. As a family we probably eat out in a restaurant about once every couple of months, and we probably take out pizza once every couple of months. It's just the kids and I during the week, so I make simple meals. I love to cook, so on the weekend I enjoy making nice family meals.

well, when we had little fellows, there wasn't a single extra cent in the budget for eating out, so it wasn't an option. it sucked. a pizza was a HUGE treat. even at little league my poor kids had to have peanut butter and koolaid sometimes because we flat could not scrape together enough couch change to get them the $2 burger and soda concession stand special.
sucked. sucked. sucked.
if you can go to chipotle or bring home a pasta tray every now and then, go for it.
khairete
S.

We get takeout (pizza or Chinese) on Friday night. It works well for us because by then, I am completely fried and we usually have one kid with a hockey practice and the other with a game, so it's a busy night.

The kids buy an average of 2 school lunches a week, and I usually bring lunch on my office days but supplement it with some extras from the salad bar at my work cafeteria.

We rarely go to an actual restaurant (usually for someone's birthday or another family event) and will pick up something quick at Wendy's for lunch maybe once a month if that.

Good for you and keep up the good work! What really helps me to stay on track is to cook on the weekends, make Mason jar salads and have an endless supply of soup in the freezer. If you can make those take-out favorites yourself for less money, make two or three batches on the weekend, freeze them, then pull one out of the freezer the night before and at dinner time, it's ready to warm and serve, just like that take-out but cheaper and you've saved a stop on your way home.

We eat out maybe 4 to 6 times a year.
If I don't cook 7 days a week it's because I made enough to have leftovers for a day or two.
If I cook enough for leftovers every time I cook then I'm only cooking 4 or so days a week.
I cooked a turkey last Thur and we just finished the leftovers yesterday.

You need to plan meals for a whole week and food shop accordingly.

Here's how to do it:

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/70dollarmenu.htm

It depends on the week and what we have going on. Sometimes for us it's just easier to have a planned meal at home rather then dragging everyone out and healthier. Friday's I usually do pizza nights or we go to a local favorite. I love to cook and use my crockpot often or do quick takeout chicken and make sides or quick meals

We rarely eat out as a family. Once, maybe twice a month.

I also don't cook every day. It's silly and wasteful to do so. Plan your meals so you cook 2 or 3 times a week, and have leftovers or extra meat for your other meals. When you brown burger, do an extra pound or two and put it in the freezer to be heated for taco meat or spaghetti. Always make extra red sauce and freeze the rest. When you bake chicken, do 2 and chop the other for chicken salad or alfredo meat. When you soak beans for soup, do the whole bag and put the half you don't use in the freezer for next time (so you don't have to soak another batch). Making meatloaf? Do two and put the fully cooked loaf in the freezer.

Meal planning doesn't have to be complicated ingredients and recipes. I use this to plan my week and take it shopping. http://knockknockstuff.com/product/what-to-eat-pad/ It keeps me from buying a bunch of junk we don't need.

Also, if you have an Aldi, shop there first. They're cheaper than anywhere else. Aldi sometimes doesn't have a specialty item I need, and then I'll go to another store, but it has a great selection of a ton of stuff. Where I would have spent over $400 at Walmart, I spend just $200 at Aldi. And that's for 2 weeks of groceries.

ETA: I did want to add, my budget is a little higher than many families' budgets would need to be because I cannot eat wheat. The purchase of some gluten/wheat free items is an extra expense.

We rarely eat out during the week but usually DH and I will eat out as part of our date and then a family lunch on Sunday. I have about 9 go to dinners I just rotate more informally rather then sit down and write them out. We both have careers and during the week it's either meals I can prepare or quick meals.

We rarely eat out.
I cook and prepare meals for a couple of days or so. I have never been able to do it for a week, and still works for us. There are several meals you can prepare in advance such as rice, pasta, lasagna, mashed potatoes. During good weather and even some days in winter, I grill chicken, turkey hamburgers, and meat, then I freeze them. I have for a week or so, and I just prepare a side dish, even my 14 yo boy prepares some meals to eat with the grilled meat.
Cooking yourself with the help of your family (whenever possible) is a nice way to keep the family together...Enjoy it!

We never eat out.
It's a rare occasion. A treat.
We do it to save money.
The good thing is it's kept our weight down, too. We eat healthier. Make
smarter choices.
Just save the eating out for special treats or occasions.
For instance, don't p/u the pasta tray (make your own) or get rice & beans
from the good Mexican place. Make your own pasta, rice, beans then
when you have a hankerin' go out to eat at that Mexican place or
Chipotle.
Sometimes it's just so nice to go out & have someone prepare/bring me
my food then take away all the dirty plates.
We can do this up right occasionally because we don't do it often or
over-do it.
I'd save your extra expenditures for when you can dine out.
I make things that are easy to make & that I know everyone will eat (tacos
spaghetti, meatloaf, small steaks, bbq or baked chicken breasts, easy
casseroles etc.).
Once in awhile I will buy a $5 rotisserie chicken (save carcass for chkn/
veggie soup) & sm container of coleslaw $2.50 for when I am burnt out
on cooking.
I think a day ahead to pull out a meat to defrost like ground beef to later
make tacos, etc.

I have found that each of us have different lives. You might work until 6pm, grab kids from child care, have a hubby on his way home, and have to have dinner on the table by 7pm so that other stuff happens on time.

I work 3 evenings per week and at least one of those evenings don't get the kids home until 8:30-8:45pm. Hubby might make something if he's up to it but chances are I'm going to get pizza or something cooked that I can slap on the table the minute I get home for everyone.

Then there are the few evenings per month where we don't have anything after school and I can cook something. I don't make whole meals from scratch. That's so time consuming and costs so much to buy everything you need all up front. Just imagine if you were going to make a dish like a hamburger helper meal. You'd have to buy a bunch of different spices, tomato sauce, pasta, meat, and more. It's just less expensive to buy a box of H B Helper on sale for a dollar and put a pound of cheap H B meat with it. Add a salad and a fruit.

So we eat less healthy that all the mom's on this page. But I don't know anyone who eats like they do.

I think there are a lot of people who eat out nearly every meal. They want to cut back on costs??? They go to less expensive places to eat.

I know that the bills go up when you cook at home. Your hot water will get used almost double by the dishes and adding it to the foods like for cooking spaghetti. The electric bill will go up due to the lights being on in the kitchen, the stove uses some even if it's a gas oven/range, then the natural gas will go up if the appliances are gas.

Buying all the stuff plus paying more in utilities??? Sometimes some meals are cheaper to eat out. Some meals can be made at home and enjoyed on paper plates and tossed when done.