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I Have a Confession to Make: TOO MUCH EATING OUT!
By JLP | August 5, 2009
One of my goals for the rest of this year is to cut out the waste in our budget. One of the areas where we are grossly over budget is in our eating out category. This has happened for several reasons:
1. Our kids are bigger and can no longer eat off the kid’s menu.
2. We often take our kids’ friends with us.
3. We eat out way too often!
4. I typically order beer with my meal (my wife will drink a glass of wine on occasion).
5. My wife works so it’s often easy to scrap dinner at home and just go out to eat.
6. I have just been lazy in keeping track of our eating out budget.
I was looking over our budget and decided to figure out how often we ate out and how much we spent on average each time we ate out. The findings shocked me, which is typical when you get lax in an area and just don’t pay attention. Anyway, I put together a list just to show you what an idiot I can be:
Eating Out 2009
Now, why am I sharing this information with you? Because I want to change and I figure you guys will keep me honest. I look at that number and think about all the things I could be doing with that money. Not only is eating out costing us a lot of money, it’s also very bad for our health!
My wife and I set a goal to cut back drastically on eating out. Our goal for the rest of the year is to cut our eating out to NO MORE than TWICE A MONTH! That will help bring us back in-line with our budget, which was orginally around $300 per month (about once a week). To accomplish this goal, we have created a weekly menu and we shop for groceries based on that menu. That way, it doesn’t get to be dinner time and there’s nothing to eat so we have an excuse to go out to eat. NO MORE OF THAT!
Learn from me…
If you are over budget in one of the areas in your life, I encourage you to take the first step and write down or calculate just how much you are spending. You’ll probably be surprised at just how quickly it adds up. Although I knew we were spending lots of money eating out, I was surprised when I figured out just how much it was. Once you know how much you are spending, you can figure out how you’re going to cut back and make the necessary changes. Then, keep track of your progress. Keeping track of your progress will FORCE you to think about your goal. If you have committed yourself to writing down how much you spend, you more than likely think twice before you spend.
I plan on revisiting this topic around the end of the year. Hopefully, I’ll have some real progress to report. So far, so good…we haven’t eaten out in nearly two weeks.
UPDATE: Check out mapgirl’s website for a few tips on food budgeting and cooking at home.
Topics: Budgeting | 20 Comments »
August 5th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/home.asp
August 5th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
I know BW3 is one of your top expenditures, but I have to say, that’s one of the best places to spend it.
As long as you’re drinking some beer and eating wings, you really can’t go wrong. But if you go there and just grab a burger and a coke or something, sure, you have a lot you could cut back on.
I have nothing to add since we don’t eat out but maybe once every 2 or 3 months, but as long as I was getting some beers and having some wings, that BW3 item would be hardly a concern.
August 5th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
My wife and I had a similar discussion the other day, but our main problem isn’t the number of times eating out, but the average bill.
As a couple we make substantially more than most of our friends, and at our initiation, we often offer to pay. We had dinner with another couple last weekend at a upscale/eccentric steakhouse and the bill was $170 (tip included).
When wrote out at our budget for August, we decided that enough is enough. We might still pick up the tab, but no more suggestions of steak in the future for us.
By the way, seeing your 25 trips to Buffalo Wild Wings made me feel better about my steak. Maybe I’m an uppity Oklahoman, but that place seems like white trash to me.
August 5th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
pharmboy,
Haha…there are nights when BWW is definitely trashy. We usually go on weekend afternoons, and it’s not nearly as bad. Tuesday nights and Thursday nights are the WORST!
August 6th, 2009 at 5:45 am
Thank you so much for this post! This is also our source of excess spending, so I will follow your lead and total our restaurant costs for a reality check.
August 6th, 2009 at 8:06 am
My wife and I have a similar problem with eating out. I think it will get better once we have the baby. Right now she isn’t cooking and craves certainmeals.
August 6th, 2009 at 8:18 am
You inspired me to print out a similar chart for my wife and I. This is year-to-date and I think we’re doing pretty good. My wife is Chinese and because of that we cook almost every night at home. Or rather, I cook, because she is working full time and going to school (don’t worry, we’re paying cash for her MBA).
Row Labels Total Amount Spent # of Trips
Arby’s 3.76 1
Bean 6.12 1
Big 68.06 1
C K & Sons 88.18 1
Cafe Duke 22.85 2
Cafe Rosee 19.9 3
Casey’s 17.79 5
Cosi 3.14 1
Dunkin Donuts 3.5 2
Eurest Dining Qps 9.5 2
Cafeteria 3.84 2
Europa Cafe 6.99 1
Fosters Grill 18.51 1
Fuddruckers 21.17 1
Fuji Japanese Rest 74.26 1
Ice Berry 4.73 1
Jimmy Burger Shack 14.36 1
KFC 1.61 1
Kohr Bros 6.5 1
Le Pettit Cafe 5.55 1
Luciano Italian 35.06 1
Maggiemoo East Market 10.73 2
Mark’s Duck House 33 1
McDonald’s 7.27 2
P.F. Chang’s 12.2 1
Panera Bread 7.58 2
Perfect Pita 11.52 2
Piazza Di Giorgio 9.39 1
Pot Bellys 16.81 3
Restaurant.com 9.5 1
Ringmasters Deli 3.4 1
Rio Grande Cafe 49.46 2
Saxbys Coffee Dc 8.86 2
Shake Shack Columbus 13.5 1
Smoothie King 12.5 1
Starbucks 83.98 20
State Dept Cafe 3.14 1
Subway 8.6 1
Sweetwater Tavern 37 1
Texas De Brazil 130 1
Thai Pilin Restaurant 12.55 1
Vine Sushi 23.55 1
Wisemillers Deli 13.98 2
Grand Total 953.9 81
The thing I take away from this is that I really need to cut back on Starbucks!! Still, we’ve only eaten out 81 times since the beginning of the year, which I think is a win!
P.S. You’ve spent more at the Wing place than we’ve spent all year!
Good luck with cutting down on eating out. My recommendation is that you learn how to stir fry. My wife and I stir fry pretty much every night and it’s so easy and simple. Once you learn the technique, then you have a million different dishes that you could cook because it’s just a combination of whatever veggies, tofu, and meat that you have in the fridge. 
August 6th, 2009 at 9:24 am
LOL. I have been paying cash for dining out so I don’t track it neatly like this.
There are things you can do to reduce your calorie consumption and fatten your wallet, like ruthlessly splitting your entree in half **before** you eat and putting it into a take out box. That way every meal is two meals.
Alcohol has the greatest profit margin at restaurants, so skip the beer and get water. Or only have it every other time you go.
Last week I had post about budgeting for groceries/dining, but also time-budgeting. Most people dine out because they don’t have time for cooking or feel too tired to do it. So prepping things in advance to make life convenient is the trick. Yes you lose vitamins if you cut your veggies in advance, but with the money you save, you can buy some supplements!
Good luck JLP!
August 6th, 2009 at 10:46 am
Very interesting way to start tracking it. I know mine is way too high, and unfortunatly much more at fast food places. Probably not as high per trip but certainly number of times would be higher.
Only 2 times a month would be crazy for me. If I could keep it down to 2 times a week it would be an improvement for me.
August 6th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Do you have a slow cooker or crock pot at home? You can save so much time and money by cooking your meals in one.
Another blogger sent me this site on cooking with a crock pot 365 days all last year http://crockpot365.blogspot.com.
You can literally just toss in some vegetables, seasonings, chicken, beef cuts or pork and let it do the work for you overnight. I’ve chopped my vegetables in advance and toss them in the crock pot with some beans, rice and seasonings. The next morning lunch and dinner is ready. It does the cooking while you sleep or at work.
August 7th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Am I understanding this correctly? Not counting vacation, y’all eat out an average of 18 times a month?
Perhaps what you need to come up with are 4 or 5 super quick go-to meals for when you are tired or busy. For example, we keep quesadilla ingredients in our house at most times. Fire up the George Foreman, assemble (about 5 min), and dinner is ready! And, hey, there’s nothing wrong with pb&j if the bread is whole grain, the jelly is no-sugar added, and you add some fruit (bananas, strawberries, etc). Serve with raw veggies, like baby carrots, and you have a quick healthy dinner. (Certainly healthier than most restaurant food!)
Good luck cutting back!
August 7th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
My wife and I faced this same problem and decided to solve it and other issues via an “allowance.” We each get an allowance and eating out has to be paid out of one (or both) of our allowances. If we don’t eat out as often we have more to spend on other things.
Guess what? We eat out substantially less and enjoy it substantially more.
August 7th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
since I started dating, I have had the same problem. That and movies. but how do I reign those expenses back in?
August 7th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Annie,
Correction: we USED to eat out 18 times per month. We are cutting back.
August 9th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Well I’ll help you out with the beer excuse. When we go out I always drink something I can’t get at home. We have a local brew called Red Oak that I’m quite fond of and it isn’t bottled. So I always tell my husband “I can’t get this at home and I’m helping the local economy.” So you need to make sure you drink good beer that you may not be able to find cheaper on the store shelf. This can be your excuse – LOL!
Another excuse is to say “But it’s so much better on tap!” I use this when I order Foster’s, which, I think, is much better on draft. If theirs an excuse for good beer, I’ve got it covered.
August 10th, 2009 at 7:58 am
KC, one of my favorite beers is by Kona Brewing (yes, in Hawaii. Somehow I don’t think your “can’t get it at home” line will work on my husband!! Flying to Hawaii just might exceed the cost of my beer on tap!!
August 10th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
Thanks for the link!
August 13th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Looks like the answer to your problem is to eat at Whataburger more, and the Cadillac Bar less.
September 15th, 2009 at 2:56 am
Happy to see I am not alone, almost bankrupt i am going change, my bankstatement say it all. I need help where can I start
January 28th, 2010 at 2:41 am
Well, I have you beat with the number of times you used to eat out–not that I am proud of it!
Our family of 3 eats out every meal, yes, every meal. Don’t judge me, ok… LOL!
I am trying to get my act together and cook at home, be more organized, get better about buying groceries and then making meals with them, managing my time better, reducing stress, saving money, etc, etc.
I am VERY aware at how much we are spending/wasting every week. My hubby makes good money, and I have become verrrrry spoiled, obviously!!
So anyway, here I am surfing the net, to try to get help with cutting back on eating out and saving more money. Wish me luck.