How much of your budget goes toward eating out? (How many of you have no idea?) How much of that is not for enjoyment, but for apparent convenience?
I’m not against eating out, not by any stretch. But I do think it is one area in our lives that, over the years, has saved us financially. Simply because we’ve never done very much of it.
So little, in fact, that when I asked my kids today what they’d like for lunch, fast food didn’t even get mentioned. I actually suggested it.*Gasp*
We were just leaving church, sitting in that long line of cars all queuing up to leave via the “out” lane; I was desperately wishing I could cheat and turn around and go out the “in” lane that was so empty just begging to be utilized but oh how tacky that would be to break the rules at church, I mean come on?
So our next stop was to be wally-mart to get something my 14yo needed for a school project as well as some much-needed drugs for me from the pharmacy (because surprise, surprise Dr. Doubter it is Strep after all, eh?) and I was quite frankly not feeling too well nor at all in the mood to go home and make anything worth eating so I *gasp again* asked the kids if they wanted to eat out.
Did they ever!
Of course, the young ones wanted McDonald’s! A Happy Meal!
This being a special treat and all, we even went to Arby’s to accomodate Conner, who was not at all interested in a Happy Meal, or anything else from McDonald’s.
(Wow, Arby’s is expensive!)
In this land of convenience with a fast food restaurant on every corner and several in between, it wasn’t like we had to go out of our way.
Most of this came out of my “Blow Money” — and it was worth every penny. Sometimes you just can’t put a price on a little break for mom. It’s amazing sometimes, how little it takes to make the kids so happy.
I was talking to another mom recently at Olivia’s dance lesson, and as she looked at her daughter dancing she remarked that they really needed to stop eating out so much, but they were just so busy running here and there they just didn’t have time to do anything else.
I simply beg to differ. Does eating out really save you time? I can make a sandwich quicker than it takes to go through a drive through. Packing a simple lunch takes less effort than unbuckling kids and toting them in to wait in a fast food line.
Of course, we all gotta splurge a little, have a treat now and then (if that’s even what you consider fast food) — sometimes mom just doesn’t want to put forth the effort to think about making a meal.
But if you’re struggling with debt, and struggling with making a budget stick, and wondering why there’s more month left at the end of the money, I implore you: consider how often it is, exactly, that you’re stopping at that drive-thru. Try taking five minutes to make a PB&J, pack a little baggy of chips, and grab an apple. Your budget will thank you.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Alex and I “eat out” quite a bit, but not necessarily fast food. Yes, I know, I am not a mom, nor claim to have the organizational skills that all ya’ll have. But I am very interested in learning how to plan our budget (both calorically and financially), all while enjoying ourselves but making the most of such little mula. We love to eat at local eateries and go out with other couples to enjoy Saturday nights but I do consider that a big part of our entertainment/”blow” budget.
But my question is this: For just the two of us, what is the financial comparison of fixing a nice meal at home (going to the grocery store, spending however many odd dollars for the meal, spending time to fix it, having uber leftovers, then ending up throwing it away because it has gone bad) versus going to Subway, getting a $5 footlong, eating half for dinner and half for lunch the next day?
I am totally a believer in saving your dough and eating at home. But sometimes (ok, every day) it is so hard to plan and prepare a [healthy] meal for two. Tips? On a sidenote, what is Olivia’s dress size?
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jolyn Reply:
March 10th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
Emily,
It sounds like you guys are good about eating leftovers from meals you buy but not meals you prepare!
All right, here’s some thoughts off the top of my noggin, as grandma w/say. (Sort of.)
1. Think in bulk, and freeze ingredients in baggies appropriate in size for what you need to prepare one meal for the two of you.
2. For instance, do you eat chicken? Prepare a whole chicken in a crockpot, separate the meat into freezer bags with enough in each for individual meals. That one chicken (<$5) w/probably last you a month's worth of chicken meals with at least one meal every week. Apply this example to other foods: homemade refried beans for Mexican dishes; separating ground hamburger into smaller freezer baggies when you bring it home from the store (whether you cook it beforehand or freeze it raw); the possibilities are virtually endless!
3. For just the two of you, I would think about what you like to eat, and plan meals accordingly for a month at a time.
4. Yes, that is a long time! But for just two people, that’s not a lot of food! And that gives you lots of options to choose from throughout your busy work weeks.
5. Start a habit in the evening of asking each other, “What should we eat tomorrow night?” (Instead of, “Where should we go to eat tomorrow night?”) Based off your list of food you like to eat (see #3).
6. Get the meat, etc., out of the freezer to thaw for the next night’s meal.
7. You may not always feel like having what you planned! And that’s okay. That meat, etc., can wait until the next night.
8. If you don’t already have a crockpot, get one: They are the working woman’s (and man’s) friend.
9. I also liked the tips from other readers about investing in steamers, bread makers, etc, (hmm… wedding registry?) that have timers and also prepare food/veggies for you while you’re at work. It’s true: there’s nothing more relaxing than knowing your dinner is waiting for you when you get home from a long day.
I get excited thinking of the possibilities of cooking for just two people, when all you have to please is yourselves! I’m thinking, Baked (or slow cooked) chicken breasts with yummy seasonings (buy chicken breasts in bulk and keep frozen); rice pilaf; steamed veggies… (will you have fresh farmer’s markets available in KC?) A nice glass of wine…
Or – Pasta tossed with olive oil and parmesan cheese, served with sauteed shrimp (buy frozen and uncooked in a large bag and only take out what you can eat at one time!), and a tossed salad and some crusty bread. Yum!
You could make enough for just dinner, as well as a little extra for the next day’s lunch. Do you know how cheap these meals are for just two people when you buy the ingredients separately?
And that’s the key to eating on a budget — and for your health: buying separate ingredients and freezing in bulk accordingly and not thinking so much in terms of buying and storing whole meals — especially if you’re bad about eating your own leftovers!
This is long and probably post-worthy on its own, but just a few more points:
1. For the healthy way you like to eat, Em, you might look into a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) that delivers. Having fresh (possibly organic) local produce delivered to your doorstep w/also encourage you to find ways to incorporate those goodies into meals at home!
2. Meal plan, meal plan, meal plan. Just felt that needed to be said. It may feel like it takes time, but it’s just like paying the bills: you sit down and do it and in a few minutes it’s done. It saves so much time and energy come dinnertime.
3. Start small! In fact, I would maybe start by not doing anything differently at all! but write down every dollar you spend on food and drink, whether you used cash, debit, credit, or check. Whether it was eating/drinking out, groceries from the store, or a coke from a vending machine. Carry a little notebook or piece of paper around with you and simply write down the amount and what it was for. Or keep every receipt and write it down at the end of the day. Do this for a month.
4. When you see your totals, that might be all the motivation you need to sober you right up! (Pun intended)
I would recommend you and Alex sitting down and each writing out meals you like to eat, sort of a master list to base your meal planning off of that of course can be added to over time! You can shop for ingredients that can be bought in bulk like, once a month. That leaves smaller trips to the store maybe once a week for fresh produce, dairy and maybe bread. If you freeze in portions appropriate for what you need one meal at a time, no waste! And infinitely cheaper and healthier than eating out on a regular basis.
I definitely agree that eating out is wonderful entertainment! If you restrict your budget to eating out only for entertainment, and for convenience only occasionally, you will definitely free up money to go toward your financial goals. (You two do have financial goals, don’t you?)
Also! Have you ever thought about taking a cooking class together? Like, some Thai or some other kind of Asian food? Stir fry opens up all kinds of healthy, frugal meal options, and that would even be fun to do together at this early stage, to encourage the two of you to learn to cook together in the kitchen! Come to think of it, hubs and I perhaps could benefit from something like that, too…
I just encourage you to start preparing more meals at home. You will have failures! But then, you don’t always like every new restaurant you try, either, right? Just start small and don’t try every tip you hear at once. Just remember it gets easier the longer you do it. And before you know it, eating at home will be your fallback comfort zone of choice.
Oh, and Olivia’s a size 7; if it’s even sizes I’d go with a six. The dress your mom emailed a picture of was so cute! I am sure whatever you decide to go with will be adorable.
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Emily Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 12:24 pm
Thank you, Jolyn! You have some wonderful ideas of new things to try. Especially the planning for a month at time. We tend to be really good about planning out a week or so, but then fall off the wagon and get too frustrated. I must say we do cook a lot, but when you run out of ideas from night to night, it gets difficult.
Yes, I do own a crockpot-I must admit I get a little overwhelmed when I look for crockpot recipes because there is are so many options! And yes, we actually have looked into cooking classes to take together. There is actually a place just down the road from us that has wonderful classes, but they are expensive. We plan to try it sometime though.
We also actually did try what’s called “Door to Door Organics” for quite some time and loved it, only until winter hit and they were sending things that were not very appealing to either of us. We did try and make do, but decided to resign from it, maybe just until the summer comes and there is better local berries, etc. And we also have a farmer’s market in the summertime just a few blocks away, as well. So we have lots of options!
I don’t want it to sound like we are fast food junkies or eat all meals out at restaurants, but as a young couple we needed some advice for how to plan ahead…something we’re both not so good at. So thank you for all your tips! And recipes! Keep ‘em comin!
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jolyn Reply:
March 11th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Ha! Did you like my book?
Oh, eating out is an embarrassingly huge part of my spending plan. Like…8%. It’s usually because I enjoy it, although I also enjoy not having to make supper. It isn’t a time saver though, in fact it usually takes longer to go eat out than it does to make something at home.
I had been feeling guilty about doing so, but lately I wonder if I should. I don’t get much fast food (except for Chick-Fil-A which I’d get a whole lot more if it weren’t far away) and frequently eat at local restaurants where the food is homemade. I also really like eating out and can afford it. The only thing I like doing more is traveling, and I spend about the same amount on that. (I’d travel more if our schedules allowed.)
So, why not?
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jolyn Reply:
March 9th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
I don’t think there is any problem with eating out when you can afford it and that’s what you enjoy doing. Personally, I’m looking forward to the day when we can eat out more; I do love to enjoy different ethnic food and the act of socializing around eating and drinking with friends. I would consider that more entertainment, not necessarily part of the food budget. The problem comes when people mindlessly go through the (usually unhealthy) drive-thru on a regular basis and then wonder why they can’t pay their bills on time, not to mention the toll it takes on their health.
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We almost never eat out. Mostly just on extremely long car trips up north, to placate the kid who hates car trips. My husband and son LOVE fast food, tho they say they prefer my cooking. I don’t like fast food. Like others here, I rely a great deal on the Crockpot, rice steamer, and also on a breadmaker with a timer (you can set it up to have fresh bread ready and hot soup from the Crockpot in time for supper after work and picking up kids from an activity after school. ALso, a pressure cooker is useful.
Three things that help with the exhausted mother syndrome (I work, and have a teen on the autistic spectrum and a demoralized college kid taking the year off) include: 1) I keep stocks of things like hummus, whole wheat pita, cheese, etc. for a bread and cheese type dinner on tired nights. Also of premade piecrust, and lots of eggs (quiche is quick and easy) Then 2) Right after supper, putting away complete meals from the leftovers with some new frozen veggies in, then freezing in single serve containers. For example, some beef stew, rice and broccoli. Then we don’t eat leftovers for days, and if I have hummus and crackers for supper, a kid can have the meat dish nuked. 3) Every weekend, I make at least one dish for two meals and freeze them (for example ziti) in a microwave save dish. That way, there is always something any of us can warm up on desperate nights.
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jolyn Reply:
March 9th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
I need to try the hummus thing.
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I loved the real-life funny I read in Reader’s Digest a few years ago. When the family’s van had to go into the shop for a few days, the daughter incredulously asked her mother, “But where will we eat?!?”
If we go to McDonald’s, it’s usually on “cheap hamburger night.” Every Tuesday night between 5 and 8 pm our McDonald’s sells their hamburgers for .49 and their cheeseburgers for .59. It’s a cheap treat for the kids and a break for me!
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jolyn Reply:
March 9th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
My sister Carmen has said that sometimes getting food out is cheaper than cooking it just because of deals like that. On a sort of related note, I like the one where the mom is asked where she lives, and she answers with a straight face, “In a white suburban.”
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Uh… too much. We do too much dining out, fast food and otherwise… including those rotisserie chickens from the grocery store, which used to be *somewhat* reasonable @ $5.49 each, seeing as how I could get dinner for the family from it, usually a lunch or two for hubs, and use the rest in a soup. Now they are $7.98 apiece at our local grocery store… so, not quite the bargain it once was.
Now I am trying to get back into the habit of planning at *least* a week’s worth of meals in advance so 5:00 doesn’t roll around and I’m suddenly trying to figure out what to fix for dinner, using the crock-pot more on our busy days, etc. I’ll let you know how it goes.
But, in all honesty, we budget more for dining out than most couples/families… it’s just one of the things we like to do, and we budget accordingly.
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jolyn Reply:
March 9th, 2010 at 3:28 pm
But it’s your entertainment! You account for it accordingly and it doesn’t break the budget. How many people are eating out mindlessly without any idea how much is literally going out the window each month? (each week??) It’s not even for the enjoyment of eating, which we Americans are so bad about, but strictly for convenience and for lack of better planning.
I’m not talking about the occasional outing, mind you — but the regular, budget-busting habit of feeding your family fast food.
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We hardly ever eat out. Hubby and I are both gluten free, but the kids are not, we do treat them occasionally. But they do eat out a lot with their father, and especially since becoming gluten free I am way to health conscious to allow more than the occasional trip.
What struck me about this post was your point that something so small can mean so much to a child. How many of you are like me and you agonize over plans, day trips, etc. trying to give them memories and experiences you think they will enjoy? Then the other night (Dr. Seuss’ birthday) I made green eggs and ham for dinner. Both my 10 yr old and my 6 yr old thought it was great and talked about it for days. And I said to my hubby, they got so much pleasure from it, maybe we should focus more on the little stuff we forget about.
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We eat out in cycles. We never get happy meals though! We try to only go through places with dollar menus, and the kids share french fries. The only exception is Chick-fil-A because they don’t have a dollar menu and letting each kid get a meal is about the same price as cobbling together individual items. I know it is not good for us in large amounts and that it eats at our budget. Fast food usually comes from food or blow envelope, but actual restaurant eating out has its own envelope. And you are right, when we do get fast food, it is usually just to give me a break from thinking about packing or making a quick meal for the whole family.
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Arby’s IS expensive! I can’t eat out at fast food places anymore. I sit in line and think, “Ok, this is going to cost $6, but if I went home, it would cost less than $2 to make something. I allow myself $100 a month in “fun money,” which includes movies, dinners, trips out with D. That’s usually spent on the weekends if we go out to the other side of town to shop for something (usually computer gadgets for him) and get hungry while we’re out.
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We live in the sticks, so eating from the drive through isn’t an option for us. We have noticed that it has really helped the grocery budget since we have started eating at home. I can make lunches for a week at home for the same price as driving through Arby’s once. Once I realized how much we were saving, it didn’t take me that long to realize that it is better for us all the way around to eat at home.
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We have cut back on our fast food consumption from both a budget and a health aspect. But we still go.
Sassy girl won’t eat any sandwich except PB&J. I have tried and tried, and she won’t do it. And while I have no problem packing this for her to eat in the car (from a time and money aspect)……alas, Bossy Boy is allergic to peanuts! So I can’t have her eating it back there with him. Because alas, the money I would save making the PB&J would be negated by the Benedryl, Epi Pen, and hospital visit if he had a reaction.
Bossy Boy still isn’t eating well, so if we do stop for McD, I get her a happy meal, and an extra 4 piece nugget for him from the dollar menu and give hime a few of her fries. I just get a large coffee for a dollar.
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jolyn Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 8:32 am
See, it’s situations like this that make life so hard. I really don’t know what an easy solution w/b in your case. So even the fumes are too much? Or you’re worried he’ll snatch some? Can’t imagine having to worry about that, my heart goes out to you.
I don’t know what I would feed my 5yo sometimes if he couldn’t eat peanut butter. He’s come a long way in his picky eating, but dinner can still be a chore.
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Mysti Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 6:58 pm
G-man teases that poor Bossy Boy will never know the joy of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.
In theory, Bossy Boy knows he isn’t allowed to have peanut butter because it makes him sick. But with the Autism, sometime impulse control is an issue. If they get into a fight, he could grab at her, or vice versa. And he is highly allergic to contact (fumes seem to be ok, but ANY contact turns him into a huge massive ball of hives).
If I could convince Sassy Girl to eat a ham and cheese or something….my life would be so much easier!
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Wow Happy Meal’s are CHHHHH$$$$$AAAPPP!!!
Still you can make nice food at home for less.
I tend to not eat at McD’s or any chains. Here in Egypt there are lots of little locally owned places and I am on a bit of a kick to actually eat out a little more these days (WHAT!!!). I tend to eat out at a restaurant about once a week (Cost about $10 here) and healthy local fast food maybe twice a week (around $2-4 total spend).
I have this little belief that it’s better to spend m0ney on local services over buying stuff. I think if you keep money locally in the service industry rather than paying a corporation for an object (for example a magazine or a pair of shoes) then it will better serve the economy in general….
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jolyn Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 8:35 am
I actually look at your position completely differently altogether! If I were in Egypt? I w/totally be mooching off the local cuisine. For this post I’m really thinking about other moms who too often take the easy way out by going through the drive-thru.
And I mean too often. I think you w/be shocked to learn how often — multiple times a week, even — that American kids are eating fast food. It’s the reason this country has an obesity problem and why healthcare is in trouble, simply put.
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I developed the fast food habit after my last child moved out. Coming home tired from work, it hardly seemed worth the effort to cook for one. But after a warning from my doctor to cut back on sugars and salt, fast food was out. The Crockpot became my solution, and I since added a rice cooker and an electric steamer, both with delayed start, and auto switch to warm. The meat with some sauce goes in the Crockpot, rice in the rice cooker, and fresh vegetables in the steamer. Nothing deters you from picking up drive-thru, than knowing dinner is cooked and waiting for you at home.
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jolyn Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 8:38 am
I decided not to even touch on the health reasons for avoiding the drive-thru. And there.are.many.
I love my crockpot, too.
Those other appliances? With the timers? Brilliant. I don’t know if I would ever have thought of that. Perfect solution for the busy working mom/dad as well.
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I agree. That was exactly the motivation for our home made “burger joint”. It cost literally a fraction of the drive-through or fast food bill and taste so good. Most importantly, I know what I PUT in there.
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jolyn Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 8:42 am
I decided not to even touch the healthy aspect: I had too much to say
Fast food shouldn’t even be considered real food, in my opinion. Oh, it’s a “treat”, but it’s amazing how your taste buds change and you don’t even want it anymore after you go without for awhile. Those curly fries sure tasted good, but I could clearly taste the salt in my “roast beef” and felt like I got an entire week’s worth of sodium in that one meal.
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Oh my gosh, I 100% agree with you! My husband and I try to go out to dinner for a bargain date night about once a week, but even though I have an on-the-go career (when I’m not working with kids in their homes, I’m driving) the rest of my meals each week are all brown-bagged. My husband, however, uses most of his “play money” (what I think you call “blow money”) each week to go out to lunch. Some of his money is also used for gas and other necessities, but that adds up to over a hundred dollars a month on lunches for him alone! Everyone has to have their little splurges on occasion in order to stay sane (and I’m really glad that you threw in there how worth the money it was to have that option on that particular day – it makes you seem like a regular person!) and going out to lunch is his splurge, but it really makes you realize how quickly all of those little things add up. Great post!
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jolyn Reply:
March 8th, 2010 at 8:45 am
Yes, our “blow money” is our play/fun/discretionary money! Hmm… Future post on that, I think. My husband, too, eats out a lot of his lunches. It’ll be interesting to see how our budget changes again once he returns from his deployment! He also buys a lot of cans of soup and other “packaged” items to keep in his office for his lunches and snacks, but not budget-friendly items, in my opinion… (Hi, Hubs!)
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