No More Restaurant Food – Frugal Challenge
Welcome again to another edition of my summer re-run series. I am bringing topics from the past back up to the forefront this summer so you don’t have to take time out of your busy schedule to sit at the computer and scroll around looking for topics you missed – or can’t recall where to find one you are looking for.
I hope you’ll enjoy this Frugal Challenge today. I thought it was a timely subject since we’re all running around like crazy this summer. It’s hard to resist pulling into the fast food place when you’re headed back home from the lake or beach. But, if you do that even a few times a week the cost really adds up. Take a moment if you will to read this post. This is a classic money saving step for so many of us. Enjoy:
Another Monday, another frugal challenge. Are you ready? This week the challenge is to not eat any “restaurant food”. That means no eating out, no take out, no pizza delivery and not fast food. Are you game?
We hardly ever eat out these days, but that wasn’t always so. When I was working, I was notoriously bad about ordering a pizza or heading through the drive through on my way home from the office. Just the thought of having to cook and then clean up was just more than I could handle after a hard work day. I’m sure some of you are in the same boat.
Here are some thing that helped us make the switch to a homecooked meal existence:
Plan Ahead – If you have what you need at home to cook a fast and simple meal, you’re much more likely to do it and of course you’ll have dinner on the table without too much work or fuss. I make a menu plan for the week and then get what I need in one shopping trip.
Have Some Emergency Meals Ready – This really works well on those days when you’re super busy. Just cook up a few things that will store well in your freezer. Casseroles and baked dishes like lasagna work really well for this. I also like to keep one or two frozen pizzas from Aldi in the freezer for the same reason. I can pull them out, cook them and have dinner ready in about 30 minutes.
Simplyfy – You don’t have to cook a fancy meal every night. My family is perfectly fine with pasta and tomato sauce, a quick stir fry or even eggs and toast or pancakes for dinner. Find a couple of meals that you can put together fast and come back to them on nights when you’re tempted to order out.
Of course dinner isn’t the only meal we tend to eat out. How about lunch, breakfast or a quick snack? Not this week. Pack your lunch and take it with you to work and pack your breakfast or eat it at home before you leave.
Like all of our frugal challenges, this one is designed to develop a new habit that will save you money (in this case by cooking all of your meals and get out of the eating out habit), but this one also has an added side benefit. You’re most likely going to eat a good bit healthier by sticking to homecooked meals.
July 12th, 2010 at 11:04 am
As a SAHM, I pack my lunch when I think that my errands/shopping will have me away from home at lunchtime. Not only does it save money (eating food that I’ve already paid for), but I’m in control of how many calories I am eating at that meal. It is often something as simple as a sandwich, a serving of baby carrots (no dip), a fruit of some sort, a drink, and a little something sweet — something I can easily eat while I drive.
July 12th, 2010 at 9:50 pm
A great challenge to follow. These days hubby and I rarely eat out (as in MAYBE once a month) and it is always the same thing, either the local mexican rest or Taco Bell (see a theme going on here).
For those that are hitting the restaurants more often this is something everyone should give a try!
July 20th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
We have pretty much given up eating out. Partly because of budget but mostly because of the unhealthy additives that are added to fast food. My son and I happen to be allergic to them! As a result we can’t eat there anymore. Not only has our budget enjoyed the less eating out but we are much healthier. If you happen to be having unexplained health issues see if maybe cutting back on fast food will help.
November 30th, 2010 at 3:15 am
My family is perfectly fine with pasta and tomato sauce, a quick stir fry or even eggs and toast or pancakes for dinner. Find a couple of meals that you can put together fast and come back to them on nights when you’re tempted to order out.
April 14th, 2011 at 12:57 am
I am a single dad and I like your attitude about simplifying cooking. While I like to do my best cooking healthy meals regularly, it’s nice to cook up something that is quick and easy like pasta and sauce. I agree that its too expensive to eat out these days, so we don’t do much of that anymore.
June 17th, 2012 at 11:35 pm
Since moving into our new house (with a much bigger eat-in kitchen) we have been eating in almost every night, we still give ourselves one meal (usually Saturday lunch) out a week. The savings are already starting to add up.
July 21st, 2012 at 12:40 pm
Great Reminder for me. As a single person, I tend to eat out way too much because it is “easier” to go out and let someone else do the clean up especially with the high temps we have been having here in the Midwest this summer. Thank you for the simple reminder that dinner does not have to be fancy!