Have you ever looked through your debit card transactions and been shocked by the number of restaurants you’ve visited in the past month? Our family has gone through seasons when we’ve grabbed takeout WAY too often. If you’re in a similar situation and wondering how to stop eating out so much, I’m sharing some tips as someone who’s been there!
5 Tips for Eating Out Less Often
We know that every penny counts in today’s economy! There are many budget line items and price increases that are completely out of our control. However, the number of times we eat out as a family is something that we CAN control for the most part. If you want to see fewer fast food transactions on your bank statement, here are a few tips to help you eat out less often.
1. Meal Plan
The biggest thing you can do to stop eating out so much is to meal plan. It’s one thing to SAY you’ll eat at home more often, but you need to have a plan for WHAT you’ll be eating.
I speak from experience. Our takeout expenses skyrocket on the weeks when I don’t meal plan.
If you’re new to meal planning and not sure where to start, check out my complete guide to meal planning for families. It’s full of tips that will help you get into a routine of planning out your meals for the week.
2. Put Your Plans on Display
Even when you meal plan, there are going to be nights when you don’t feel like cooking what you’ve planned. On those nights, it doesn’t take much convincing from the backseat to run through the drive-thru on the way home:
“Mom…can we have hamburgers tonight?”
I have found that when I post the meal plan for the family to see, it is much easier to stick to it. My kids are less likely to ask for take-out when they remember that I’m making one of their favorite meals that night. And I’m less likely to grab pizza when I know one of my kids is super excited about the dinner I’ve planned for the night. There’s just something about having a meal plan on display that keeps everyone on track. I use a menu board, but you could also have a shared Google calendar or even a piece of paper taped to the fridge.
3. Be Realistic
My third tip for eating out less often is to be realistic with your meal plan. Take a good look at your calendar before you make a plan for your meals and groceries. Are there days when you’ll have very little time to cook? That wouldn’t be a day for a turkey dinner with all the fixings! Instead, it might be a night for hot dogs and a bagged salad kit.
As someone who doesn’t love to cook, I have had to work really hard to be honest with myself when I’m meal planning. More often than not, the meals with extra steps that Ambitious Stephanie plans over the weekend are the first ones I ditch when the day arrives.
I have a blog post full of no-prep dinner ideas that you can add to your meal plan for super busy nights. These ideas can help you keep your meal plan realistic when you’re heading into a jam-packed week.
4. Share the Responsibility
Eating out can increase when you get burned out from cooking every night. That’s why it’s important to share the responsibility with your family! If your kids are old enough, encourage them to plan and cook a meal for the family one night a week. You could also work out a cooking rotation with your spouse or partner.
If you don’t mind cooking but hate the meal planning part, get your family involved in mapping out the dinners for the week. Let them do the weekly dig through your recipe collection to find the meal ideas and make the weekly grocery list! Sharing the responsibility of getting dinner on the table can definitely keep the meal planning burnout at bay.
5. Have Takeout Alternatives Handy
We all know that there are nights when there is no other option than to ditch the meal plan: Appointments take longer than planned, schedule changes pop up, etc. For these inevitable situations, it’s a good idea to keep some convenience foods in the freezer as an alternative to grabbing takeout.
Even though these foods can be more expensive than making dinner from scratch, they are still usually cheaper than going out to eat. Our family loves to keep chicken nuggets and taquitos in the freezer. These are super easy to throw in the air fryer on a busy night!
A Week of Family Meal Ideas for a Busy Night
If you’d like to watch me go through a very busy week for our family while trying to avoid eating out, check out this video. I share some simple family meal ideas that got us through some pretty hectic evenings. (If you like meal planning videos like this, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel!)
Save These Meal Planning Tips
Be sure to save this post so you can come back to it later! Just add this pin to your favorite meal planning board on Pinterest. You’ll be able to find these tips when you’re looking for ways to stop eating out so much.
