Breaking the Fast Food Cycle

When I first started this blog it was a way for me to track how much my family was eating out.  We had gotten into the habit of eating out 3-4 times a week for lunch and 4-5 times a week for dinner.  Not only were we spending hundreds of dollars on fast food but I was also still spending all of our allotted grocery budget each week on food that eventually just went bad in my fridge, thus wasting even more money.  At one point I realized that all our discretionary money was being spent on eating out and that simply had to change.

It's been a little over a year and a hard struggle, but I'm happy to report that our eating out has curbed dramatically.  We still eat out on occasion, but it is typically planned and put into our monthly budget.  Since I have become much more aware of just how much bad food costs, I am less tempted to eat out just because.  Why spend $30 on fast food when I can make something much better for way less?  Also, there is just many more things I would rather do with that $30. 

Here are a few of the things that helped my family break the fast food cycle:

• Desire--This may seems lame, but you really have to want to stop.  For us, it came from realizing just how much we were spending on food that really was not good for us.  It also helps to have a reason or a goal.  We wanted to buy a house and in order to make that work, we needed the extra money eating out was taking.
• Budget--Each pay period I sit down and write out a zero balance budget.  This means that every dollar is accounted for--there is no "free money" sitting in my account.  After tithing, bills, groceries, household items and fuel, I look at what money I have left and assign it a category.  I typically plan one or two days each pay period for eating out.  If we eat out more than that then that money comes out of my grocery budget (my grocery budget is $100/wk for a family of 6).  This makes me less tempted to eat out, since it typically costs us around $25-30 and I know that I can feed my family dinner at home for around $3-7. 
• Meal Plan--Each week I create a meal plan that includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks based on the weekly grocery ads, coupons, and what I have in my pantry/fridge/freezer.  I also include a night for left overs. 
• Fall Back Meals--These are meals that your family likes that are quick and easy to make and you always have on hand.  For us they are: spaghetti, eggs, and cheater shepherds pie (can of Dinty Moore and a packet of instant mashed potatoes.)
• Don't Give Up--Occasionally, we'd fall back into bad habits having periods were we eat out more than necessary.  Instead of giving up, we just resolve to do better again.

Now that I feel we have our eating out under control it's on to our next food goal, which is to eat healthier.  I've noticed lately that our meals have become very centered around meat so I've been trying to have more fresh fruits and vegetables with each meal and less meat. I'm also trying to introduce more whole grains and fiber into our diet. 

So, onto the next adventure!

This. This is the reason I've been absent. (Isn't he handsome?)

And the reason we've been doing so awful at not eating out.

My little guy seems to think that the perfect time to get cranky and need mommy is right when dinner needs to be started. We've started pulling back from the fast food restaurants once again. We bought a grill a week ago and my husband has been ecstatic, so he's been grilling. Nothing fancy yet, but when we do, I'll be sure to post it.

Goals Update

I started this blog a year ago to help me keep track of how often and how much we were spending eating out. While I didn't do so great in keeping a monthly tally, I did get better at eating more at home. We moved to a smaller city in the fall, which I believe helped. There simply isn't the fast food or restaurant choices available here as there used to be. I also began watching other children during the week, which has put an end to my lunch time fast food runs. I don't necessarily want to spend more money than I make watching them to feed them lunch. We do still occasionally eat out, but not nearly as often and more than not I have planned to eat out, which is a first. Before, it was simply a whim. Dinnertime would come and I would not feel like cooking, so off to the nearest fast food place we'd go. I've gotten better at menu planning and stocking my pantry and freezer, so I can put a quick meal together with what we have. I still have room for improvement. We still eat out 1-2 times a week. I'd love to get that down to 1-2 times a month. We'll see what 2010 brings.

Eegads!

This months total is outrageous. I knew it would be high, because we went out of town twice this month, which required us to eat out for most meals, but I wasn't quite expecting it to be this bad. My grocery budget for the month is only $400; I didn't expect to rival it. I probably wouldn't have, except our A/C was not working properly the beginning half of the month, so by mealtime our house was a furnance. It didn't make me want to add to the heat by using the stove or oven, so most nights we went out where it was cooler. I did only spend $300 out of my grocery budget because we were eating out so much, and included in the total is our date night, and dinner for my in-laws and lunch for my grandma. I wasn't quite sure how to count those, since technically, it was still eating out, but the difference of those three dinners is a little over a hundred dollars. Ah, well. Next month should be normal, so we should be able to get back on track.

Almost There

So, I'm a bit excited because the month is almost over and we've only spent a little over a hundred eating out. Which is so much better than we did last month. We did eat out for lunch today, but then I made stromboli for dinner. I think the big difference is this month we transferred any extra money we had immediately into savings. We left us a small amount for discretionary, but that was it. Before we would always wait to transfer money, in case we needed it for something, but then we'd always spend it eating out, so even if we did need it, it was no longer there. I'm hoping we can do as well next month. We have to travel out of town several times, so I'm worried, but hopefully we can contain what we spend.

Out of Control

Ack! I can't believe how much we spent eating out this month. We completly fell back into our old habits. This month I wasn't updating everytime we ate out and I think that made it harder. I wasn't constantly aware of how much we were spending on fast food, which is never good anyway. I think next month I'll try pulling out cash and having a fast food fund and when it's gone it's gone.

March Goals

A new month and a chance to try again. We overspent last month by about $75.oo. However, included in this is my husband and my Valentine dinner.

Saturday's seem to kill us. It is the one day we have where we are all together and we generally spend it running errands or doing something together as a family. Unfortunately, that means we are usually not home for lunch or dinner. I am still troubleshooting our Saturday's for a way to avoid this.

Ideally, we wouldn't be eating out at all. But I figure baby steps are better. My main motivation being we are trying to pay off our debt this year and this is the one area in our spending that really isn't necessary. Therefore, it simply has to go. I have been doing my best, but apparently I need to up my best. We are still working on our emergency fund and are half way there. If we are diligent, we should be able to finish it this month.

We have budgeted three big eat out days this month: our date night, our trip to the Temple, and a family dinner. Those three days will be about $60.00. If we do our half rule (reduce last months spending by half as the new goal), that leaves us with $35.oo to spend eating out the rest of the month. I suppose that averages to about once a week.

Burger King

So yesterday was one of those days. At 6 o'clock I still hadn't even started dinner, so when my husband got home we went out to eat. I cringed when the guy told me our total. We got girls one item each off the dollar menu and they shared a drink and fries. My husband and I each got a value meal, but we got one of the cheapest ones and neither of us up-sized. Uck!

Now that I'm keeping track of exactly how much we're spending on eating out, I'm so much more conscientious of how much we're wasting. Which is good because I don't think I really realized it before. I saw that maybe we only ate out 3 times in a week instead of 5 and thought we were doing good instead of realizing that those three times were still costing us ~$60 for the food, not to mention the groceries that I was throwing out because we weren't eating them fast enough.

Still, it is a very hard habit to break. Every time we get the circulars, I think, well if we use this coupon. . . or when I drive by some of the places we frequented and they have a new item, I think, that would be good. Then I have to remind myself that we're trying to cut back so we can more wisely spend our money and so that we can be healthier. So I am constantly reminding myself of our goals and doing my best to resist temptation.

Goal for February

Last month we spent quite a lot eating out. Over $200 in fact. Sadly, we had cut down quite a bit, so I can only imagine how much we were spending. While I would like to say this month I don't plan on spending any money eating out, I know that is unrealistic. Baby steps. So, my goal is to spend half or less of this amount. Which is still quite a lot. Wish me luck!