According to Statista, restaurant food and beverage sales in the United States have increased steadily year after year with the exception of 2020 and the effects of the pandemic lockdowns. In fact, that number reached over $773 billion in 2019. Chances are you’re eating out frequently, and that frequency is likely more than 3 times a week. The average American household spends around $3500 annually on eating out. If you are anything like I was, that number may be much higher for you, and you don’t even know it. When our family cut back on eating out it was like giving ourselves a raise. If you want to achieve financial freedom avoid the eating out budget buster.
Will eating at home really save you money?
With the spike in inflation in recent years you may have noticed your grocery bill rise quite a bit. You may have even asked yourself: will eating at home really save me money? The average commercially prepared meal cost $13 per person, compared to only $4 per person for a meal prepared at home.* That is a savings of $9 per person per meal. That adds up quickly if you are eating out for lunch every day, or even if you are just taking your family out to eat a couple times a week.
5 Tips to Avoid Eating Out
Now that you are aware of the real cost of eating out, how do you cut back, because it is much easier said than done. There is a good chance you have built in excuses why you have to eat out, and they are certainly built around the convenience and your disinterest and/or ability to cook. These are not challenges easy to overcome, but it is doable for any person or family. And the extra planning and effort is worth the savings. Here are 5 helpful tips to help you cut back on restaurant spending.
Plan every meal, including snacks
This probably sounds daunting, maybe even impossible, but I promise it's not. As with most difficult tasks they get easier with time and practice. Start slow, but be sure to include every meal in your plan. What I mean is, do not feel obligated to go from eating out 5 times a week to not eating out at all. Try reducing it to 2 times a week. The real problem is when you don’t have a plan in place. This makes the convenience of eating out a foregone conclusion when you come home from a long day and don’t feel like cooking.
You do not need to have a detailed meal calendar listing exactly what you will eat on each specific day of the week. Instead, have a list of meals that you can choose from day to day (this can include a meal eating out). To simplify it for me, I usually eat the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and snacks (switching it up from time to time), then I keep a list of simple dinner recipes I enjoy that I pull from when making my grocery list for the week. Create a system that works for you, but if you have every meal planned for, it will be much easier to avoid mindlessly spending on eating out.
Pack a Lunch
Lunch tends to be a difficult meal because more times than not you are eating it outside the home, due to work or other activities. The convenient, expensive option is to grab a fast food meal, but the simple solution is to pack a lunch. You can do this before going to work, you can do this before running errands on a Saturday morning, you can even pack lunches on vacation if you plan correctly. Buy yourself an inexpensive lunch box and some ice packs. If you have a family, get a practical cooler you can take with you on the go. Plan for simple meals that are easy to pack, it takes only 5 minutes a day. If you prefer, you can even put together your lunches a week at a time. Again, develop a system that works for you but pack a lunch, even for outings you wouldn’t typically do so, like a shopping trip or vacation.
Keep a Book of Simple Recipes You Enjoy
One of the reasons you enjoy eating out besides the convenience is that it tastes good. Believe me, I love to eat, and there is nothing quite like eating a delicious meal. But even if you aren’t a master chef you can prepare a tasty home cooked meal. Start with a simple Google search. Search for something like “easy dinner recipes” or “delicious 30 minute meals.” The internet is flooded with simple recipes that taste good. Try a recipe, if you like it save it in a folder on your computer, if you don’t, delete it. Build up a list of 10-15 easy recipes that you enjoy and cycle through those. If you find yourself getting bored, go find some new recipes. This makes your meal planning easier and ensures you always have a good meal lined up.
Always Have a Convenience Meal Readily Available
Even with the most elaborate planning, occasionally life does not go as planned. You’re going to have a night when you just can’t get yourself to cook, maybe you get sick, or you just don’t have much time at all. This is where an at home convenience meal comes in handy. It could be a frozen lasagna, it could be a box of mac and cheese, or a frozen pizza. Whatever it is, it needs to be something you enjoy, and it needs to be something that anyone in the house could make with little to no effort at all. This will serve as a backup plan for when something comes up or you need a night off from cooking. At our house, most weeks we use our convenience meal at least once and it saves us from spending money on eating out when we really just don’t want to cook.
Eat Out on a Budget
Finally, if you are going to eat out, put a limit on it. Most people can afford to eat out every now and then. You run into trouble when you don’t put it in the budget. If your plan is to eat out once a week, then limit how much you will spend on that meal and stick to it. If you want to have a costlier meal, maybe bypass eating out one week and give yourself twice as much to spend the following week. The key is to monitor your spending so that you know where your money is going.
The cost of eating out is too high, especially if you are trying to get out of debt and get ahead with your money. If you implement these practices into your eating habits you will be surprised at how much money you will save. That money that can be used to pay down debts or build up your emergency fund. It may not seem like much in the beginning but your consistency will pay off big time in the long run. If you need assistance in avoiding this and other budget busting habits, book a coaching consultation today.
*Data provided by moneyunder30.com
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