We have a weekly food budget. So if, for example, the budget is $200 for the week and we spend $125 at the grocery store for our meal plan, then we have $75 left over for eating out. Or, if we know we are going to splurge on a fancy dinner that week, then we need to eat beans the rest of the week.

This thread title made me think of Michael Douglas

Anonymous wrote:I had a similar revelation, OP. My new routine: every Saturday morning, I plan meals for the following Sunday-Friday, including breakfast, snacks and lunch (I always make double portions and save the leftovers for lunch the next day). I make a grocery list from my meal plan and we go to the store and buy exactly what is on my list. I always make something "fun" on Friday nights to curb the urge for takeout (mini pizzas made on naan, fajitas, enchiladas, grill burgers, etc).

Generally we'll do one night a month or so at a fun restaurant with friends, and it's more special because it's not every other night, you know? I've always enjoyed cooking, so I'm loving trying out new recipes.

This is what I do - meal planning and the list; double portions for leftover lunch. We eat out every Saturday (my day off from cooking), and maybe get a prepared chicken from the store another day of the week. But, even when we go out to eat, it's not a super nice place. Entrees for an adult are about $15 and under and kids mostly eat from a kid's menu, except when we go out for sushi. Then the bill is more like closer to $70+. Family of 4, ES aged kids. So, we spend maybe $300-350/mo on dining out and/or ready-meals.

OP here

Since the cancer diagnosis we have switched to eating organic. Not sure if that's helped drive up the grocery cost.

We buy lots of organic fruits/veggies each week. We eat a lot of organic dairy and meat.

Your grocery bill threw me for a loop since you were spending so much on prepared meals and that your DH eats out for lunch.

When you grocery shop, do you have a list? Are there a lot of impulse buys?

I clean out our fridge b/f trash day, then do the grocery shopping. That way, if something has gone bad, we clean it out, or if were out of milk or eggs, etc. we get more.

NP here. If I read this correctly, you spend about $200 for DH's lunch, $1600 eating out + meal service, and another $500 for groceries for when you eat in? So about $2300 for food? For just 2 adults and 2 preschool children?

$200 for DH's lunches - This is not your problem. There are on average 22 working days in a month. That comes to about $9 per lunch. Yes, it's expensive, and you could save about 50-60% of that cost, but another $100-125 per month isn't the issue. I would table that discussion until after you handle other issues.

$1600 eating out + meal service - This is the main part of your problem. You say that the meal service costs about $100/week for 2 meals. A little pricy, but worth it for the convenience if you are recovering from medical treatment for cancer. You spend about $30 for pizza every Friday. So $400 for meal service and $120 for pizza and you still spend $1080 on eating out for 8 days of the month. Is that breakfast, lunch and dinner? How much do you average per meal? You are averaging $135/day which is quite a lot of money to be spending on eating. I have a family with 2 adults and 2 preschool children and we eat out regularly at family friendly restaurants and only spend about $50 per meal. We eat out maybe twice a week typically for dinners. You need a much bigger breakdown of the $1600, but I would give yourselves a budget of say $200 per weekend for eating out. You can choose if you want it to be one very nice meal, two middling nice meals or several smaller less expensive meals (like family friendly restaurants). That's about $800 and will save you $800/month. Even if you up that to $250/meal, that still saves you $600/month.

$500 groceries - This is a reasonable amount to spend, providing that you are actually eating in. We spend a little more than that (about $150 per week or $600 per month), but we eat in a lot more than you do. We go out about twice a week and eat the rest of the time at home. We almost never eat breakfast out. We typically eat lunches at home and just go out for dinner. So our $600 groceries including meals for lunches.

We are a big fan of crockpot freezer meals. You just need a crockpot that has a timer/warming function. Basically once a month I pull together meals and throw them in the freezer. It's great for those nights that I won't feel like cooking -- really by the end of a long week, there is rarely any energy to cook on Friday night. So, Friday morning before leaving for work, I get out the crockpot, throw in meal from freezer, and by the time I walk through the door at the end of the day the house smells great and dinner is done. Pinterest has a ton of recipes. Good luck.

Anonymous wrote:It's not just killing you financially. It may be literally killing you in terms of health.

I so totally agree. Add the rest of the family in too.

The meals don't have to be elaborate nor do they need to take long. I'm a fan of cheap and easy 30 minute meals. There are cookbooks galore including a website named the same.

Your husband has to step up and help. He needs to put aside one day per weekend and cook something.

You work, you tend to kids, tend to the house, do the shopping, do the cooking, CANCER ... he works. The balance needs adjusting.

Anonymous wrote:
Of 7 nights, you cook 4. That's hardly "I cook on weeknights". You're lazy. Own it

OP cooks 4 out of 5 weeknights. I think it's reasonable for her to claim that she cooks on weeknights.

I think meal delivery is contributing to your budgeting issues, but I'm not sure it's the main problem. We spend $100/week for pretty much all of our weekday meals (I WAH and DD eats all her meals at home) except DH's lunch. You're spending that much on groceries + meal delivery...seems like it should be lower if you are only cooking 3 dinners at home.

As you've already identified, it's the costs of your meals out that seems to be the bigger issue. We eat out easily 3x on weekends, but most of the meals are pretty low cost ethnic food places (~$50 or less for the family). Seems like you could achieve a lot of savings just by switching venues.

I also agree with keeping pantry and freezer stocked with low-cost 'meal-in-a-box' type options for when you just don't want to cook. I'm betting that not all of the eating out you're doing is for the food/atmosphere, so you could at least replace those meals with something less expensive at home.

Your DH's lunch is small potatoes compared to the above, but one way to reduce costs without too much hassle is to do things like bring your own soda and bagged chips to work (or even keep them in his office). He can still buy the 'main course' (e.g. sandwich or whatever he's eating), but the little extras add up. It's easy to store those things, and they don't take any prep work. I'd estimate doing that would shave close to $50/month off his lunch costs.

It's not just killing you financially. It may be literally killing you in terms of health.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sat down last night and went through what we spent over the past month. Most things look pretty typical/normal expense-wise, but I saw that we spent $1600 on eating out! WTF!

I cook on weeknights, get a pizza delivered on Friday night and then we often eat out dinners on the weekends. A new wrinkle is that we also have been getting a meal delivery service.

This has shocked me into submission. As much as I like eating out/meal delivery, we are trying to save toward a big home improvement project and even saving half of this per month would be a big deal toward what we need to do the project.

I need to figure out how to get DH on board with eating at home much more often.

What do you think is a reasonable monthly dining out budget? Is that the best way to approach this - set an amount per month and that's it - once you reach the ceiling, you're done eating out that month?

How do most people manage these costs?

I'm also working on trying to get DH to buy less food at work and bring more from home. He spent about $200 this past month at the cafeteria at work.

Thoughts? What are other things that are easy to cut back on?

If you're using a meal service, that means you are NOT cooking on weeknights. Cut that shizz out like yesterday. I'm not sure why you don't know how to get your dh on board. Show him the numbers and shock him too!

OP here....

Not true. I was doing 2 dinners and 2 lunch salads per week via Bluebird Dinners. It ran about $100/week.

Then I'd cook from scratch the other three nights. Typical meals include steak/brussel sprouts/couscous or pesto pasta with roasted broccoli or haddock,roasted carrots and sweet potatoes. (Lol...we love roasted veggies)

Of 7 nights, you cook 4. That's hardly "I cook on weeknights". You're lazy. Own it

Wow, you're a bitch. OP has 2 little kids, works full time AND has just finished cancer treatment. Give her a break

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sat down last night and went through what we spent over the past month. Most things look pretty typical/normal expense-wise, but I saw that we spent $1600 on eating out! WTF!

I cook on weeknights, get a pizza delivered on Friday night and then we often eat out dinners on the weekends. A new wrinkle is that we also have been getting a meal delivery service.

This has shocked me into submission. As much as I like eating out/meal delivery, we are trying to save toward a big home improvement project and even saving half of this per month would be a big deal toward what we need to do the project.

I need to figure out how to get DH on board with eating at home much more often.

What do you think is a reasonable monthly dining out budget? Is that the best way to approach this - set an amount per month and that's it - once you reach the ceiling, you're done eating out that month?

How do most people manage these costs?

I'm also working on trying to get DH to buy less food at work and bring more from home. He spent about $200 this past month at the cafeteria at work.

Thoughts? What are other things that are easy to cut back on?

If you're using a meal service, that means you are NOT cooking on weeknights. Cut that shizz out like yesterday. I'm not sure why you don't know how to get your dh on board. Show him the numbers and shock him too!

OP here....

Not true. I was doing 2 dinners and 2 lunch salads per week via Bluebird Dinners. It ran about $100/week.

Then I'd cook from scratch the other three nights. Typical meals include steak/brussel sprouts/couscous or pesto pasta with roasted broccoli or haddock,roasted carrots and sweet potatoes. (Lol...we love roasted veggies)

Of 7 nights, you cook 4. That's hardly "I cook on weeknights". You're lazy. Own it

You've inspired me to eat lunch at home today.

OP -

Can you switch to Blue Apron or the like instead of the complete meal delivery. I actually find Blue Apron pretty reasonable if you are shopping at Whole Foods etc. We are a family of 5 (and our kids are older 10-14), and the meals feed us - sometimes I have to add a side of rice or another vegetable. It would easily feed your family and provide lunch for the next day. We just do the 2 meals a week and I never pick the pasta option so I feel like I get more out of it.

I would keep the pizza (it's a Friday night tradition that lots of families love) - but go to just cheese or the like - that can cut the bill almost in half, and open a bag of pre-made salad.

Do pasta once a week - it's easy and cheap.

That's roughly 70$ for blue apron 10-15$ for pasta/salad/break, $30 for pizza and said - $115 for 4 dinners plus a couple of lunch left overs.