I screwed up my meal planning last week, so we got Applebee’s with a gift certificate. I remembered when learning how to stop eating out was SO hard for me, and wondered what advice I could offer to someone still struggling.
My biggest takeaway was this: At the end of the day, you really have to really want it. Someone else shaming or guilting you usually isn’t enough motivation to stop eating out. You need to want it for your own reasons– usually to save money or be healthier. I’m no healthy eating expert, but I can talk about how cooking at home can save you money. If you need a real kick in the pants, check out these numbers.
How Much Money Can You Save By Not Eating Out?
Depending on where you eat, how often you eat out, and how many people are in your family, you can save anywhere from $1,300 to $12,376 every year, just by not eating out! Here’s the yearly cost breakdown.
- Fast food $6 combo meal, five times a week: $1,560 a year for a single person, $6,240 a year for a family of four
- Doordash twice a week (average delivery fee, service fee, & tip): $936 a year
- Fast-casual restaurant once a week (at roughly $25/person): $1,300 a year for a single person, $5,200 a year for a family of four
For reference, you know my hypothetical family of four who eats out six meals a week and spends at least $12,376 a year? Those six meals a week cost more than DOUBLE what I spend to feed my whole family of four for all our meals for a year (because I’ve learned how to save money on groceries).
How to Cook More and Eat Out Less
There are two parts to this problem. First, you need to find ways to feed yourself without eating out. Here are a few ways to get started.
1. Be realistic
If you know your schedule is too hectic, your cooking skills are currently too low, or you have too few “spoons” due to mental or physical disabilities, embrace that now. I know I’ve written about how to find cheap meat, but don’t just get a turkey hoping you’ll cook it, then let it go to waste.
Speaking of turkeys, gauge whether you think the ‘cold turkey’ approach to quitting take out will work. Planning to just eat fewer meals out is a great start! If you’re currently eating dinner out every day, try to wean yourself down to two or three times a week, and do that consistently for a month. Then, reevaluate your goals.
2. Make a plan
Once you know your limits, think about what meals fit in those limits. Do you need to focus on postpartum freezer meals because you’re a new parent? Should you make a lot of vegetarian meals? Are you constantly chauffeuring kids to soccer practice or dance lessons, so you need lots of crock pot ideas?
Whatever you decide, write it down and stick it on the fridge or somewhere else you’ll see it regularly. I bought a little magnetic dry-erase board from Amazon for this purpose.
3. Take baby steps
When you’re new to mostly at-home cooking, start by buying more pre-prepared meals and ingredients at the grocery store. Yes, it’s more expensive than cooking everything from scratch, but it’s MUCH cheaper than paying someone else to make your food.
You can also get groceries delivered to your house through Instacart or Walmart+. This can be great both for convenience (since that’s probably part of why you were eating out) and in helping you plan meal ideas without being distracted by in-store impulse purchases.
4. Cook “copycat” foods
It’s easier to notice trends when they’re written out, so grab a pen and paper. Are you getting a lot of tacos and burritos? Pasta and soups? Burgers and fries? Make a note of all of it all.
Once you see some themes, get similar items at the grocery store. Grab the frozen pack of burritos, frozen pizzas, or whatever. I’ve written about all the cheap foods to buy at the grocery store, and getting those can help you stop eating out. You can also look up “copycat” recipes for many dishes online.
You can actually buy things like Chick-fil-A sauce, TGI Friday mozzarella sticks, or containers of Panera Bread soup in the grocery store to recreate favorite orders at home. And if you already have it at home, it’s both cheaper and faster than takeout.
Finally, if it doesn’t taste right yet, you can always add more salt. So much of what makes fast food taste good is scary amounts of sodium. I wouldn’t suggest this as a long term strategy or if someone has a sodium problem already, but it might work to help wean you down.
5. Take advantage of motivation when it strikes
If you find yourself really motivated to stop eating out some day (like today perhaps, since you’re reading this article), take advantage! My article on dirt cheap meals has tons of big portion meal ideas– find one you like and whip up a big batch. Then, separate it into multiple portions. You can freeze the extra portions for ready-to-heat meals at home another day.
You could also use this motivation to prep snacks or individual ingredients, like cutting up a big block of cheese into little snack cup sizes, or washing and steaming vegetables to use later.
The more easily-accessible you can make food at home, the less tempted you’ll be to order out.
6. Find a buddy
Having a friend on the journey with you solves multiple problems. Firstly, it gives you accountability, so you can’t cheat on yourself because “no one will know.” Set up a time daily (at first) or weekly to check in with each other.
A friend who’s going through the same challenges can also offer a chance at food variety. If both of you are learning how to stop eating out, you can cook different foods in large quantities and swap leftovers. Now you’ve got meals for days, and you didn’t even have to cook half of them!
How to Stop Eating Out
Once you’ve started to feed yourself at home (or at least meals prepared at home), you can start tackling your old takeaway habits. Here are a few suggestions to make the transition easier.
7. Delete foodie apps and unsubscribe
Go ahead and delete all the fast food apps on your phone. You won’t need them any more, right? Deleting everything ensures you won’t be tempted to check for those exciting coupons or “one more order until a free soda” deals.
Delete delivery apps like Uber Eats and Doordash, too. Since they’re the apps that make eating out SO convenient, they absolutely won’t help you stick to your new resolutions.
Finally, unsubscribe from fast food reward emails, too! It’s easier to stop eating out if you’re not reminded of your old habits 10 times a day.
8. Commute differently
You might consider learning a new way to commute if you tend to pick up meals on your way to or from work. An extra five minutes of driving the long way will use slightly more gas, but it’s still cheaper than getting fast food.
Even an extra ten or fifteen minutes of driving might be worth it to you– for a short time. Try taking the new route for a month, and going back to the short path once you have more success resisting that fast food allure.
If you can’t change your route, try making your phone or wallet hard to access from your seat.This way, you won’t be able to sneak through the drive through because you won’t be able to pay!
9. Load up on snacks and drinks
Grab the energy bars, fruit, or beef jerky on your way out the door. Keeping snacks in your car will keep you from stopping some day when you’re driving and hungry.
Bring your own drinks on the road, too– water bottles, home-brewed coffee, and infusions or packet additions to water are great. You’ll be less tempted to pull over if you feel full from hydrating.
10. Remember your “why”
Remember my big takeaway at the beginning? You really have to want this. You’ll only stop eating out when the pain of continuing is worse than the pain of change. So go ahead and write out your why, and read it out to yourself every day.
Find a picture that illustrates your motivation for quitting. Maybe it’s a picture of you playing with your children or grandchildren or the new car you want to buy with your savings.
If you usually eat out while driving, tape that picture to the dashboard or tuck it under a clip on your sun visor. Those of you who usually order out online can change your phone or desktop background to the same images. It’s all about reinforcement and reminders, and visual cues are usually the best.
I hope you found some new ideas and strategies to stop eating out and start saving more money. Want more frugal living tips in your email inbox? Sign up for my newsletter below!