How often do you eat out?
 

We eat out a couple of times a month or more. Wondering where we rank? Sometimes it's just a pain in the neck to cook night after night and day after day.

We go once about once a week. Usually for a family breakfast on the weekend. Probably way too much, but its always good family time.

Maybe just over a half dozen times a year.

We have given up the restaurants along with the grocery stores. The plan is to never eat out or buy groceries again.

When someone else pays...

We eat out sporadically. Sometimes it seems a lot then we go for weeks not eating out at all. It's usually when we're really busy and off the homestead. Last week we ate out 3 times. We were at DS house looking after the grandsons while the youngest was in hospital a few days. Twice there. Then it was our anniversary so we went out again. Probably won't happen again for a few weeks, I hope. So, I'm going to say evened out about once a month.

Does once in a blue moon count? Getting dressed and going to a restaurant, maybe on our anniversary, but if we eat out it's usually at a neighborhood cooking and that's about twice a year. We eat take out/bring home about once a month from the local Italian restaurant or lunch from a local deli.

Wendys chili once in a while. Does a family reunion count ? Put me down for about every 2 months.

Once a week at most. It's usually when we are running errands on the weekend. I'm thinking of getting some lunch boxes though so we can pack our own.

At a restaurant? Once every few months! Used to be multiple times a week and I can't believe I did that, thinking back on it.

At fast food places? Still once every couple of weeks, which is too much, even though we usually just order dollar menu items. It's complete garbage.

Our company has a cafeteria on property that sometimes lures me in and it's just a step above fast food. I am trying REALLY HARD to stay away and bring breakfast and lunch. It's kinda hard but I'm down to going just once a week and limiting my budget to $3 (which often pays for a good sized salad, or a bowl of soup with kettle chips).

In the last year, about once a week. I just went to KFC today for one last meal. Until this ebola thing is over, no more out to eat for me!:peep:

As often as possible!

Maybe twice a year at a sit down place. I'll get coffee at the convenience store sometimes when I'm buying gas, but it's an expensive habit to get into so it's got to be a treat.

Most days during summer I eat out. Well, inside a tractor or combine cab. But I do not think this is what you meant! lol.

usually a pizza place to bring pizza home once a week. Sit down restaurant - maybe 2-3 times a month (that includes if I order takeaway from a sit down restaurant). Fast food - depends on if we are away from home/what's going on. I like to cook, so it is often just easier to throw something together at home, just takes more planning. :)

As often as I can before DH retires, lol. Truthfully about 2-3 times a week (lunches). I take my elderly mother out so she can eat the things she doesn't/can't make at home.

Okay, you all who have cut the eating-out cord, how in the world did you do it? I'm a fast-food addict. This is Not Good for several reasons, obviously.

We have cut way back. Used to be every day, then we moved so that we're 15 minutes from town, and it's down to 2-3 times a week. I'd like to make it 2-3 times a month. HELP!

Eat out, maybe 2 times a year. Drive thru, I'll get burgers for the dogs and I if they are with me on the way somewhere(long drives).

Add up all the money you spend at fast food places, then compare that to what you could buy at the grocery store. Then add up the time it takes to drive to the fast food joint, order, wait, drive home. Then realize you can have a home cooked meal for much less $$$ and in just as short (probably even shorter) time.

If you're eating out when you're out running errands, plan ahead and either eat before you leave, or when you get back. OR, pack snacks with you to hold you over until you get home.

In the 35 minutes it'd take us to drive to get take-out, I could have just about any meal cooked and ready to eat. Plan your meals ahead so you can thaw out meat, or soak beans, etc. It really is much quicker to cook at home.

Twice a year

happycat - it depends on the type of fast food that you're addicted to. For me it was take-away. I learned to make different types of food so I wouldn't be ordering out as much (i.e. Korean, Indian, Chinese). I can make more of an item often times for the same amount of money or less than if I ordered it.

If it is McD's or some other type of burger place - maybe making burgers and fries at home?

The same way we did with cigarettes:

I kept receipts for awhile and added them up. I did this with sit down restaurants too.

We were spending upwards of $200/mo on fast food, convenience food, and dining out. I also synchonized my accounts with Mint.com and let it do a historical report. I'm ashamed to say that at one time we spent $1600 in 6 months on restaurants/fast food. That's absolutely ridiculous to me.

I did this with cigarettes too and it really helped. DF still wants to smoke sometimes and he "dips" but it's more of a social thing for him now and I'm not going to pester him about it as long as it's infrequent. It's nasty but I pick my battles!

Try it!

it goes in cycles , mainly when we are away from home but average probably comes to once a month , I would rather find a good diner with reasonable prices than through my money away on fast food , a sit down with tip just isn't that much more that fast food and it is much more enjoyable

I see us eating out even less now about a month ago we changed the way we eat and we have been a lot better to pack a meal , bring a cooler and have snacks handy as this has made eating on the run much more difficult unless we bring a cooler.

Havnt ate out since the early 80s

More than I probably should. I get lonely and away I go. I think I am a better cook than most of the places around here are tho.

We carried out free pizzas last year some time, and last week we ate FRIES at Burger King. I told the little girl waiting on us, I wanted them fresh out of the oil, she gave me the old line: I think we just dropped some, so they are hot. I gave her a look that said: Don't be ridiculous, I want them hot. Finally after 5 more batches of fries, I got them, hot enough to burn my mouth, they were GREAT! Lots of ketchup too. They were FABULOUS. When we drove away, she was outside, I yelled at her. THANKS FOR THE HOT FRIES!!! HA ha, so much entertainment and no dirty dishes.

Almost never. It has maybe been 2 years since I've eaten out. I HATE cooking, but I'm a cheapskate, and hate spending money even more.

In my younger days, I enjoyed cafe's and resturaunts frequently - I also frequently got sick. I firmly believer that most cases of colds and flu are inadvertently spread by food service.

Save your money, and stay healthy.
Stay home.

Hey, Happycat, just watch some videos and read some articles about what is in fast food and it would turn your stomach... off of fast food.

For us, the local grocery store makes decent pizza and we might order one once in a while and pick it up at the deli. The last time I went to a restaurant was when I was given a gift card to a restaurant from Sprint for selling cell phones, which was years ago. For us "eating out" is going outside and eating in the back yard.

For the fast food part, we just watched that controversial "Supersize Me" video... that cured us :D

I eat out every weekday morning having breakfast and coffee at the local café .

Fast food almost never, even when we have a 4 hour drive somewhere, I pack sandwiches and we eat them at the rest stop along the way. Too much disappointment in so many places recently, quality is way down.
Chinese buffet once a year does it for me, love egg rolls, don't like to make them myself.
We check out a new restaurant or two every year.
Other restaurant places maybe once a month, or in the cold winter months sometimes not at all.

I would like to note that this does not work for everybody. Fast food is gross, but it is also delicious. :hair We don't go out often, maybe about once a month, but boy howdy is that stuff tasty, and I didn't have to cook it!

The msg (or similar substances in cases where a fast food place "removed" msg to appear less unhealthy) enhances flavor receptors in your mouth to make gross food taste good, just tell yourself if there were no chemicals screwing with the way you think it tastes it would probably make you puke.

Problem with me has been chronic health issues and not feeling well enough to do everything that HAS to be done in a day plus cook. I've been lucky to get work done, much less anything around the house.

I'm feeling better now but I'm still trying to break the addiction - and yes, I feel that it really is an addiction thanks to all the processed tasty chemicals they put in the food. I'll be happy if I can get the addiction down to once or twice a month. (Hey, I kicked artificial sweeteners after 20 years, so I can do fast food, too. Eventually. ;) )

I go to town once a week to buy groceries. Fresh fruits don't seem to keep much longer. I have lunch at McD when I am in town so the answer is once a week.

The local McDs has a bacon mcdoubble, small fries, and a small drink for $3. You can refill the drink so size doesn't matter in this case. Top it off with a $1 ice cream cone and you have lunch for $4 plus tax.

Depends if a old or new GF, but usually lunch once or twice a week and dinner maybe three times a week. Never fast food.

Sometimes we eat out more than I care to admit.

I stopped at McD's a couple of months ago and got a fish sandwich/coke when I was in town for the day, but other than that, the last time we went out and had lunch/dinner was well over a year ago, IIRC.

Sad thing is that I have over $200 in restaurant gift cards for Applebee's, a local steakhouse, and IHOP (DH received last Christmas from his customers), but we just haven't used them.

By the time DH gets home from work, he's too tired to go out, but he's going to take a couple of vac days at the end of the month for his birthday and we plan to use a couple of them then.

About once a week, not so much anymore at Mickey D's I still do but have order a smaller portions, but I do stop at a Burger King once in awhile.
I do go out a couple a times a month for a nice breakfast at Perkins, usually on a Sunday morning, but may do it tomorrow morning if I go to the big city for groceries for the weekend.

A whole lot less than we used to. Less than once a month. It's just too expensive, especially if all six kids are going with us. I really like knowing who did what to my food before I eat it. Can't do that at a restaurant. We grill outside a lot and eat on the patio. I have finally put together a pretty good grill setup that makes it easy to cook and eat out there and keep the heat out of the house.