Does this scenario sound familiar to you?
I just got home from work, ugh, need to make dinner, let’s see what’s in the fridge…hmm just some milk and ketchup. Guess I’ll order Chinese food.
Our lives are all super busy these days, so it’s very easy to get caught unprepared when it comes to meal time. Usually, ordering out or going out to eat happens because we’re too busy, or simply have no food in the house. Eating out is one the biggest discretionary expenses we see here at BudgetSimple. It’s a great way to save money, if you can cut it out (or down).
So how can you avoid the “eating out trap”? The trick is to plan out your whole menu for the week in advance. What we do is sit down Sunday morning and figure out our schedule for the week. Are we going to be home every night? Is a certain night going to be rushed? Using that, we plan a menu that makes sense for each day of the week. Monday we might have more time, so a meal that takes an hour to prepare is on the menu, while Tuesday night is rushed, so something quick is planned.
Once your list is created, go shopping with this list. Having a list when you go grocery shopping is one of the best ways to make sure you don’t overspend at the grocery store. If you stick only to your list, you won’t pick up other unnecessary items. And if you’ve been couponing then you have an even better plan at the store.
Try to kill two birds with one stone here as well. Plan meals so that you’ll have leftovers for lunch the next day. This will save you money, so you don’t need to eat out, and also cuts down on the cost of dedicated lunch supplies like bread and lunch meat.
Got your menu for the week? It’s never to late to start, the key is doing it early and often. Also, buy some supplies that don’t expire for an extra meal or two (like canned soup) in case you get behind on your shopping.
