Taking the Ow! Out of Eating Out
I currently have eight people in my household, including myself and my
dear husband, three teenage boys, one 11yo boy, a 4 yo girl, and a
2yo boy. Eating out with this many people can get CRAZY expensive,
even if you are not a cheap sort of person. Well, I'm as cheap as they
come and I don't scramble to keep our grocery bill down just to blow
the difference on a pizza. On the other hand, eating out is a special
treat (at least for children in frugal families) as well as a great way to
celebrate special occasions and keep from feeling deprived. To break
up the monotony, we try to eat out or takeout at least once a month.
Here's how we do it without draining our checking account:
Pizza: A locally owned pizza parlor has large one-topping pizzas hot
and ready for 4.99. Little Caesar's does this also, but we like to support
the little guy! Total: $15 plus tax for three takeout pizzas, augmented
with fruit and veggies at home.
Costco: If you have a Costco card, you know about their huge slices of
pizza and their hot dog and soda deals. We let each kid spend $2,
which goes a long way there. Bonus: older children start appreciating a
shopping trip with preschoolers who always need help finishing that
huge slice of pizza. Total: $16
Sub Platters: A local sandwich place (I love shopping locally!) has a
huge sub platter for $25. I think there are maybe 6 subs cut up into
pieces. If you don't mind national chains, Subway's cheapest 6-foot sub
was around $40 last time I checked and I fed my supersized family plus
an extra 6 boys (birthday party) and struggled to eat up the leftovers
before they turned icky. It's an impressive display, and a nice change
of pace. $25 sounds like a lot of money to me, until I think about the
$150 that Red Robin would cost. We do this on birthdays because of
the WOW factor.
Dollar Menus: Every burger joint has them, but you can probably do
even better. My local BK has two cheeseburgers for 1.29 one night a
week. It's not shockingly cheap, but $20 gets you a couple of HUGE
bags of burgers which you can serve with tater tots. Call around; most
fast food places have unadvertised deals that blow their dollar menu
deals out of the water.
Picnics: How about literally eating out, as in outdoors?. That $20 you
would spend for a very frugal dinner out can go a long way toward
purchasing picnic food. One of our parks has outdoor concerts every
Thursday night and everyone brings picnic suppers. If I go to the
Grocery Outlet, I can get a 2-liter of generic soda ($1), a huge bag of
name-brand chips ($3), and the makings of sandwiches or some other
portable food. Altogether we can skate out under $10-15, hear some
great music, and make nice memories with little effort or expense. We
usually bring everyday homemade stuff, but the occasional orange
soda/doritos/cold cuts dinner is a huge hit in an organic, health-minded
family.
Consider what you hope to gain from eating out. Do you really want the
often-unpleasant experience of sitting in a crowded restaurant with a
table of hungry small children? Or is it convenience and a change of
pace that you are seeking? Do you like a variety of flavors and the
chance to try new things? Or just a night without the drudgery of
cooking and kitchen chores? If you're only in the market for
convenience, paper plates and a $3 box of frozen corn dogs might be
an acceptable substitute. I can feed my gourmet longings with a small
wedge of Brie cheese and a box of water crackers. My husband loves a
good steak, and I can buy New York Strip for our entire brood for the
price of one meal at Black Angus. Once you know exactly what you
want, it will be easy to shop around for the best deal for your family.
I currently have eight people in my household, including myself and my
dear husband, three teenage boys, one 11yo boy, a 4 yo girl, and a
2yo boy. Eating out with this many people can get CRAZY expensive,
even if you are not a cheap sort of person. Well, I'm as cheap as they
come and I don't scramble to keep our grocery bill down just to blow
the difference on a pizza. On the other hand, eating out is a special
treat (at least for children in frugal families) as well as a great way to
celebrate special occasions and keep from feeling deprived. To break
up the monotony, we try to eat out or takeout at least once a month.
Here's how we do it without draining our checking account:
Pizza: A locally owned pizza parlor has large one-topping pizzas hot
and ready for 4.99. Little Caesar's does this also, but we like to support
the little guy! Total: $15 plus tax for three takeout pizzas, augmented
with fruit and veggies at home.
Costco: If you have a Costco card, you know about their huge slices of
pizza and their hot dog and soda deals. We let each kid spend $2,
which goes a long way there. Bonus: older children start appreciating a
shopping trip with preschoolers who always need help finishing that
huge slice of pizza. Total: $16
Sub Platters: A local sandwich place (I love shopping locally!) has a
huge sub platter for $25. I think there are maybe 6 subs cut up into
pieces. If you don't mind national chains, Subway's cheapest 6-foot sub
was around $40 last time I checked and I fed my supersized family plus
an extra 6 boys (birthday party) and struggled to eat up the leftovers
before they turned icky. It's an impressive display, and a nice change
of pace. $25 sounds like a lot of money to me, until I think about the
$150 that Red Robin would cost. We do this on birthdays because of
the WOW factor.
Dollar Menus: Every burger joint has them, but you can probably do
even better. My local BK has two cheeseburgers for 1.29 one night a
week. It's not shockingly cheap, but $20 gets you a couple of HUGE
bags of burgers which you can serve with tater tots. Call around; most
fast food places have unadvertised deals that blow their dollar menu
deals out of the water.
Picnics: How about literally eating out, as in outdoors?. That $20 you
would spend for a very frugal dinner out can go a long way toward
purchasing picnic food. One of our parks has outdoor concerts every
Thursday night and everyone brings picnic suppers. If I go to the
Grocery Outlet, I can get a 2-liter of generic soda ($1), a huge bag of
name-brand chips ($3), and the makings of sandwiches or some other
portable food. Altogether we can skate out under $10-15, hear some
great music, and make nice memories with little effort or expense. We
usually bring everyday homemade stuff, but the occasional orange
soda/doritos/cold cuts dinner is a huge hit in an organic, health-minded
family.
Consider what you hope to gain from eating out. Do you really want the
often-unpleasant experience of sitting in a crowded restaurant with a
table of hungry small children? Or is it convenience and a change of
pace that you are seeking? Do you like a variety of flavors and the
chance to try new things? Or just a night without the drudgery of
cooking and kitchen chores? If you're only in the market for
convenience, paper plates and a $3 box of frozen corn dogs might be
an acceptable substitute. I can feed my gourmet longings with a small
wedge of Brie cheese and a box of water crackers. My husband loves a
good steak, and I can buy New York Strip for our entire brood for the
price of one meal at Black Angus. Once you know exactly what you
want, it will be easy to shop around for the best deal for your family.
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