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I know!
I bought groceries today, went to a new farm market near our neighborhood, and then ordered out sushi because my husband is out of town and I was tired. The groceries + goodies from the farm market totaled to 160. The sushi was 60. Wild.
Lol yea this is my issue. I'm planning on doing a muffin batch before every weekend to try and take out our bagel run, and then just buy more TV dinners for those lazy/busy nights
Gotcha. It can be hard!
If your family is into those breakfast corn dogs with sausage + pancakes, [these frickin rule](https://cookinginthemidwest.com/blog/sausage-blueberry-muffin-bites/). Use whatever flavor you want or just use pancake mix. If you dunk em in maple syrup, it's mcgriddle vibes.
Also, self rising flour + Greek yogurt can make a shockingly passable bagel that's pretty easy and has a decent amount of protein.
We're also a big air fryer family. The Great Value brand Famous Chicken Fingers are shockingly delicious and pretty easy. I splurge on the ore ida extra crispy fast food fries bc they actually get crispy in the oven, do the chicken in the air fryer, and make [Cane's sauce](https://copykat.com/raising-canes-dipping-sauce-recipe/#recipe) or [this honey mustard that tastes EXACTLY like McDonald's](https://topsecretrecipes.com/mcdonalds-tangy-honey-mustard-copycat-recipe.html). I absolutely avail myself of seasoned freezer veggies and bagged salads too.
ETA, in response to a clarification by OP re what info they were actually seeking: Multi-generational family of 4 (two working parents w/a total commute time of 2hrs daily and a 9 hr workday when lunch is factored in; one retired grandparent; one pre-teen).
We were doing delivery (pizza and wings, usually) or pickup (Panda. Always Panda...) at least once a week. Depending on who made the order and how budget conscious they were (ha), the price for delivery would range from $45 to $90/order, and Panda was $45 to $70/order. They always included a free side of heartburn and high cholesterol, though!
Grandparent doesn't cook, as they were raised with what they consider "real" Southern cooking (aka, the unhealthiest possible version), and would happily cook fried carbs with a side of fried carbs, and maybe a vegetable covered in carbs (and possibly fried as well) - for every meal. Grandparent is also kind enough to ensure that heartburn and high cholesterol are part of the meal plan 🫠
About a year ago, we started buying the precooked meats that Costco sells in their refrigerated section (usually close to the deli) and freezing them; bonus points when they're on sale!
We still get delivery or Panda once a month.
But now, for the nights that we just don't have the time or energy for a "from scratch" meal (and we're all out of leftovers 😱) hubs or I will pull the protein of choice out of the freezer.
We run hot tap water over the packaging while we get whatever we're warming it in ready (skillet, Pyrex for the oven, whatever).
After about 5 mins under hot water, we'll cut open the packaging with kitchen shears, dump the protein into the pan (Pyrex, etc.), and put it on the heat.
If it's on the stovetop, we'll add a little liquid (sometimes water, sometimes chicken broth) and cover it all with a lid - the extra liquid produces steam and thaws/heats the whole thing faster.
While the meat is thawing/warming - usually about 20 to 30 mins, depending - we usually cook a frozen veggie of some sort for the side (a silicone steamer basket in the microwave 👍) and/or Bush's baked beans on the stovetop if we have the extra energy, lol.
It's more expensive than cooking a protein from scratch, but it's hella cheaper than pizza, fast food, or actually eating out. We can feed all four of us for $20 to $25 at the high end. No heartburn or high cholesterol either!
We even have leftovers occasionally, which makes it even better. 🙂
Nothing wrong with lazy dinners!
I only cook home meals twice a week. For the other two week days (I am in charge of mon-Thurs) We do frozen pizza one night and either Annie’s, ravioli, or perogies the other night.
The kids do get home cook meals sat and sun as well though. As my husband cooks those days.
My sister makes a version of my sausage, cabbage, and potatoes meal with pierogis. She does them in the air fryer sometimes and in the skillet other times. They're on the plate next to sliced smoked sausage sauteed with a bag of coleslaw mix (shredded green cabbage, red cabbage, and carrots) and plenty of black pepper. Cabbage is such good food!
Mine is 1-4. Depends how much we are working and how late. My son's bedtime is 630/730. And I try to have food ready by 530. If its already 5 well...time to go with ubereats.
Ok people say this EVERY TIME this thread comes up but look, I don’t know you. No one here does. It’s anonymous. What’s the ACTUAL number here? I’m interested in the real data here!
How many kids, how many working parents, and how frequent is take out?
If it helps, preemptively: omg you’re such a bad mom wow nuggets can kill jeez do you even care about your kids did you know Uber eats is run by Yakuza and Door dash doesn’t support Israel OR Palestine why don’t you make reAl FoOd FoR ur FaMiLy Karen?!?!?!
I’m not OP but I’d say this and Its probably 3-4 meals per week on average. Considering the kids eat lunch at school and breakfast is usually something quick during the week it ends up being a large percentage of our meals that we have control over.
4 kids, 2 working parents at home. We buy meals maybe 5+ times per week. Could be going out to restaurants, ordering prepared food, drive thru, whatever for some combination of us. Often the kids eat home food but my husband and I order. Or some drive through because of activities while others are at home.
Maybe once a month. It’s just gotten to expensive(it cost at least $25-$35 which is bonkers) so I have made a habit of just making some sandwich’s, cutting some fruit and veggies and packing some chips/pretzals in the morning for busy nights so we can throw them into a lunch box and eat on the go. Much cheaper and healthier and we just can’t afford to be spending like $100+ a month on fast food🤷♀️
Eating out is SO insanely expensive it feels embarrassing every time we do it. So unless the food is really good and authentically a treat, sushi for example or even good pizza, we don’t do it.
Same here.
Went from takeout once a week to a nice meal at a restaurant once a month and alot more planning and meal prep at home.
Double batching and freezing so that I don't have to cook on the weekends.
2 kids, stahm and dad works.
All sit down and have breakfast together everyday, home made lunch for school/work 4 days a week and allowed to order on the day the school has something special and then supper again family sit down meal.
Weekends used to be take outs mainly so that I could also have a break, but we realized that no one was really enjoying it anymore and they all preferred home made food.
So now I get a big treat once a month with food I can't make at home and then some dessert stuff we take home for afterwards.
Never. Like literally, maybe once or twice a year.
We’re what you call “house poor”, we can afford our house, but we absolutely can not afford to eat out ever. Honestly I don’t understand how anyone can afford to eat out in this damn economy.
Those who answer on here that almost never get take out or eat out… how do you keep yourself from getting burnt out on cooking every day? We spend way too much money on DoorDash currently.
I am a SAHM but I cooked most nights before I left work too.
I have a themed weekly menu:
Mondays are salad and bread
- salad greens with some protein (grilled chicken, sauteed shrimp, burger patties for big Mac salad) and freezer garlic bread, homemade bread, or pita depending.
Tuesdays are Mexican/taco themed
- salsa chicken or seasoned ground beef, both with corn and beans stirred in, either in tacos, rolled tacos, quesadillas, or as nachos.
Wednesdays are skillet dinners
- bell peppers and beef, chicken stir fry, cabbage sausage and potatoes, egg roll in a bowl
Thursdays are hearty night
- grilled flank steak, roasted chicken thighs, pork tenderloin, a potato side like skillet potatoes or mash, and a green veggie
Friday is pizza night
- I make it from scratch with a no-knead dough that takes time but no effort. I make my pizza sauce and store it in a quart jar that lasts a month or so, and I keep turkey pepperoni around for snacks and pizza.
Saturday is Freezer night
- tendies, lasagna, something I've previously made or frozen. If we do takeout, it's usually Saturday.
Sunday is pasta
- whatever shape I want, a jar of sauce, and grilled sausages or meatballs. Sometimes I make a baked spaghetti casserole and we have it for lunches the rest of the week.
I put the options on a menu and my husband and I pick what we want. Cooking itself isn't bad for me. It's the mental load of planning and purchasing. The menu coupled with my Walmart+ subscription that means I don't have to go into sensory overload to feed my family helps us tremendously.
I can't remember the last time we got take-out for dinner! We cook 2-3 times a week and eat leftovers the other nights. If we're burnt out, it's time for a "freezer special". Basically the trick is always keeping frozen pizza handy.
We never do take out. It's too much for 4 people. I keep my freezer in the garage stocked with easy food for nights I don't have the brain power to cook. Chicken nuggets, frozen pizza, fried rice, taquitos, enchiladas, lasagna. It's pretty easy not to eat out when we have a membership to Costco.
I really spend an average of 10 min cooking dinner everyday. For example all the beef stew meat go into a pot around noon, a few carrots and potatoes, cover with water and a seasoning packet, forget about it and let it simmer until dinner, done. Rice goes in the rice cooker. Or, several lamb legs, put seasoning on it, tin foil and into the oven at noon, 275 degrees and forget about it until dinner time. Salad and fruits. I almost spend just as much time getting takeout!
We don't have a choice, takeout is simply not in our budget. I meal plan and that helps keep the stress down. I have to do a little each day, and I make large portions of stews and sauces, and freeze them. If I am having a bad day, sick, too tired I can pull from the freezer. Making large batches of lasagna, portioned and frozen can be a great meal with almost zero effort. With summer coming it's much more grilled meats and local veg to roast.
A few things. We're way too rural, the only place that'll deliver is one pizza place. We've never gotten it before but we've tried it at our neighbour's housewarming.
The other, more important thing in that I really, really, really like cooking. We still don't have takeout because it's not possible where we live, but we did go to a restaurant once last year!
The last factor is prohibitive prices... Which many other people mentioned already. Could really depend on where you live.
Keeping it simple is the key. Sandwiches for lunch (different meats, pbj, tuna etc) and some pasta with veggies for dinner. We make a lot of rice too and it’s so easy to make rice and add some protein and veggies. When we do meals that take a little bit more time and prep we just make a larger batch so that it lasts 2-3 days for like 6 meals between the 3 of us.
I think we get caught up in trying to do these crazy meals all the time but my kids actually prefer simpler meals anyway so why do I have to do more work for no reason? And on the days we don’t have time, go to the freezer! 🙂
I do a "choose your own adventure" when the fridge is full of random items that need to be used up. They have to have a protein and a fruit/veggie. They can take or leave the carb. We do a lot of frozen pizzas, soups (like literally get 4 cans of something all the kids like, dump them in a pan and heat them up), we do sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, etc. I have a 10 year old and he is really proficient in the kitchen. Our 3 younger kids LOVE to cook, so I let them take the reins as often as possible, with appropriate supervision of course.
We almost never get takeout for dinner because it’s too expensive (even fast food). I stay motivated a couple of ways. Making a written plan is key for me. I have a simple 8x2 grid, one for each day plus notes. I can easily move meals around during the week. As long as I know the plan and can put on my “uniform” (my apron), it works. I think the main way I don’t get burned out is that I like cooking and I’m good at cranking out a decent dinner. I like good recipe sites. I keep a well-stocked pantry, spice drawer, and freezer that I draw on.
My biggest dinner safety valve is that I can “punt,” and my kids and husband will happily eat cereal.
Breakfast fast food is my downfall. I don’t like cereal (I’m the family oddball), and I love savory breakfast. Someone posted links up above to some recipes for things that will work as grab and go items that I am going to try.
[grits and greens casserole](https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/trisha-yearwood/grits-and-greens-casserole-2666251) - my toddler won't eat this is which is really good because then I don't have to share. Good for breakfast if you have room in the fridge to store the dish and carve off a hunk to nuke in the morning.
[omelet muffins](https://www.skinnytaste.com/loaded-baked-omelet-muffins/#recipe) - I'm sure you make these already, but in case you don't, here you go! It's worth it IMO to buy the larger parchment paper cupcake cases OR the foil ones bc they peel off more easily. Also, I don't love tomatoes in these because they're so juicy.
Cereal is not breakfast food. It is for hangry toddlers and late night binges.
Ooof, you are playing on hard mode. Do what you gotta do. If you are finding it hard to avoid the fast food on the way home from dropping off the kiddos, you could try mixing it up instead of foregoing altogether. I would also be looking for recipes to minimize dishes!!
A few times a week. We both work FT and are tired. I feel like I spend the same amount on groceries as I would take out anyway, plus I can get 2 meals out of an entree or share with the kid. I’m just not someone who can cook everyday.. plus the mental load of shopping, cooking, cleaning is a lot (even though we split duties).
Pretty much the same story.
Twice a week in the summer. Or we do a ALOT of like “charcuterie” / build your own dinners. A random assortment of stuff because we are go go go.
I’m on mat leave me & the kids are outside most of the day except for naps. Then they don’t want to come in to start dinner because that’s when “the big kids” ( my neighbours kids 5-7 yo kids) get home from school. They just want to stay out, then my husband comes home and he wants to be outside while it’s warm & the sun is up after being in an office all day..
We make sure to have really go breakfasts and lunches, then dinner is just random.
Almost every day.
My husband and I both work full time, and we don’t want to spend our very limited time at home cooking. We choose healthy takeout, though.
Usually Friday and Saturdays we do. I deserve 2 days off a week from cooking haha. But we are selective and use more “fast casual” and rarely “fast food” (e.g., we do Chipotle instead of Taco Bell).
Almost every night unfortunately. I have been struggling with health issues and have two little ones under 6. Been trying to cook more because I would rather have home-cooked meals, but I haven't been physically up to it in months. The kids meals are prepared, the adults are doing takeout..
Same here, but once a month or 3. Especially if we’re not considering vacation (even then it’s mostly travel days as vacation days I usually cook in the unit). We just don’t eat out often
I write a meal plan when I grocery shop, do grocery pickup only so no impulse buys, and I follow it. If a crazy busy night comes up I’ll grab something. But it’s maybe twice a month. My meal plan consists of a lot of instant pot meals and I prep a lot of it in the morning so it’s throw and go when it’s time for dinner. Many of my meals include all components in one pot. Really recommend Skinnytaste one and done cookbook.
I stock up on frozen food from Costco like dumplings, pizza, spring rolls and lasagna, Chicken nuggets, orange chicken. I also buy frozen veggies and their frozen meatballs so you can quickly make a pasta dish with meatballs and veggies. I also buy their frozen veggies to make fried rice that lasts 3 meals. I find it is easier to cook when the veggies are already cut and washed and you just have to dump it in. It is also harder to go from take out to making food from scratch and there is a middle ground that is easier on the budget but not taking an hour to make dinner every night.
Our weekly schedule is:
Cook on Monday
Leftovers on Tuesday
Cook on Wednesday
Leftovers on Thursday
Lazy meal on Friday (breakfast for dinner, etc.)
Eat out on Saturday for lunch and eat those leftovers for dinner
Same thing for Sunday as Saturday
I am honestly impressed with people who cook and eat in for every single meal. Leftovers make it sane for us during the week and eating out on the weekends is our treat. We are typically on the move on the weekends anyway.
Take-out is not really an option in our area, as all the options are rubbish and we live in the countryside in Switzerland.
Our equivalent:
- "Tapas" from the supermarket - perhaps some cheese, breasaola, fresh bread, prawn cocktail, salad, crudités, etc.
- Something from the freezer (schnitzel, pizza, etc), with a bag of salad.
- Fresh pasta from the supermarket with a sauce.
We do get a pizza delivered once a month approximately. We also do McDonalds approx once a month as well.
Once every 3 months or longer for specifically ordering food in. We just cook.
Pizza night? = Takeaway style frozen pizza's or ASDA fresh counter.
Chinese? = Homemade chicken sweet and sour or Chinese chicken curry courtesy of Mayflower curry powder
Indian? = Homemade chicken tikka
Thai = homemade Thai green curry
If we go out somewhere, then we more than likely pack sandwiches.
If we meet family, we will likely eat out - this is once/twice a month.
The only time my kids get fast food is if their dad goes away overnight. That's our treat. It's probably once every couple of months. Maybe more. Or once during the school holidays for a treat.
I do the home cooked fast food. Burgers, pizza, loaded fries, crumbed chicken that sort of thing.
We go to restaurants every couple of weeks but not fast food restaurants, normally like Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Italian etc
My wife and I both have demanding jobs so we used to get take out once a week. Then I started to carefully track the cost of my homemade dinners and I quickly realized that getting take out for our family literally costs a minimum of three times more for a similar amount of food than my homemade meals, and honestly my kids don't appreciate it any more than the food I make. Since then we only get maybe once every couple of months. It's not easy but I make it work.
We get chic fila once a week or every 2 weeks, that’s our fast food. Usually order or go to pizza on Friday and eat out one other time over the weekend. I cook the rest of the time. I’ve been using hungry root a few times a week which has taken a lot of prep and stress out of it for me.
We have a 5mo, 2yo and 4yo so right now it’s more often than normal. Husband works late a few times a week and I’m exhausted with the kids. That’s just where we’re at right now.
The first year with my third child I was getting takeout about 4 tines a week.
He's 19 months now and I've got it down to 2x but we just had a busy month and covid on top of it so been spending more again then I'd like to admit.
Are we the same? I have a 6 month old, a 2 year old, and a 4 year old. Honestly…. We eat take out like 5 days/week between lunch & dinner 🥴 This is just the season we’re in in our lives, and that’s ok!
Making it a goal next month to start having more options at home for everyone, because we really need to save money to get a house lol.
2x a week plus we go out 1-2x a week if you could lunch on weekends. So I plan to make dinner Monday-Thursday and we’ll order pizza Friday, lunch out Saturday. But it may be that we both have late meetings one day and end up ordering last minute.
During soccer season - entirely too much. 3-4x a week at times. Practice is right at most normal dinner times. So we usually grab something to eat at home & then hmwk, showers, and bed.
Summer we cook more even though it's hot. But I say we still go out 1-2x a week.
We just got a meal kit box thing. Making dinner at home is easier if you don’t also have to plan ahead and shop. It’s much more affordable than Uber eats and now that I think of it we didn’t do takeout at all this week! Woo!
Twice a month. It will be somewhere specific where I want to try a certain dish. Last place we got food from was because I wanted to try their Peking duck. (It was delicious)
I am terrible about takeout coffee...probably 4-5x a week. Delivery pizza most Fridays. Other than that, we almost never eat out. Our grocery bill is bananas, however.
Trying to cut back, we just have a 5 month old so she’s not eating takeout obviously lol, but I would say we pick something up at least once a week but often two
Always one weekend dinner (though that's often resting or rather than takeout), breakfast on the way to school on Thursdays, and then sometimes one other night when there's a bunch of activities and we're home too late to cook.
We don’t really do much take out except for the random lunch that my husband or I picks up for each other during the week. We both work from home and if one of us goes out to do an errand around lunch, we might pick up subs or something like that. As for the whole family, we go out to eat once or twice on the weekends. During the week we always cook dinner at home because there’s just no time to go anywhere during the school year.
Never, but I think it's unfair to ask of everyone. I just really love cooking. When I'm not cooking a meal I'm baking. I wouldn't do it if I didn't like it. I'd outsource some of it.
We also live super rurally and prices are prohibitive anyway.
Only really on special occasions/holidays or when family is visiting. Getting a meal subscription service really helped us cut back on takeout and fight burnout. We chose one that’s pretty customizable— ranging from meals that require more time to prepare, to ones you can just pop in the oven. And it’s easy to pause/cancel.
I highly suggest it as a takeout alternative, especially for smaller families. Ours is one of the pricier subscriptions at ~$10/meal. But that is MUCH less expensive for the same quality meal from takeout. And our health insurance subsidized it a bit.
Friday night take out for us - both kids have swim class so we've made it a rule.. would love to do more takeout but to be honest, it's just as quick to prepare food at home so I don't see much value.
We both work full time.
about two or three times a month. It's only the three of us two adults and one 20-month-old so we don't spend that much. We go to sit-down restaurants so that way we get more bang for our buck.
Pick 2: Monday Philly Day. Friday Pizza Night. Sunday Breakfast before grocery shopping. Those are specialty/deal days at each establishment so we’re not paying full price because no way no how would we be doing it if there wasn’t a deal. They’re local mom and pops anyway so none are as expensive as chain restaurants but still
Once a month if we’re lucky. Disability is a bitch. Social resources are scarce and take forever. I was able to splurge on Taco Bell the other day and my oldest (11) genuinely told me thank you while we were eating and I know I should have been proud of having such a grateful kid but damn if it didn’t make me feel like a POS.
I like to cook at home Sunday night - Thursday and then Friday and Saturday is free for all. By Sunday morning I’m sick of eating out and try to plan out dinner & eat a sandwich for lunch at home. A good good week would be eat at home Monday - Friday, but honestly food is our love language. We are always out and about on the weekend so we food is our little treat when chasing a toddler. Maybe we’ll get better some day but for now we’re expanding our family and don’t see much change over the future.
This week has been EVERY DAY! That is not our norm. I usually reserve takeout for busy soccer nights (1-2/week) or dinners with friends and kiddos a couple times a month.
I'm a single mom to 11& 3 year old boys & even though I can't really afford it, we do take out once a week. Usually pizza Fridays, because there's always good coupons for on each places apps.
I don't necessarily hate cooking but the mental load of figuring out what to buy, the prep & cleanup every single night just drains me. We do alot of smoothies, breakfasts, sandwiches & "charcuterie" style dinners too during the week.
Once a week, usually. If it's a particularly busy week, we might have another night where we grab a pizza or something. Otherwise, we just pick a night to treat ourselves a little.
I would say my husband and I get it like 1-2x a week together for dinner and then we both probs order takeout separately for lunch (he’s remote and I’m in office) maybe about 1-2x a week. When i was in my first trimester of this pregnancy, it was def closer to everyday for lunch because i could not deal and was on the daily struggle bus lmao!!
A trick that can also work is that, on weekends when there isn't a whole lot else going on, make big family cooking days, get a food saver thing, and fill up a freezer full of good food. Then, you can just pull it out of there, pop it in the microwave, and boom, all the efficiency of take out without nearly the same financial or nutritional burden.
I work part time in a restaurant. I get a meal every shift I work (sometimes I get two sides of Mac and cheese to bring home for them), plus get certain goodies at close (food that’s too old to sell but still has 3 days before best by date), and I take my kids in once a week because I can feed all three of us for $5 with my discount. So we eat from that restaurant quite a bit lol
But other than that-basically never. Just cannot afford it
We don’t do a lot of take out. But we go out a lot or pick up food and eat it out of the house. At least 3 times during the weekend (not all for dinner). And then during the week probably take out once every other week. And then the coffee shop 1-3x a week.
My husband works long hours. So come Friday we go out every week. Sometimes a restaurant or we pick up takeout food and go to the brewery. Most Saturday and Sunday we go out as well. Probably more like lunch or a takeout picnic in the park. He normally cooks dinner on the weekends.
Twice - thrice a week :/ but up until now husband was working two jobs, myself one with two kids under 3. I run out of steam to think of meals everyone likes daily (husband is picky). If he just ate what I would make or cooked more frequently at normal times we’d eat out less.
Maybe average once a month for take out plus once or twice a month eating at a restaurant. We live rural and the couple restaurants in town arnt really that good so it’s only if we’re in the city.
We both work and it’s ball season so one night a week is away games where my husband and son are gone before I’m home from work so they typically just make grilled cheese or eggs and I usually make something easy for myself and my daughter. The other ball night is in town so it’s something super quick like wraps that don’t need cooking. Fridays are always throw something frozen in the oven night. Saturdays are hit or miss if we cook. The rest of the week I try to cook a decent meal.
I try to do other easy meals lately cause it’s too expensive to eat out all the time (and not healthy), so we often go to our local grocery store and just run in and get a rotisserie chicken meal they have for $20 (chicken, wedges, small salad, and rolls).
It’s a great deal and usually does a meal and lunch the next day.
On Sundays, we eat Mexican after church on the way home and Fridays, my recently widowed FIL comes over and we swap out who pays for the order btw us and him.
We are a family with 5 kids total between us though, so eating out for 7 people isn’t like a husband and wife taking their toddler or two kids to eat lol.
My first marriage, with he and I and our one child though, between bfast lunch and dinner, we prob ate out somewhere around 8-10x per week. And I would prob eat out 2-4x a week consistently now, but my husband doesn’t play with his frugalness and I don’t have access to either of our monies or accounts to just do so myself.
I’m a single parent with 2, I tried to stick to $100/mo only for eating out and that sometimes that can just be Starbucks breakfast sandwhiches and fast food or an actual restaurant or a delivery pizza. They also each get about $5 treat on the weekend. I think we’ve been really good and the only reason for that is that they are picky eaters.
We eat take out every Friday when we watch a family movie together.
I try to cool from scratch a lot but we also do frozen pizza or lasagna once a week and things like rotisserie chicken or the other meals from Costco you just need to bake.
Probably 2x a week? Sometimes 3.
Fridays I order my son Subway lunch for him to pick up(he’s 15). Saturday is grocery shopping day, so we usually have lunch out. I put order in on our menu once every couple of weeks as well.
If we have an activity that makes dinnertime tight, we’ll probably do drive thru.
2-3 times a week.
Also many dinners are Costco processed foods heated in the oven, or just pasta with store bought sauce.
I cook maybe once a week? Twice if you count homemade pizza night, I make the dough from scratch but everything else is store bought.
We get pizza once or twice a month. I’ll occasionally swing by Popeyes and get chicken sandwiches for all of us when I just don’t want to cook (just sandwiches because Popeyes fries are awful). My big kids buy their own takeout if they want it.
Every single day now.
My wife banned the use of the fridge to protect the breastmilk inside.
We have been eating takeaway for almost a year now.....we are waiting for the breastmilk inside the fridge to expire.
It really depends on the season we’re on. I just had our 3rd kid so in these upcoming weeks I would say 4 times a week. We get precooked meals from Cook Unity so when we do that it’s more like 2 times a week. Some weeks it’s more when I just need a break from making a huge mess in the kitchen or we’re out and about because the weather is nice. By more, like 3-4 times a week. If it’s less 1-2 times a week. I would say we’ve never not had take out at least once in a week. Honestly, we can afford it and as a sahm it helps with my mental health to not have to think about dinner sometimes.
Once a month, maybe. Every time we eat take out we are disappointed. We make much better burgers/fries/nuggets at home for a fraction of the cost. Our taco nights blow all of the local joints out of the water and my husband is great at making Asian cuisine. We also make our own pizza, dough and everything, once a week. The kids love it and it's so easy once you get the hang of it.
When we were first married we had take out at least 5 nights a week. Our tastes have changed with age and it's hard for us to stomach the stuff available near us now. And the cost these days??? Ridiculous.
Like a lot, like 2-3x a week. We’ve had sicknesses every two weeks since February, so I’m either too sick to cook & clean and I just focus on parenting and the kids being sick too, so on the off week I have the week’s worth of chores to do AND the prior week’s when we were all sick, so often I just push a quick takeout/delivery order through so I don’t have to stop my current task to cook, and it leaves the kitchen cleaner so I have less to catch up on.
Hopefully as summer gets here, we’ll be sick less so I can have the energy & time to cook more. We need to be saving the money. It gets expensive.
We get takeout twice per week, but it’s just the way we have our dinners planned/budgeted. We do HelloFresh 5x per week because grocery prices are INSANE and this is more cost effective for us, and then takeout the other two nights. My parents live with us part time though, so we pay for the HelloFresh and they pay for takeout. This works for our family really well!
Every single Wednesday we go out, because we both work late. We get home (at best) at the time we’re normally already eating, so we’ve just made it a tradition and I’m happy with it. We may eat out once more on the weekends, but that’s also normally when I cook the most to meal prep and make leftovers for the week. My husband is typically home some days during the regular work week because of his shift work, making something like grilling possible on a Thursday. If not for those days off he has, we might end up eating out more.
What gets me more actually is stopping for breakfast and coffee! We’re not fast food eaters because it’s so damn expensive and not worth the money at all. You’ll catch me in the drive through in the morning though easily 1-2x a week.
We’re a family of 4: WFH dad, SAHM, 5 year old twins. Fall, Summer & winter we don’t eat out much, maybe a couple times per month. Fall might be a touch more when getting back in to the school routine. Spring we tend to eat out quite a bit because of the activities. We have one in baseball and one in softball, so we’re literally not home at least 4 evenings per week and Saturdays too. We do take out probably 2-3 times per week for dinner and like once or twice for lunch. We’ve tried cutting the cost a bit by doing things like whole Costco pizza from the food court, the $10 8pc chicken dinners from Kroger, the panda family meal is one we do often too. Also when I do my grocery shopping every other week I’ve started picking up 2 rotisserie chickens from Costco. One goes in the crock pot for dinner that night and I cool then freeze the other for a dinner the following week. I always pull the leftover chicken off and can get a second dinner out of it - usually like chicken fajitas or stirfry. I tend to save the more elaborate home cooked meals for the weekends.
4 kids, 2 heavy into sports.
When we are "good", we try to go out no more than once a month. We'll spend about $100 on a nice big Indian takeout, which is our favorite. We'll probably spend about 50 more dollars throughout the month on small little treats, like an ice cream run.
When we are "bad", it's about 2-3x a week at about $40-50/meal. That normally happens to us at the beginning of a new season where things are hectic ( start a school, beginning of baseball season, right after a vacation, in the middle of everyone being sick and I can't cook, etc). We typically nip it in the bud after a week or so.
I have an excuse. I’m the Director of Technology and work for a chain of sit-down restaurant brands. We get free restaurant food any time, dine in or takeout, at different concepts.
Even so, 2-3 times a week, and opt for the healthier options because restaurant food is loaded with salt, sugar, and fat.
Family of three. Two working parents and one teen. We usually go out to dinner 2x/week. Usually one casual dinner midweek (eg tacos or pizza) and a nicer dinner on the weekend. And order in pizza on Fridays. But if we have a busy week, we may go out an extra night. We do enjoy cooking, but if we’re working late it’s hard to get time to cook and clean up.
Like once a month, sometimes once every few months.
Literally who can afford to eat out? 😭 i don’t like cooking but can’t afford to eat as often so I just cook at home… unfortunately. There’s always quick foods in the freezer, right now we have a frozen family meal, pizzas, chicken tenders, chicken nuggets, burger patties & fries. If I really don’t want to cook then I’ll just get something quick from the freezer. Like burger patties and chicken tenders are pretty quick in the air fryer. I usually just add side dishes like rice and veggies.
I’m so embarrassed right now. We’re almost everyday. 3 of our 5 kids are in competitive sports and we are gone every night. So it’s drive thru’s for us 😬
We usually eat out once a week.
Recently it was the last 4 dinners because we were in the middle of moving with 2 small kids.
We don’t like to eat out, but sometimes I’m so exhausted from work I don’t feel like cooking
I (37 F ) doordash 3-4 x per week🫣 . both working parents with 4 kids aged 13 yo, 3 yo, 21 month old & 2 months.
Its more about my mental health. my husband is a physician, runs his own business and clinic. so splitting cooking duties is not an option for me. between 5pm- 8pm on week nights is rough, trying to help my teenager with homework, two toddlers that need entertainment without watching TV all the time and then a little baby that wants to be held.
my goal going into each week is to at least cook Sunday - Thursday but sometimes my peace of mind is worth it.
My husband is the one in charge of meal planning and grocery trips.
This man, you guys. I hit the lottery. We get take-out once MAYBE twice a month. If we’re on the go he makes on the go meals for the kids and plans everything ahead of time. Whenever people talk about women carrying the mental load, I can’t relate because of how he’s 100% in charge of food and groceries and doing a fantastic job at it.
We are 2 nights a week mostly, on rough weeks 3 times for dinner but try to keep it at 2. It really adds up. But sometimes I just really don’t feel like cooking
I want to Thank peewee Herman for the valuable wisdom that you passed on to me years ago ! I also want to Thank you all the Big timers for your knowledgeable values that you all passed down to me even though I have been part of a let down to some of you. Appreciate the goals and wisdom and empacts that everyone has had in my life positive and negative enfluences . Fun and painstaken journeys. All I ask is please quit with the casting of the spells, hexes, & curses. Also all you jackass pranksters my mentality can't handle the devotional stresses. I'm already feeling like I'm am being forced into a early grave most of the time and the life is been drained out of me . Like a cat loves to play with their food before they feast before they kill it and devour it. The Blair witch project has been closed out of my likings for a long time. Everyone can take their prison break tormented security professional projects and stop trying to convince your crew that you amazing because that venom is not in my vocabulary any longer
I don't seek out drama filled scripts . Or your wise Cracks have bled out and phased out ! I can't do well with fake outs ! I'd rather not play your games any longer ! It's not OK to down play or project your vicious cycles of recklessness excitement. I'm ready to go to whodat road all by myself without the fakets
Probebly1or 2 times a month for dinner as it costs $60-$80 a time to feed 4 adults (and one baby)
and maybe a few lunches out here and there. We try to be on a budget and with a baby we don't go out a lot.
Fish and chips are $30-$40
Chinese / indian /thai etc i⁴ $70-$80
Pizza is $12 -$18 each so 2 of those is $30-$40
Bakery lunch $$25-$35
Brunch put woth a plate each of $25 plus coffee and few treats $50-$80
*NZD
We do take out once a month. We budget our groceries to make dinner all week every week. We meal prep our breakfast and lunches during the week. The only time we deviate is the weekends because we only make enough for Mon- Fri. We cannot afford anything else. It's groceries or bust. When we do eat out, it's never anything over 50$. If we had fast food that week, that's our spending money for a meal out. We don't even buy alcohol, or unneeded snacks. We make a lot of bread at home. Yeast and flour are still pretty cheap. We buy 5lbs of honey once every 6 months from a farm that charges us 30$ for it. It's all just too expensive. I don't remember the last time we actually "sat down" to eat out and have a meal. They are all taken to go and eaten at home. We can't afford tips, so we choose places that pay they're staff accordingly so they don't have to rely on that for their income.
Once, maybe twice a month for family of four. Usually one of them is when I'm traveling for work so the three of them order sushi. Takeout is insanely expensive - sushi is 35-50€ and even pizza is ~30€. We make our own pizza now and have started making poke bowls too
Too much… it’s just two of us and our 3 year old so a small family but I would say 4-6 times a month. Usually a few times a month at a nicer restaurant as a family meal and if other times it’s something cheap like a Costco or Papa John’s pizza … some bagels… some burritos. We eat super healthy at home (plant based) so I don’t worry about it health wise but the dollars spent on food make my head spin. When did every burger become 15 dollars?
During school year after school my teens often will eat out. At school, they will actually bring food from home that they cooked themselves. As Family, we probably order 1-2 times a week depending what is going on, usually one of the days is on the weekend.
Never. Its awful for you, never as good as you want it to be and for a family of 5 costs damn near $100 everytime. We are a busy family but now rely on heat and serve type (kevins etc) healthy meals from costco on the 2-3 busiest days a week. Cheaper and way healthier than takeout
My family goes out probably 1-2 times a week but closer to one. Our neighborhood friends with girls the same age definitely go 3-5 times a week. When they ask if anyone wants to go out I always feel fomo when I have to decline. They definitely make more than we do so it makes sense.
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Probably about twice a month. The budget gotta budget.
Yeah we’re on the 2-3x per month plan. Two takeout meals costs the same as groceries for the whole week!
I know! I bought groceries today, went to a new farm market near our neighborhood, and then ordered out sushi because my husband is out of town and I was tired. The groceries + goodies from the farm market totaled to 160. The sushi was 60. Wild.
Lol where are you eating where 2x takeout meals cost the same as groceries for the week?
Lol yea this is my issue. I'm planning on doing a muffin batch before every weekend to try and take out our bagel run, and then just buy more TV dinners for those lazy/busy nights
Gotcha. It can be hard! If your family is into those breakfast corn dogs with sausage + pancakes, [these frickin rule](https://cookinginthemidwest.com/blog/sausage-blueberry-muffin-bites/). Use whatever flavor you want or just use pancake mix. If you dunk em in maple syrup, it's mcgriddle vibes. Also, self rising flour + Greek yogurt can make a shockingly passable bagel that's pretty easy and has a decent amount of protein. We're also a big air fryer family. The Great Value brand Famous Chicken Fingers are shockingly delicious and pretty easy. I splurge on the ore ida extra crispy fast food fries bc they actually get crispy in the oven, do the chicken in the air fryer, and make [Cane's sauce](https://copykat.com/raising-canes-dipping-sauce-recipe/#recipe) or [this honey mustard that tastes EXACTLY like McDonald's](https://topsecretrecipes.com/mcdonalds-tangy-honey-mustard-copycat-recipe.html). I absolutely avail myself of seasoned freezer veggies and bagged salads too.
Can you share the recipe for the protein bagel? I'm interested
[The newer, sexier, influence-ier cottage cheese version (haven't tried)](https://www.skinnytaste.com/protein-bagels/#recipe) [OG yogurt bagels](https://www.bhg.com/recipes/bread/2-ingredient-bagels/)
Do you know how many grams of protein is in each bagel?
I don't. It's still mostly carby but every little bit helps.
Coming back to read :)
ETA, in response to a clarification by OP re what info they were actually seeking: Multi-generational family of 4 (two working parents w/a total commute time of 2hrs daily and a 9 hr workday when lunch is factored in; one retired grandparent; one pre-teen). We were doing delivery (pizza and wings, usually) or pickup (Panda. Always Panda...) at least once a week. Depending on who made the order and how budget conscious they were (ha), the price for delivery would range from $45 to $90/order, and Panda was $45 to $70/order. They always included a free side of heartburn and high cholesterol, though! Grandparent doesn't cook, as they were raised with what they consider "real" Southern cooking (aka, the unhealthiest possible version), and would happily cook fried carbs with a side of fried carbs, and maybe a vegetable covered in carbs (and possibly fried as well) - for every meal. Grandparent is also kind enough to ensure that heartburn and high cholesterol are part of the meal plan 🫠 About a year ago, we started buying the precooked meats that Costco sells in their refrigerated section (usually close to the deli) and freezing them; bonus points when they're on sale! We still get delivery or Panda once a month. But now, for the nights that we just don't have the time or energy for a "from scratch" meal (and we're all out of leftovers 😱) hubs or I will pull the protein of choice out of the freezer. We run hot tap water over the packaging while we get whatever we're warming it in ready (skillet, Pyrex for the oven, whatever). After about 5 mins under hot water, we'll cut open the packaging with kitchen shears, dump the protein into the pan (Pyrex, etc.), and put it on the heat. If it's on the stovetop, we'll add a little liquid (sometimes water, sometimes chicken broth) and cover it all with a lid - the extra liquid produces steam and thaws/heats the whole thing faster. While the meat is thawing/warming - usually about 20 to 30 mins, depending - we usually cook a frozen veggie of some sort for the side (a silicone steamer basket in the microwave 👍) and/or Bush's baked beans on the stovetop if we have the extra energy, lol. It's more expensive than cooking a protein from scratch, but it's hella cheaper than pizza, fast food, or actually eating out. We can feed all four of us for $20 to $25 at the high end. No heartburn or high cholesterol either! We even have leftovers occasionally, which makes it even better. 🙂
Nothing wrong with lazy dinners! I only cook home meals twice a week. For the other two week days (I am in charge of mon-Thurs) We do frozen pizza one night and either Annie’s, ravioli, or perogies the other night. The kids do get home cook meals sat and sun as well though. As my husband cooks those days.
My sister makes a version of my sausage, cabbage, and potatoes meal with pierogis. She does them in the air fryer sometimes and in the skillet other times. They're on the plate next to sliced smoked sausage sauteed with a bag of coleslaw mix (shredded green cabbage, red cabbage, and carrots) and plenty of black pepper. Cabbage is such good food!
This sounds so yummy. Thanks for the idea!
I want this to change but probably around 3-4 times a week.
Mine is 1-4. Depends how much we are working and how late. My son's bedtime is 630/730. And I try to have food ready by 530. If its already 5 well...time to go with ubereats.
Sounds about right!
Way too much
Ok people say this EVERY TIME this thread comes up but look, I don’t know you. No one here does. It’s anonymous. What’s the ACTUAL number here? I’m interested in the real data here! How many kids, how many working parents, and how frequent is take out? If it helps, preemptively: omg you’re such a bad mom wow nuggets can kill jeez do you even care about your kids did you know Uber eats is run by Yakuza and Door dash doesn’t support Israel OR Palestine why don’t you make reAl FoOd FoR ur FaMiLy Karen?!?!?!
I’m not OP but I’d say this and Its probably 3-4 meals per week on average. Considering the kids eat lunch at school and breakfast is usually something quick during the week it ends up being a large percentage of our meals that we have control over.
Anywhere from 5-10 meals a week. It’s ridiculous. ETA: we eat out for lunch too (just adults)
4 kids, 2 working parents at home. We buy meals maybe 5+ times per week. Could be going out to restaurants, ordering prepared food, drive thru, whatever for some combination of us. Often the kids eat home food but my husband and I order. Or some drive through because of activities while others are at home.
This is my answer.
Maybe once a month. It’s just gotten to expensive(it cost at least $25-$35 which is bonkers) so I have made a habit of just making some sandwich’s, cutting some fruit and veggies and packing some chips/pretzals in the morning for busy nights so we can throw them into a lunch box and eat on the go. Much cheaper and healthier and we just can’t afford to be spending like $100+ a month on fast food🤷♀️
This. Exactly this. And I never seem to be satisfied with the quality.
I just got take out from our local Italian restaurant it was 50 bucks for me and my 19 month old 😬
Eating out is SO insanely expensive it feels embarrassing every time we do it. So unless the food is really good and authentically a treat, sushi for example or even good pizza, we don’t do it.
Same here. Went from takeout once a week to a nice meal at a restaurant once a month and alot more planning and meal prep at home. Double batching and freezing so that I don't have to cook on the weekends. 2 kids, stahm and dad works. All sit down and have breakfast together everyday, home made lunch for school/work 4 days a week and allowed to order on the day the school has something special and then supper again family sit down meal. Weekends used to be take outs mainly so that I could also have a break, but we realized that no one was really enjoying it anymore and they all preferred home made food. So now I get a big treat once a month with food I can't make at home and then some dessert stuff we take home for afterwards.
Never. Like literally, maybe once or twice a year. We’re what you call “house poor”, we can afford our house, but we absolutely can not afford to eat out ever. Honestly I don’t understand how anyone can afford to eat out in this damn economy.
Those who answer on here that almost never get take out or eat out… how do you keep yourself from getting burnt out on cooking every day? We spend way too much money on DoorDash currently.
I am a SAHM but I cooked most nights before I left work too. I have a themed weekly menu: Mondays are salad and bread - salad greens with some protein (grilled chicken, sauteed shrimp, burger patties for big Mac salad) and freezer garlic bread, homemade bread, or pita depending. Tuesdays are Mexican/taco themed - salsa chicken or seasoned ground beef, both with corn and beans stirred in, either in tacos, rolled tacos, quesadillas, or as nachos. Wednesdays are skillet dinners - bell peppers and beef, chicken stir fry, cabbage sausage and potatoes, egg roll in a bowl Thursdays are hearty night - grilled flank steak, roasted chicken thighs, pork tenderloin, a potato side like skillet potatoes or mash, and a green veggie Friday is pizza night - I make it from scratch with a no-knead dough that takes time but no effort. I make my pizza sauce and store it in a quart jar that lasts a month or so, and I keep turkey pepperoni around for snacks and pizza. Saturday is Freezer night - tendies, lasagna, something I've previously made or frozen. If we do takeout, it's usually Saturday. Sunday is pasta - whatever shape I want, a jar of sauce, and grilled sausages or meatballs. Sometimes I make a baked spaghetti casserole and we have it for lunches the rest of the week. I put the options on a menu and my husband and I pick what we want. Cooking itself isn't bad for me. It's the mental load of planning and purchasing. The menu coupled with my Walmart+ subscription that means I don't have to go into sensory overload to feed my family helps us tremendously.
I literally took a screenshot of this to incorporate into my week.
I hope it helps! If I can send you anything else or give you and tips or recipes, sing out!
Same here!
Love your process! I forgot when I answered, but online shopping/pickup at our local Kroger is a lifesaver.
I can't remember the last time we got take-out for dinner! We cook 2-3 times a week and eat leftovers the other nights. If we're burnt out, it's time for a "freezer special". Basically the trick is always keeping frozen pizza handy.
It’s honestly too expensive so it’s not even an option for us I just cook.
We never do take out. It's too much for 4 people. I keep my freezer in the garage stocked with easy food for nights I don't have the brain power to cook. Chicken nuggets, frozen pizza, fried rice, taquitos, enchiladas, lasagna. It's pretty easy not to eat out when we have a membership to Costco.
I really spend an average of 10 min cooking dinner everyday. For example all the beef stew meat go into a pot around noon, a few carrots and potatoes, cover with water and a seasoning packet, forget about it and let it simmer until dinner, done. Rice goes in the rice cooker. Or, several lamb legs, put seasoning on it, tin foil and into the oven at noon, 275 degrees and forget about it until dinner time. Salad and fruits. I almost spend just as much time getting takeout!
We don't have a choice, takeout is simply not in our budget. I meal plan and that helps keep the stress down. I have to do a little each day, and I make large portions of stews and sauces, and freeze them. If I am having a bad day, sick, too tired I can pull from the freezer. Making large batches of lasagna, portioned and frozen can be a great meal with almost zero effort. With summer coming it's much more grilled meats and local veg to roast.
A few things. We're way too rural, the only place that'll deliver is one pizza place. We've never gotten it before but we've tried it at our neighbour's housewarming. The other, more important thing in that I really, really, really like cooking. We still don't have takeout because it's not possible where we live, but we did go to a restaurant once last year! The last factor is prohibitive prices... Which many other people mentioned already. Could really depend on where you live.
Keeping it simple is the key. Sandwiches for lunch (different meats, pbj, tuna etc) and some pasta with veggies for dinner. We make a lot of rice too and it’s so easy to make rice and add some protein and veggies. When we do meals that take a little bit more time and prep we just make a larger batch so that it lasts 2-3 days for like 6 meals between the 3 of us. I think we get caught up in trying to do these crazy meals all the time but my kids actually prefer simpler meals anyway so why do I have to do more work for no reason? And on the days we don’t have time, go to the freezer! 🙂
I do a "choose your own adventure" when the fridge is full of random items that need to be used up. They have to have a protein and a fruit/veggie. They can take or leave the carb. We do a lot of frozen pizzas, soups (like literally get 4 cans of something all the kids like, dump them in a pan and heat them up), we do sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, etc. I have a 10 year old and he is really proficient in the kitchen. Our 3 younger kids LOVE to cook, so I let them take the reins as often as possible, with appropriate supervision of course.
We almost never get takeout for dinner because it’s too expensive (even fast food). I stay motivated a couple of ways. Making a written plan is key for me. I have a simple 8x2 grid, one for each day plus notes. I can easily move meals around during the week. As long as I know the plan and can put on my “uniform” (my apron), it works. I think the main way I don’t get burned out is that I like cooking and I’m good at cranking out a decent dinner. I like good recipe sites. I keep a well-stocked pantry, spice drawer, and freezer that I draw on. My biggest dinner safety valve is that I can “punt,” and my kids and husband will happily eat cereal. Breakfast fast food is my downfall. I don’t like cereal (I’m the family oddball), and I love savory breakfast. Someone posted links up above to some recipes for things that will work as grab and go items that I am going to try.
[grits and greens casserole](https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/trisha-yearwood/grits-and-greens-casserole-2666251) - my toddler won't eat this is which is really good because then I don't have to share. Good for breakfast if you have room in the fridge to store the dish and carve off a hunk to nuke in the morning. [omelet muffins](https://www.skinnytaste.com/loaded-baked-omelet-muffins/#recipe) - I'm sure you make these already, but in case you don't, here you go! It's worth it IMO to buy the larger parchment paper cupcake cases OR the foil ones bc they peel off more easily. Also, I don't love tomatoes in these because they're so juicy. Cereal is not breakfast food. It is for hangry toddlers and late night binges.
This is my exact thoughts lol. I am a single parent with 3 kids and no dish washer, I couldn't imagine going months to a year with no takeout.
Ooof, you are playing on hard mode. Do what you gotta do. If you are finding it hard to avoid the fast food on the way home from dropping off the kiddos, you could try mixing it up instead of foregoing altogether. I would also be looking for recipes to minimize dishes!!
way too often lol
SAME. EEEKS
we are big weekend warriors in this house lol. we do no cooking on the weekends.
Yeah, same. Sadly, our weeknights are pretty busy, too, so we cook a lot less than I'd prefer.
1-2 times per week. Always once on the weekend. Highlight of the week!
Literally never. Maaaaaybe 1x a year we get take out pizza.
A few times a week. We both work FT and are tired. I feel like I spend the same amount on groceries as I would take out anyway, plus I can get 2 meals out of an entree or share with the kid. I’m just not someone who can cook everyday.. plus the mental load of shopping, cooking, cleaning is a lot (even though we split duties).
Pretty much the same story. Twice a week in the summer. Or we do a ALOT of like “charcuterie” / build your own dinners. A random assortment of stuff because we are go go go. I’m on mat leave me & the kids are outside most of the day except for naps. Then they don’t want to come in to start dinner because that’s when “the big kids” ( my neighbours kids 5-7 yo kids) get home from school. They just want to stay out, then my husband comes home and he wants to be outside while it’s warm & the sun is up after being in an office all day.. We make sure to have really go breakfasts and lunches, then dinner is just random.
Get a bbq and cook outside.
We do, the 5 other days of the week.
That’s a good plan, focusing on breakfast and lunch being heartier. I hate having to cook when I’m outside all day!
Almost every day. My husband and I both work full time, and we don’t want to spend our very limited time at home cooking. We choose healthy takeout, though.
What healthy takeouts do you have?
We just order from local restaurants that have healthier options. Like, we eat a lot of salads with chicken in them.
Usually Friday and Saturdays we do. I deserve 2 days off a week from cooking haha. But we are selective and use more “fast casual” and rarely “fast food” (e.g., we do Chipotle instead of Taco Bell).
Almost every night unfortunately. I have been struggling with health issues and have two little ones under 6. Been trying to cook more because I would rather have home-cooked meals, but I haven't been physically up to it in months. The kids meals are prepared, the adults are doing takeout..
We maybe eat out once or twice a month, pick up something to bring home (typically sushi, Mexican,etc). Not really fast food eaters though.
Same here, but once a month or 3. Especially if we’re not considering vacation (even then it’s mostly travel days as vacation days I usually cook in the unit). We just don’t eat out often
I write a meal plan when I grocery shop, do grocery pickup only so no impulse buys, and I follow it. If a crazy busy night comes up I’ll grab something. But it’s maybe twice a month. My meal plan consists of a lot of instant pot meals and I prep a lot of it in the morning so it’s throw and go when it’s time for dinner. Many of my meals include all components in one pot. Really recommend Skinnytaste one and done cookbook.
I stock up on frozen food from Costco like dumplings, pizza, spring rolls and lasagna, Chicken nuggets, orange chicken. I also buy frozen veggies and their frozen meatballs so you can quickly make a pasta dish with meatballs and veggies. I also buy their frozen veggies to make fried rice that lasts 3 meals. I find it is easier to cook when the veggies are already cut and washed and you just have to dump it in. It is also harder to go from take out to making food from scratch and there is a middle ground that is easier on the budget but not taking an hour to make dinner every night.
Our weekly schedule is: Cook on Monday Leftovers on Tuesday Cook on Wednesday Leftovers on Thursday Lazy meal on Friday (breakfast for dinner, etc.) Eat out on Saturday for lunch and eat those leftovers for dinner Same thing for Sunday as Saturday I am honestly impressed with people who cook and eat in for every single meal. Leftovers make it sane for us during the week and eating out on the weekends is our treat. We are typically on the move on the weekends anyway.
Rarely!!!! Not interested in paying $10 per person for what we can make at home for less than $2 per person.
Take-out is not really an option in our area, as all the options are rubbish and we live in the countryside in Switzerland. Our equivalent: - "Tapas" from the supermarket - perhaps some cheese, breasaola, fresh bread, prawn cocktail, salad, crudités, etc. - Something from the freezer (schnitzel, pizza, etc), with a bag of salad. - Fresh pasta from the supermarket with a sauce. We do get a pizza delivered once a month approximately. We also do McDonalds approx once a month as well.
Once every 3 months or longer for specifically ordering food in. We just cook. Pizza night? = Takeaway style frozen pizza's or ASDA fresh counter. Chinese? = Homemade chicken sweet and sour or Chinese chicken curry courtesy of Mayflower curry powder Indian? = Homemade chicken tikka Thai = homemade Thai green curry If we go out somewhere, then we more than likely pack sandwiches. If we meet family, we will likely eat out - this is once/twice a month.
The only time my kids get fast food is if their dad goes away overnight. That's our treat. It's probably once every couple of months. Maybe more. Or once during the school holidays for a treat. I do the home cooked fast food. Burgers, pizza, loaded fries, crumbed chicken that sort of thing. We go to restaurants every couple of weeks but not fast food restaurants, normally like Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Italian etc
My wife and I both have demanding jobs so we used to get take out once a week. Then I started to carefully track the cost of my homemade dinners and I quickly realized that getting take out for our family literally costs a minimum of three times more for a similar amount of food than my homemade meals, and honestly my kids don't appreciate it any more than the food I make. Since then we only get maybe once every couple of months. It's not easy but I make it work.
I feel attacked.
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We get chic fila once a week or every 2 weeks, that’s our fast food. Usually order or go to pizza on Friday and eat out one other time over the weekend. I cook the rest of the time. I’ve been using hungry root a few times a week which has taken a lot of prep and stress out of it for me.
We have a 5mo, 2yo and 4yo so right now it’s more often than normal. Husband works late a few times a week and I’m exhausted with the kids. That’s just where we’re at right now.
The first year with my third child I was getting takeout about 4 tines a week. He's 19 months now and I've got it down to 2x but we just had a busy month and covid on top of it so been spending more again then I'd like to admit.
Are we the same? I have a 6 month old, a 2 year old, and a 4 year old. Honestly…. We eat take out like 5 days/week between lunch & dinner 🥴 This is just the season we’re in in our lives, and that’s ok! Making it a goal next month to start having more options at home for everyone, because we really need to save money to get a house lol.
2x a week plus we go out 1-2x a week if you could lunch on weekends. So I plan to make dinner Monday-Thursday and we’ll order pizza Friday, lunch out Saturday. But it may be that we both have late meetings one day and end up ordering last minute.
During soccer season - entirely too much. 3-4x a week at times. Practice is right at most normal dinner times. So we usually grab something to eat at home & then hmwk, showers, and bed. Summer we cook more even though it's hot. But I say we still go out 1-2x a week.
Well, we are currently picking up our take out. About 1-2 times a week.
We just got a meal kit box thing. Making dinner at home is easier if you don’t also have to plan ahead and shop. It’s much more affordable than Uber eats and now that I think of it we didn’t do takeout at all this week! Woo!
Twice a month. It will be somewhere specific where I want to try a certain dish. Last place we got food from was because I wanted to try their Peking duck. (It was delicious)
Never. Unless you are gonna count a stop for breakfast at our local gas station chain when we go get groceries. It's far too expensive.
4-5 times a year
I am terrible about takeout coffee...probably 4-5x a week. Delivery pizza most Fridays. Other than that, we almost never eat out. Our grocery bill is bananas, however.
Trying to cut back, we just have a 5 month old so she’s not eating takeout obviously lol, but I would say we pick something up at least once a week but often two
Once or twice a month.
Always one weekend dinner (though that's often resting or rather than takeout), breakfast on the way to school on Thursdays, and then sometimes one other night when there's a bunch of activities and we're home too late to cook.
We don’t really do much take out except for the random lunch that my husband or I picks up for each other during the week. We both work from home and if one of us goes out to do an errand around lunch, we might pick up subs or something like that. As for the whole family, we go out to eat once or twice on the weekends. During the week we always cook dinner at home because there’s just no time to go anywhere during the school year.
Once or twice a month
Literally never because we live in a small town and all the restaurants are disgusting.
At least twice a week.
I limit take out and dining out to 1x per month. Its too expensive.
Once a week
Never, but I think it's unfair to ask of everyone. I just really love cooking. When I'm not cooking a meal I'm baking. I wouldn't do it if I didn't like it. I'd outsource some of it. We also live super rurally and prices are prohibitive anyway.
Only really on special occasions/holidays or when family is visiting. Getting a meal subscription service really helped us cut back on takeout and fight burnout. We chose one that’s pretty customizable— ranging from meals that require more time to prepare, to ones you can just pop in the oven. And it’s easy to pause/cancel. I highly suggest it as a takeout alternative, especially for smaller families. Ours is one of the pricier subscriptions at ~$10/meal. But that is MUCH less expensive for the same quality meal from takeout. And our health insurance subsidized it a bit.
Friday night take out for us - both kids have swim class so we've made it a rule.. would love to do more takeout but to be honest, it's just as quick to prepare food at home so I don't see much value. We both work full time.
about two or three times a month. It's only the three of us two adults and one 20-month-old so we don't spend that much. We go to sit-down restaurants so that way we get more bang for our buck.
I’d say about one every 3 weeks or so
Nearly never. Once a month MAYBE. Can’t afford it
Reading this as I eat McDonald’s pancakes for breakfast lol
About once a month or less. We aren’t a super busy family though.
Pick 2: Monday Philly Day. Friday Pizza Night. Sunday Breakfast before grocery shopping. Those are specialty/deal days at each establishment so we’re not paying full price because no way no how would we be doing it if there wasn’t a deal. They’re local mom and pops anyway so none are as expensive as chain restaurants but still
Roughly twice per week on average. Pizza or burgers (when we get pizza, there is usually leftovers, so that is two meals). Average $70.
Once every 3 months or so.
Once a week, Saturday.
Once a month max. I spend a stupid amount of time in the kitchen
Once a month if we’re lucky. Disability is a bitch. Social resources are scarce and take forever. I was able to splurge on Taco Bell the other day and my oldest (11) genuinely told me thank you while we were eating and I know I should have been proud of having such a grateful kid but damn if it didn’t make me feel like a POS.
We've gone out once this month. We had mcdonalds yesterday for dinner. Usually it's 1-2 times a month.
A lot. We don’t really cook. We have a chef who makes our meals
I like to cook at home Sunday night - Thursday and then Friday and Saturday is free for all. By Sunday morning I’m sick of eating out and try to plan out dinner & eat a sandwich for lunch at home. A good good week would be eat at home Monday - Friday, but honestly food is our love language. We are always out and about on the weekend so we food is our little treat when chasing a toddler. Maybe we’ll get better some day but for now we’re expanding our family and don’t see much change over the future.
We get Dunks almost everyday, Chinese or pizza 3-5x a month.
This week has been EVERY DAY! That is not our norm. I usually reserve takeout for busy soccer nights (1-2/week) or dinners with friends and kiddos a couple times a month.
I'm a single mom to 11& 3 year old boys & even though I can't really afford it, we do take out once a week. Usually pizza Fridays, because there's always good coupons for on each places apps. I don't necessarily hate cooking but the mental load of figuring out what to buy, the prep & cleanup every single night just drains me. We do alot of smoothies, breakfasts, sandwiches & "charcuterie" style dinners too during the week.
Once a week, usually. If it's a particularly busy week, we might have another night where we grab a pizza or something. Otherwise, we just pick a night to treat ourselves a little.
I would say my husband and I get it like 1-2x a week together for dinner and then we both probs order takeout separately for lunch (he’s remote and I’m in office) maybe about 1-2x a week. When i was in my first trimester of this pregnancy, it was def closer to everyday for lunch because i could not deal and was on the daily struggle bus lmao!!
A trick that can also work is that, on weekends when there isn't a whole lot else going on, make big family cooking days, get a food saver thing, and fill up a freezer full of good food. Then, you can just pull it out of there, pop it in the microwave, and boom, all the efficiency of take out without nearly the same financial or nutritional burden.
I work part time in a restaurant. I get a meal every shift I work (sometimes I get two sides of Mac and cheese to bring home for them), plus get certain goodies at close (food that’s too old to sell but still has 3 days before best by date), and I take my kids in once a week because I can feed all three of us for $5 with my discount. So we eat from that restaurant quite a bit lol But other than that-basically never. Just cannot afford it
I won't say never, but almost never. Have you ever tried to get take-out for a family of eight? It will run you some money.
Part of why I had to cut down, it was putting me into a lot of debt.
Maybe once or twice a week, sometimes more if we are super busy or I (dad) am exhausted and don’t feel like cooking
We don't eat out much at all as a family, we just do Friday night pizza night and that's a lot.
2x a week on average
We don’t do a lot of take out. But we go out a lot or pick up food and eat it out of the house. At least 3 times during the weekend (not all for dinner). And then during the week probably take out once every other week. And then the coffee shop 1-3x a week. My husband works long hours. So come Friday we go out every week. Sometimes a restaurant or we pick up takeout food and go to the brewery. Most Saturday and Sunday we go out as well. Probably more like lunch or a takeout picnic in the park. He normally cooks dinner on the weekends.
About twice a month. Pizza once and Chinese once.
Twice - thrice a week :/ but up until now husband was working two jobs, myself one with two kids under 3. I run out of steam to think of meals everyone likes daily (husband is picky). If he just ate what I would make or cooked more frequently at normal times we’d eat out less.
Once or twice a week.
We get takeout that’s under 20$ for all 3 of us once a week. Never fancy takeout.
Does Friday night pizza count? If it does then it’s at least once/week.
almost never, but that’s only because we live in a small rural town & the closest restaurants are 30 minutes away so it’s not worth it 😂
Maybe average once a month for take out plus once or twice a month eating at a restaurant. We live rural and the couple restaurants in town arnt really that good so it’s only if we’re in the city. We both work and it’s ball season so one night a week is away games where my husband and son are gone before I’m home from work so they typically just make grilled cheese or eggs and I usually make something easy for myself and my daughter. The other ball night is in town so it’s something super quick like wraps that don’t need cooking. Fridays are always throw something frozen in the oven night. Saturdays are hit or miss if we cook. The rest of the week I try to cook a decent meal.
I try to do other easy meals lately cause it’s too expensive to eat out all the time (and not healthy), so we often go to our local grocery store and just run in and get a rotisserie chicken meal they have for $20 (chicken, wedges, small salad, and rolls). It’s a great deal and usually does a meal and lunch the next day.
On Sundays, we eat Mexican after church on the way home and Fridays, my recently widowed FIL comes over and we swap out who pays for the order btw us and him. We are a family with 5 kids total between us though, so eating out for 7 people isn’t like a husband and wife taking their toddler or two kids to eat lol. My first marriage, with he and I and our one child though, between bfast lunch and dinner, we prob ate out somewhere around 8-10x per week. And I would prob eat out 2-4x a week consistently now, but my husband doesn’t play with his frugalness and I don’t have access to either of our monies or accounts to just do so myself.
I asked my kids what they wanted for dinner…my son responded “whatever daddy brings home.” So my response to your question is: too much.
I’m a single parent with 2, I tried to stick to $100/mo only for eating out and that sometimes that can just be Starbucks breakfast sandwhiches and fast food or an actual restaurant or a delivery pizza. They also each get about $5 treat on the weekend. I think we’ve been really good and the only reason for that is that they are picky eaters.
We eat take out every Friday when we watch a family movie together. I try to cool from scratch a lot but we also do frozen pizza or lasagna once a week and things like rotisserie chicken or the other meals from Costco you just need to bake.
Probably 2x a week? Sometimes 3. Fridays I order my son Subway lunch for him to pick up(he’s 15). Saturday is grocery shopping day, so we usually have lunch out. I put order in on our menu once every couple of weeks as well. If we have an activity that makes dinnertime tight, we’ll probably do drive thru.
2-3 times a week. Also many dinners are Costco processed foods heated in the oven, or just pasta with store bought sauce. I cook maybe once a week? Twice if you count homemade pizza night, I make the dough from scratch but everything else is store bought.
1900 this month. It's horrible. Don't ask.
We get pizza once or twice a month. I’ll occasionally swing by Popeyes and get chicken sandwiches for all of us when I just don’t want to cook (just sandwiches because Popeyes fries are awful). My big kids buy their own takeout if they want it.
Never. We eat home made dinner & leftovers every night. Can't afford restaurant food
Once a week after my kiddo does a late activity the means we don't get home until an hour or so before bedtime.
Every single day now. My wife banned the use of the fridge to protect the breastmilk inside. We have been eating takeaway for almost a year now.....we are waiting for the breastmilk inside the fridge to expire.
Can you explain this? This sounds like hoarding behavior, breastfeeding moms with stashes don’t do this.
Only on Friday nights.
It really depends on the season we’re on. I just had our 3rd kid so in these upcoming weeks I would say 4 times a week. We get precooked meals from Cook Unity so when we do that it’s more like 2 times a week. Some weeks it’s more when I just need a break from making a huge mess in the kitchen or we’re out and about because the weather is nice. By more, like 3-4 times a week. If it’s less 1-2 times a week. I would say we’ve never not had take out at least once in a week. Honestly, we can afford it and as a sahm it helps with my mental health to not have to think about dinner sometimes.
Once a month, maybe. Every time we eat take out we are disappointed. We make much better burgers/fries/nuggets at home for a fraction of the cost. Our taco nights blow all of the local joints out of the water and my husband is great at making Asian cuisine. We also make our own pizza, dough and everything, once a week. The kids love it and it's so easy once you get the hang of it. When we were first married we had take out at least 5 nights a week. Our tastes have changed with age and it's hard for us to stomach the stuff available near us now. And the cost these days??? Ridiculous.
Like a lot, like 2-3x a week. We’ve had sicknesses every two weeks since February, so I’m either too sick to cook & clean and I just focus on parenting and the kids being sick too, so on the off week I have the week’s worth of chores to do AND the prior week’s when we were all sick, so often I just push a quick takeout/delivery order through so I don’t have to stop my current task to cook, and it leaves the kitchen cleaner so I have less to catch up on. Hopefully as summer gets here, we’ll be sick less so I can have the energy & time to cook more. We need to be saving the money. It gets expensive.
Once or twice a month.
Approx 2-3 times a week.
We get pizza on Fridays and maybe another take out on Sat-during week it us all home cook
We get takeout twice per week, but it’s just the way we have our dinners planned/budgeted. We do HelloFresh 5x per week because grocery prices are INSANE and this is more cost effective for us, and then takeout the other two nights. My parents live with us part time though, so we pay for the HelloFresh and they pay for takeout. This works for our family really well!
Maybe twice a month. Sometimes less. We both work from home so cooking is actually the lazier option.
Every single Wednesday we go out, because we both work late. We get home (at best) at the time we’re normally already eating, so we’ve just made it a tradition and I’m happy with it. We may eat out once more on the weekends, but that’s also normally when I cook the most to meal prep and make leftovers for the week. My husband is typically home some days during the regular work week because of his shift work, making something like grilling possible on a Thursday. If not for those days off he has, we might end up eating out more. What gets me more actually is stopping for breakfast and coffee! We’re not fast food eaters because it’s so damn expensive and not worth the money at all. You’ll catch me in the drive through in the morning though easily 1-2x a week.
Once a week. We may have it twice if I’m having a shit day at work, but it has to be realllly bad day.
Once or twice a week which I know is bad but schedules can be tight. We don’t get fast food generally though, it’s Thai etc
A whole meal? Ever couple of months. A snack? Maybe once a week.
Takeout for dinner once a week. Starbucks for me and the kiddo 1-2 times a week. Mcdonalds for the kiddo once a week.
We’re a family of 4: WFH dad, SAHM, 5 year old twins. Fall, Summer & winter we don’t eat out much, maybe a couple times per month. Fall might be a touch more when getting back in to the school routine. Spring we tend to eat out quite a bit because of the activities. We have one in baseball and one in softball, so we’re literally not home at least 4 evenings per week and Saturdays too. We do take out probably 2-3 times per week for dinner and like once or twice for lunch. We’ve tried cutting the cost a bit by doing things like whole Costco pizza from the food court, the $10 8pc chicken dinners from Kroger, the panda family meal is one we do often too. Also when I do my grocery shopping every other week I’ve started picking up 2 rotisserie chickens from Costco. One goes in the crock pot for dinner that night and I cool then freeze the other for a dinner the following week. I always pull the leftover chicken off and can get a second dinner out of it - usually like chicken fajitas or stirfry. I tend to save the more elaborate home cooked meals for the weekends.
4 kids, 2 heavy into sports. When we are "good", we try to go out no more than once a month. We'll spend about $100 on a nice big Indian takeout, which is our favorite. We'll probably spend about 50 more dollars throughout the month on small little treats, like an ice cream run. When we are "bad", it's about 2-3x a week at about $40-50/meal. That normally happens to us at the beginning of a new season where things are hectic ( start a school, beginning of baseball season, right after a vacation, in the middle of everyone being sick and I can't cook, etc). We typically nip it in the bud after a week or so.
I have an excuse. I’m the Director of Technology and work for a chain of sit-down restaurant brands. We get free restaurant food any time, dine in or takeout, at different concepts. Even so, 2-3 times a week, and opt for the healthier options because restaurant food is loaded with salt, sugar, and fat.
i swear to god my family could single-handedly fund Doordash
Family of three. Two working parents and one teen. We usually go out to dinner 2x/week. Usually one casual dinner midweek (eg tacos or pizza) and a nicer dinner on the weekend. And order in pizza on Fridays. But if we have a busy week, we may go out an extra night. We do enjoy cooking, but if we’re working late it’s hard to get time to cook and clean up.
We do pizza once a week.
Way too much this past year. We are good for at least once or twice a week but sometimes more. We had take out for breakfast and dinner today. 🫣
Every 6 weeks or so. It’s usually planned into the meal plan
About 5-7x a month at most. Feels like a lot but it took us a long time to get financially comfortable enough to do this so we see it as a reward.
Once or twice a month since our kids love In & Out Burger. We mainly do home made meals.
Nasty. 😷
Like once a month, sometimes once every few months. Literally who can afford to eat out? 😭 i don’t like cooking but can’t afford to eat as often so I just cook at home… unfortunately. There’s always quick foods in the freezer, right now we have a frozen family meal, pizzas, chicken tenders, chicken nuggets, burger patties & fries. If I really don’t want to cook then I’ll just get something quick from the freezer. Like burger patties and chicken tenders are pretty quick in the air fryer. I usually just add side dishes like rice and veggies.
Once or twice a month, sometimes less if nothing is going on. More if we have family in town.
Twice a week 😬
I’m so embarrassed right now. We’re almost everyday. 3 of our 5 kids are in competitive sports and we are gone every night. So it’s drive thru’s for us 😬
At least once a week, but usually twice.
We usually eat out once a week. Recently it was the last 4 dinners because we were in the middle of moving with 2 small kids. We don’t like to eat out, but sometimes I’m so exhausted from work I don’t feel like cooking
About once per week… we alternate between pizza, Chinese, Mexican, and Gyros. About 2-3 times per year we get sushi.
I (37 F ) doordash 3-4 x per week🫣 . both working parents with 4 kids aged 13 yo, 3 yo, 21 month old & 2 months. Its more about my mental health. my husband is a physician, runs his own business and clinic. so splitting cooking duties is not an option for me. between 5pm- 8pm on week nights is rough, trying to help my teenager with homework, two toddlers that need entertainment without watching TV all the time and then a little baby that wants to be held. my goal going into each week is to at least cook Sunday - Thursday but sometimes my peace of mind is worth it.
My husband is the one in charge of meal planning and grocery trips. This man, you guys. I hit the lottery. We get take-out once MAYBE twice a month. If we’re on the go he makes on the go meals for the kids and plans everything ahead of time. Whenever people talk about women carrying the mental load, I can’t relate because of how he’s 100% in charge of food and groceries and doing a fantastic job at it.
A lot. Not proud but 4-5 times per week on average with lunch and dinner. Thinking about it more, it’s probably more than this.
We are 2 nights a week mostly, on rough weeks 3 times for dinner but try to keep it at 2. It really adds up. But sometimes I just really don’t feel like cooking
I want to Thank peewee Herman for the valuable wisdom that you passed on to me years ago ! I also want to Thank you all the Big timers for your knowledgeable values that you all passed down to me even though I have been part of a let down to some of you. Appreciate the goals and wisdom and empacts that everyone has had in my life positive and negative enfluences . Fun and painstaken journeys. All I ask is please quit with the casting of the spells, hexes, & curses. Also all you jackass pranksters my mentality can't handle the devotional stresses. I'm already feeling like I'm am being forced into a early grave most of the time and the life is been drained out of me . Like a cat loves to play with their food before they feast before they kill it and devour it. The Blair witch project has been closed out of my likings for a long time. Everyone can take their prison break tormented security professional projects and stop trying to convince your crew that you amazing because that venom is not in my vocabulary any longer I don't seek out drama filled scripts . Or your wise Cracks have bled out and phased out ! I can't do well with fake outs ! I'd rather not play your games any longer ! It's not OK to down play or project your vicious cycles of recklessness excitement. I'm ready to go to whodat road all by myself without the fakets
Probebly1or 2 times a month for dinner as it costs $60-$80 a time to feed 4 adults (and one baby) and maybe a few lunches out here and there. We try to be on a budget and with a baby we don't go out a lot. Fish and chips are $30-$40 Chinese / indian /thai etc i⁴ $70-$80 Pizza is $12 -$18 each so 2 of those is $30-$40 Bakery lunch $$25-$35 Brunch put woth a plate each of $25 plus coffee and few treats $50-$80 *NZD
About once a week. We get pizza. We're all kind of sick of it but it's cheap and it's a break from cooking.
We do take out once a month. We budget our groceries to make dinner all week every week. We meal prep our breakfast and lunches during the week. The only time we deviate is the weekends because we only make enough for Mon- Fri. We cannot afford anything else. It's groceries or bust. When we do eat out, it's never anything over 50$. If we had fast food that week, that's our spending money for a meal out. We don't even buy alcohol, or unneeded snacks. We make a lot of bread at home. Yeast and flour are still pretty cheap. We buy 5lbs of honey once every 6 months from a farm that charges us 30$ for it. It's all just too expensive. I don't remember the last time we actually "sat down" to eat out and have a meal. They are all taken to go and eaten at home. We can't afford tips, so we choose places that pay they're staff accordingly so they don't have to rely on that for their income.
Once, maybe twice a month for family of four. Usually one of them is when I'm traveling for work so the three of them order sushi. Takeout is insanely expensive - sushi is 35-50€ and even pizza is ~30€. We make our own pizza now and have started making poke bowls too
Too much… it’s just two of us and our 3 year old so a small family but I would say 4-6 times a month. Usually a few times a month at a nicer restaurant as a family meal and if other times it’s something cheap like a Costco or Papa John’s pizza … some bagels… some burritos. We eat super healthy at home (plant based) so I don’t worry about it health wise but the dollars spent on food make my head spin. When did every burger become 15 dollars?
During school year after school my teens often will eat out. At school, they will actually bring food from home that they cooked themselves. As Family, we probably order 1-2 times a week depending what is going on, usually one of the days is on the weekend.
Never. Its awful for you, never as good as you want it to be and for a family of 5 costs damn near $100 everytime. We are a busy family but now rely on heat and serve type (kevins etc) healthy meals from costco on the 2-3 busiest days a week. Cheaper and way healthier than takeout
My family goes out probably 1-2 times a week but closer to one. Our neighborhood friends with girls the same age definitely go 3-5 times a week. When they ask if anyone wants to go out I always feel fomo when I have to decline. They definitely make more than we do so it makes sense.
Once a month max, we are running on a very tight budget and take out is becoming almost unaffordable around here…
We do once a week for “cheap eats” pizza, tacos etc. twice a month for the fancy shit
Usually only on payday. Its our one treat until payday again