Sounds like I'm not the only one with a weakness for eating out -- I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing!
LOL But at least I don't feel as foolish about it now. For a few months there we got in the habit of eating out 2-4 times a week -- ouch. Talk about a big hit to the wallet.
So we're working on controlling that now by going back to our previous custom of having a weekly date night (or, in our case, a date day!). We'd go to a matinee movie ($12) and then go have a meal somewhere ($20-30). Doing that once a week for $45 bucks a pop is a lot better than 2-4 meals a week at $20-30 each! (And now at least we get to see a movie, too!)
The other part of breaking this eating-out habit is by having a planned menu for each day of the week and sticking to that menu's shopping list. If we know that we have salmon & rice every Thursday, then when Thursday comes we don't end up saying "What do YOU feel like eating?" or "What do we have to eat for dinner tonight?" We have already obtained the ingredients in advance so there's no excuse for going out to eat instead.
So far this new approach seems to be working well. We're still occasionally getting in an extra take-out meal, but it's usually Subway when we have coupons. Two full value meals - 2 footlong subs, 2 drinks & 2 chips - for under $10, not too bad (although not the healthiest thing, I know!).
~ Jenney