Can you go an entire month without going out to eat? What about a week or a day? Can you cut your dining out bill by 20%, 50% , 75% or more? That is what I challenge you to do!
Welcome to No Dining March! Everyday I will post a discussion for us to comment on our progress, vent our frustrating, share recipes for eating at home, etc. You can share anything you want on this thread if it helps you keep your dining budget in check!
At the end of the 30 days, I will choose one winner who will get a $50 gift card to the restaurant of their choice!
Here are the rules:
1. You must challenge yourself. Try to spend less than you spend now. If you don’t go out to eat at all, challenge yourself to try new meals this month. As long as you are challenging yourself when it comes to your family’s eating habbits, you can participate!
2. You must comment on at least 10 of the discussion posts in order to be eligible to win the gift card.
3. The winner will be chosen at random. It won’t matter if you have been 100% successful or not. However, if you have been successful I will throw in a few extra surprises with your package!
4. You are allowed 1 freebie meal that you don’t have to count or report back to us about. Please report on everything else though so we can encourage and support one another!
5. Free meals do not count against you. This is a challenge to spend less money going out to eat than you usually spend. If someone else is paying for the meal or you have a coupon to make it free, great!
6. Here is a thought… consider keeping a tally of what you would of spent this month. For example, if you really want to go out for breakfast this morning and you resist… write that down! You could then donate that money to a food bank or save it for a goal you are working towards (like a trip to Disney World!).
So, how did you do yesterday?
My husband was off and it was hard. But we made it through the day. :)
{ 66 comments… read them below or add one }
We did great. My mom had us over for dinner and made my simple chicken pot pie. I have also challenged my mom to eat out less. She is the queen of eating out. I think that she is starting to catch on.
I had an “errand” day yesterday and packed a lunch for my daughter and myself. It was weird walking down the mall eating a Smucker’s Uncrustables, but it was sooo worth it. I pushed my daughter in her stroller, she ate, and I shopped!
So does it count if you work at starbucks and while you are working you get free drinks. I guess I’m not going at this for the health reasons more just financial. I used to go in even on the days I don’t work. Now I’m only getting something when I do work. At least its a start.
We had lunch out, like expected… I did make dinner though and it was so yummy. We will be having those left overs for lunch today and I can’t wait. It was that good!
We had a running around day yesterday. We left early enough in the day that we were home before lunch! Lunch in and a taco kit for dinner!
Did well yeterday. Ate cereal and fruit at breakfast, for lunch my husband and I had sandwiches and chips, and for dinner we had chicken salads with breadsticks and fruit. Our 2 year old had mostly the same but for lunch she had a Gerber meal and pears. I need to make a homemade pizza cause my little girl loves it. When she see pizza anywhere like on TV she gets so happy and starts saying “PIZ ZA” over and over…too cute.
Yesterday we did fine, but today we are heading out to Raleigh for the day and plan on eating either lunch or dinner at Red Robin (depending on when we get our behinds out the door lol). It’s sorta a free meal though as we are using our 2 bday free burger coupons, so just paying for our drinks and DD’s kids meal.
My husband and I did that last month. Our birthdays are a week apart. We had a great meal, with our drinks and tip, we spent around $12. Our waiter even brought us birthday ice cream sundaes. Love Red Robin.
Ours is about 15 hours apart but different days. And it was a great deal and our waiter gave us yummy sundaes as well, minus the happy birthday song, thank goodness! lol We did splurge on the drinks, I got the strawberry lemondae for $4 but I figured it was worth it since we weren’t paying for the burgers.
So, I fought the urge for Auntie Anne’s pretzel at the mall while I was there for our coupon swap. Instead, I packed a free lunchable sub, 2 free yogurts and a really cheap bottle of water. Better for me and no charges. :-)
I think my goal is now not doing any impulse dining out.
WOOO HOOOO! We went to the outlet mall yesterday, and I made everyone a lunch instead of stopping where we normally do! I have a left over GC from McD’s (I got if for Christmas and still have $30 on it) so I am going to take the kids today while daddy is sleeping.
Thursday I went to Panera:( and the day before that I stopped to get fries from Steak n Shake. Still less than what I’m used to but not totally abstaining.
steak n shake, I’m so jealous!!! we don’t have those here. I would be tempted to go there every day if we did.
I’m so excited because I figured out that I saved at least $20 at lunch time yesterday and probably a good $30 for dinner. I was literally out of my house almost all day yesterday. The kids had homeschool art and gym. But that was after I took the dog and cat to the vet’s. No time to make lunch. Pressed for time I was tempted to stop at McDonald’s. Instead, I stopped at the grocery store and bought these AWESOME new lunchables that come with water/kool-aid and dessert. Spent $7.50 for all 3. Then, because I’d only gotten about 2 1/2 hours of sleep I didn’t want to cook. Hubby offered to go out and buy fixin’s and make dinner. Cool beans! Cuz we would have spent $28 for lunch (adding in dessert) and $30 for dinner. Instead we spent about $15 for everything, that includes pasta sauce and bread. Yeah!!!!
We made it! We ended up eating dinner alot later than usual but we didn’t eat out. :)
I made it yesterday and I don’t believe I posted thursday either.
Friday I had nothing out..
Thursday I spend 25c at the school’s store for a snack to eat on my way to my second job.
Today I have to work ( I do respite care for some one with CP) we are going to the movies but her family usually pays for it.
Another good day for us. Although I”m really wanting a sweet tea..here’s to hoping my momma brings me one today…
We didn’t eat out on Friday which is a big step for us. Tonight I am going to make something simple like tacos. I am also going to transfer $50 to our vacation fund since we have saved at least that much by not eating out. Thank you so much for this challenge!
One thing we have done is fastfood at home. Make fastfood type meals, hamburgers, fries, nuggets. The kids even make the burger wrappers and fry envelopes. Lots of fun for them and way cheaper!
I ate out yesterday but it was planned. My best friend is about to have her first child and wanted one more girls night with just us! I did just have water and a salad… and didn’t order the dessert I so wanted :) but I treated her, as well because she deserves it! It was still cheaper than taking the whole family out I guess… and a lot of fun to be out with out the kids.
So far, so good…but my husband and I are meeting his coworkers tonight for a late dinner. I’ve planned to eat dinner at home and have a light snack at the restaurant.
:)
Since hubby works until 10pm today, so there’s no way we can go out to eat. I think I will just make it a left over night. Thrilling! (eyes rolling)
My family and I ate out last night, but it was planned. We took the kids to the pizza buffet, which was economical and my youngest son ate free! Also my mother-in-law picked up the bill for all of us. So for our family, it was free! Yay!
We went to a bday party last night so I we didn’t pay to eat out AND I didn’t have to cook! Does that count though since I had to buy a gift?
We will eat all three meals in today. I have to run to Kroger later, but we’ll eat leftovers before we go. So far I’ve eaten out once this month.
We are doing great so far! We have only spent $6.00 eating out so far this month. In a normal week, we would have normally spent $90!!! Thats a 93% savings! WOW!!! We won’t be eating out today because I already have a brunch casserole in the oven and we have a wedding to go to tonight! Keep up the great work everyone!
well, my my mother wanted tacos, but me and my husband stood our ground and had the best salad ever! She decided to eat out even if we didn’t go…her loss. I have already lost 3 1/2 pounds from this! Thanks Kristin!
We did eat out for the first time in the challenge. Our local Chic-fil-a was having a promotion for their 1st B-day: Whatever we ordered yesterday we could come back and get for FREE later in March!! I couldn’t pass this up. What a deal and with this being our first time eating out in the challenge, I don’t feel guilty. I feel good about eating out and getting a good deal at the same time.
Did you know that if you would have gotten a gift card – they will give you another free card later in March…
I learned that trick last Novemeber for Veterans day. I got a $20 card (free calendar), then used the $20 to get a bag of food… next day they gave me another $20 card and another bag of food.. It was the best spent $20 in a long time. We had to freeze some of the sandwichs
Friday night is typically order-out chinese and movie night and rather than have chinese…I made myself scrambled eggs and toast! I was so proud of myself b/c I LOVE chinese and it is hard to pass it up! :)
Woops. I posted my yesterday meal on day 5… it was pretty good and I posted the recipe if anyone wants it, it is on the last post.
Tonight we have having friends over and getting pizza but it is Little Ceasar’s Pizza and those are only $5 so that won’t be too bad.
Instead of spending 3.00 on a breakfast sandwitch at the market today, I only spent 1.00 on 2 soft pretzels instead. It’s been tough to eat at home this week because I desperately need to go grocery shopping and was waiting to get paid.
this is hard this weekend cause hubby is working and it is so much easier to just have him stop and pick something up. it will be a true test these next two days :) I did cook yesterday.
Friday – breakfast and lunch out, as expected, and leftovers for dinner.
Saturday – My sweet husband decided that after the week we’ve had, we were going out for breakfast/brunch. Lunch and dinner will be at home (after a grocery run).
Again, still ahead for the week, believe it or not (I think that says more about how often we would eat out normally)!
We did not do so great yesterday. The kids and I met my mom for lunch at a local cafe. But we used a coupon so lunch for 3 was only $5. Then my husband and I went out with some friends for dinner and a movie. We had GC for the movie so after the 3D charge, it was $6 OOP. We took our drinks and candy. We had dinner at OCharley’s doing the 2 meals for 14.99. So dinner was around $20. Not too bad for dinner and a movie night.
We had dinner out last night…but today I have dinner cooking in the crockpot.
We (the kids and I) have worked hard at this all week and haven’t spent anything! This is so hard for us but we are trying (I’m trying to lose those last 10lbs before summer too!) My husband…has cut back. We have been tracking his spending too & he’s up to $9.29 for the month.
It was my mom’s birthday, so we we too her out to lunch. However, I had signed her up for their bday club (which I found about from your site), so her lunch was free and my husband, son and I split 2 meals off their lunch special section. So four people ate for 20 dollars (including tax and tip). Not bad for being 6 days in the month :).
Thank you Kristin and take care!
Yesterday was class day, ate lunch in. Drop DS off at daycare, went to school,dropped by Walgreens to have them redo my 8*10 from last week (my order got canceled). Came home made dinner (La Choy sweet and sour chicken creation). Headed back out to Walmart and the mall came home.
Hubby did eat out Thursday night, but another guy bought dinner, so he had free dinner.
We STILL haven’t gone out to eat at all! I am so excited! We had ckn, rice and peas for dinner last night (was better than it sounds) and I am making breakfast now. We are having Boboli pizza for lunch and pasta for dinner. Yeah, us!
I did good….but only because I felt accountable! Seriously…I had the day off and kids were all in school! I so wanted to do chinese buffet and sit and read my book but opted for leftover taco and rice while reading my book at home. Yesterday evening two of the kids had eye appointments, that ran late and I really thought about stopping and picking up something, but decided to make grilled cheese with chips and grapes instead. We did go out of ice cream cones with friends….but only spend $6 instead of the $25 for fastfood dinner! Thanks for the challenge, it has made me think more before just grabbing fast food!
Well, I caved yesterday and went to Sonic at happy hour for a drink. So I spent 91 cents. (-: But then I talked hubby into making a dinner instead of going out for one. So even though we bought stuff at the store, I counted it as a grocery expense in my budget. Now if only I can just stop him from going out tonight! (We already had McDonald’s for breakfast today. Oh well, it’s still cheaper)
Well as I said in my comment yesterday, we went for a ride cause eveyone was stircrazy. We ended up being gone ALL day. Which included lunch and supper. We ate out. My hubby said we needed to, cause it has been a rough week. We did improve for last week, by cutting the eating out by half. Although, I am not really pleased with the $45 spent for 2 meals (5in our family). My goal for next week is to only eat once or none.
I didn’t do to good yesterday. We didn’t have anything to eat in the house and so my son and I went to Carl’s Jr but we did have a BOGO free coupon so it only cost a little under $5.00 for two meals. Today we will go to the store so we will have food in the house to cook.
Still up to the challenge. No eating out. Just family meals at the family dinner table. What a pleasure. We’re using all the extra money for Disney World.
We did it! Saturday is normally McDonalds for lunch for a happy meal and ice cream cones-my son is so used to doing this. Not today, he’s playing at a friend’s house and didn’t not even miss it. Saved $11 for the 2 of us!
Still doing good with “No Dining Out March”. We have plans to meet friends for dinner tonight though. I thought of canceling because of this campaign, but we have had the plans since January.
I haven’t posted so far but thought I would today. We did end up eating out Monday but that was it! This weekend is hard because it is normally when I eat out so far so good!
I’ve been so temped to go out the last few days because I’m sick and I don’t feel like cooking and especially don’t feel like cleaning. I’ve just been making microwave meals
Well, I did eat out yesterday. I had lunch at McDonald’s but it was a treat! My 3 wonderful kids wanted to go for lunch with their allowances. I told them I didn’t have any money, so they all chipped in a $1 and bought me lunch too!
that is so cute!!!!
After a 7 AM trip to Publix, I came home and ate pancakes with my family. Lunch was just sandwiches and carrots (kids) and trail mix (me). As for dinner, my husband is in the kitchen right now making chili! Yum! Of course, it’s 65/70 here, but we still love our chili!
In the past 6 days – we only eat out ONCE !!! (all bfast, lunch and dinners included).
My Son won student of the month and he got 10 coupons to 10 area resturants. We are going to go to those 10 – one per week this month.
Tuesday we went to Friday’s were he had a BOGO coupon – so we both got a full rack of RIBS.
GOOD news – they took off 17.50 (total bill after coupon 19.50) and left overs – 2 to go boxes!!
BAD news – I had to do an extra 30 mins on my Wii to get to a new mii….
went to a children’s resale with my mom and she TREATED me to potbellys…what a nice afternoon!
Its my birthday :) But we are not eating out…….which is killing me…………….but going to make steak tips and rice and open a bottle of wine…..but can someone bring me over some dessert? PLEASE!
Today was our “free” day. I took my daughter prom dress shopping so we did stop for lunch. Other than that, we have not even been tempted to eat out which is good since Fridays are usually pizza night at our house! I just cooked instead and no one said a word about it!
We are still @ 100% this has got to be a record for us normally we are 3-4 times a week. That is a savings of $120.00!!!! Our goal was 1-2 a pay per period, which we did not do this week at all!! I am thrilled!! I do love my crock-pot & am always looking for great new recipes, anyone have any to share??
Well, today we at out. We went with my Dad to the Casino an ate the buffet. The good news is it cost us nothing because we used his comps to pay for it! What a nice meal to enjoy for nothing!
We didn’t eat out at any fast food locations today. We ended up spending many more hours at the hospital with my mom today than I expected (longer than the food I packed lasted). So I stepped out to the nearby Kroger and purchased lunchables that I had coupons for along with having won some from their March Madness game. I spent $5 to feed all 6 of us + a get well balloon for my mom. So we kind of “ate out” today without the best plan, but I was able to keep it very cheap and I will just take that out of my grocery budget for tomorrow.
I feel really good with our success as we round the first week of this challenge.
still doing good! resisted the urge to get a shake at arctic circle!
We’ve actually gone the Friday and Saturday without eating out. Yay. We normally go for pizza on fridays and like to go to a restaraunt on the weekend. Friday we had manwich and today carne asada.
I have been trying sooo hard. I have decreased my on the go eating 100%. But our family has eaten out once since we have started to try to cut back on eating out! So hard!
Tonight we celebrated my SILs birthday so we had dinner at my MILs and it was free! :)
I love a challenge! I had already started trying to cut back on going out, but now I’m going to work harder! My husband is in S. Korea until Christmas, but is coming home for a month in August. I’m saving up so we can take the kids to Disneyland, SeaWorld, and San Diego Zoo while he is home. This will help me put aside more money. Thanks for the challenge!!
Thanks for challenging me to do this for our family. This will help us cut back on eating out while we have items at home to eat from. My husband and I want to take a trip to Vegas in the up coming months. Every penny will count to achieve our goal. I also want to save up for freezer. We did great! I planned all our dinners from what I had in the pantry. Again thanks for a challenge!!
Saturday, we DID eat out for lunch. But I only spend $13 for my family of 5. I only bought sandwiches & 1 order of fries, no drinks, brought it home & ate.