Saturday, August 22, 2009

My Fast-Food Fast


I don't like to cook. It's not that I'm a bad cook. I actually can make some pretty yummy stuff. It's just not one of my favorite things to do towards the end of my day when the kids are getting tired and grumpy and the house needs to be picked up and I'm just tired.
As a result of my aversion to cooking, we eat fast food about once a week. McDonald's is right around the corner, along with KFC, A&W, Arctic Circle, Subway, Wendy's, Beto's, and Carl's JR. I have Pizza Hut's phone number programmed in my phone. It's SOOOOO easy to give in to the "I don't wanna cook tonight" feeling.

In addition to that, Nate and I usually go on a date night once a week, which almost always includes dinner.

Well, as of today, I have not had fast food, or eaten out at all for that matter, for two whole weeks!
It all started when I looked at our bank statement and added up how much money we'd spent on eating out. I won't give you the exact amount because it's a bit embarrassing, but it was quite a chunk. So, with more bills and the same income, I was looking for ways to cut back and eating out was definitely a preventable expense.
I wrote up our dinner menu for the week, did the shopping, and committed myself to cook dinner for my family every night.
Honestly, I really didn't think I'd make it past day 3 or 4. But here we are on day 14 and not a penny has gone to restaurants.
I have been tempted....a lot! I like food. I like it even more when I don't have to prepare it or clean up after eating it. But, I must say, that the longer I go without stopping at McDonald's, the easier it gets.



5 comments:

Unknown said...

Dustin and I used to do the same thing. 15 dollars here and there adds up really fast...
I started buying Stoffers frozen dinners. Like their frozen skillets, enchiladas, or lasagna. It's great for when I'm not in the mood to cook, but don't want to spend the money on going out to eat.
Or you can find tons of OAMC recipes. I just double whatever I'm making and freeze it in some dollarstore foil casserole pans. It's amazing because it's a homecooked meal, and NO dishes.
Congrats on going 14 days!

jkaaberg said...

Way to go! Keep it up! :o)

Unknown said...

We must be on the same wavelength because we have just recently stopped going out to eat and I have planned out the menu for the week. We added up all of our eating out and let's just say it was BAD! Keep up the AWESOME work!

Tina said...

Good job! We have done a bit better ourselves! Way to keep it up! How did you like the steak?

Lacei Child said...

You Go Girl! ;) Remember: Fast Food will NEVER love you back!