5 Ways to save money and avoid eating out

We love to eat out. We also have a family of 5. So we are always trying to save money and avoid eating out. Here’s some ways we’ve found to save money and avoid eating out. It helps us to keep on budget and keep our money in our wallet and not the restaurants. 

1. On certain days of the week certain restaurants have deals. For instance I know I’m going to eat out at least once that week so I try to make those days our eat out days. Our restaurant, Sonic, has deals on their burgers on Tuesday. After 5 pm they’re half price. On Tuesdays we grab burgers and fries from here and head home to drink our own drinks. I can usually feed 2 teens, 1 girl, me and my hubby for less than $15 on this day. Since I know I will eat out at least once this is definitely a planned eat out day. Our favorite pizza place has $10 large pizzas on Tuesday as well so if we’re not in the mood for burgers we may grab 2 pizzas.
2. Try to have food on hand that can be made quick on a day I don’t want to cook. We all have those days when we’ve run too much and been way too busy that day. I try to keep some healthy chicken nuggets (is that a thing?) or a pizza I’ve made ahead and frozen so I can pull it out and heat them up that day. 
3. Planning is a big part of avoiding eating out. We all have those days when we have ran all day and just want to come home and collapse. On those days if you have to go out to eat make sure you drink water. Pass on alcoholic beverages that are always cheaper at home and just drink water. Save your alcohol for after dinner at home nite caps! Alcohol can add a lot of money onto your bill. 
4. Grab a rotesseried chicken at a local grocery store and warm up some sides like corn on the cob or broccoli. This is one of our favorite things to do if we know we’re going to have to eat and I’m exhausted. It’s a great way to eat healthy and have a nice meal on a budget.
5. Utilize your crockpot and make your meals at home. My slow cooker was used twice this week to make beer barbeque chicken and to make a roast. I love easy meals that guarantee I will have food on the table for the family that night. It’s a great way to use what you have a make a great meal at home. When you cook at home it really does save you money.

Having a big family we have really had to stop eating out very much. We do our Tuesday nights and maybe date night and that’s about it. Do you have tips on how to save money on eating out? What are they?