This post is from contributor, Stacey Lane.
Often, keeping up with our busy school, activity schedules, and doctors appointments, I find myself with hungry children.
My children will ask about the day’s activities, and after I mumble the schedule, they follow up with, “What’s for dinner?”
I have never skipped feeding them, maybe been a little late and a little creative, but have always served dinner.
In the ideal world of crockpots and meal planning, one should always have dinner ready before the evening’s activities. Then there is the reality of forgetting to plan or running out of time.
In my world, the temptation of fast food and restaurants lure me with their ease of providing dinner.
Here is my list of ideas to not burst the budget when it is easier to eat out than drive home between activities:
- I keep a plastic box of paper products in my trunk. It has cups, plates, napkins, and utensils. I keep a case of water bottles next to the plastic box. I tend to cover both items with a tablecloth. I call this section of my trunk “A Picnic Ready to Happen, Just add Food.” We know where all the local parks are with picnic tables. When it is cold we can eat in the car.
- My new favorite meal out: Bob Evan’s Soup to Go. For $5 I can get a container of soup that feeds 4 people, and for $2.99 I can add 6 rolls to the order. So, for $7.99 I can feed my three kids and myself a hot meal out.
- We have a local discount grocery store that sells scratch-and-dent food items. It also sells food items that are near their expiration date. Sometimes I will give each kid $3.00 and they can buy their choice for dinner.
- Sometimes I run into the local grocery store and buy a loaf of bread and lunch meat. If I also grab a bunch of bananas and pretzels, I have a simple meal to go.
- Before food allergies, we would get the $6 large cheese pizza. But only in the summer; pizza is hard to get out of the car upholstery.
When I can swing a meal out, for the 4 of us, for under $10, it takes the sting out of being unprepared for dinner.
Do you have any great tips for eating out on a budget?
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