Hi friends, and thanks for stopping by for tips on how you can quit eating your way into debt!
In a previous post I wrote about how a clean kitchen helps to lower the food bill. “The kitchen is dirty” is an excuse to eat out so you don’t have to deal with cleaning up the mess. And then the kitchen still stays dirty and you’re wondering why your spending is getting out of control, especially if you’re using credit cards to pay for your meals out. Now’s the time to quit eating your way into debt!
Never buy food on credit
Years ago when I started driving, my father gave me his Shell gas card to fuel up his car. You know back in the olden days when gas was still under $1/gallon! I fuelled the car up and went inside the store to pay for it. Apparently, I also had the munchies because I bought a box of potato chips for .69¢, and I’ll never forget that price. My father was ticked off when I came home because I’d put food on the credit card. He told me never buy food on credit.
That bit of advice has stayed with me all my life. At the grocery store or eating out at a restaurant, I always pay with cash. The exception might be when I’m travelling and it’s easier to use a credit card and hold on to my foreign currency for times when I’m in a cash only situation.
I’ve never eaten my way into debt, but I know too many people who whip out the credit card to pay for meals and groceries and are unable to fully pay the bill when it arrives in the mail. Quit eating your way into debt! I don’t care how many points or air miles you get with that card. Don’t put food on your charge card.
Excuses
Besides not wanting to clean a dirty kitchen, what are some other excuses for justifying eating out?
- Too tired.
- Too busy.
- Too lazy.
- Don’t feel like it.
- I don’t know how to cook.
- In a rush.
- It’s easier to eat out.
- It’s become a habit.
- The kitchen’s a mess.
Clean up time
Let’s start with the last one – the kitchen’s a mess. Read my article about how a clean kitchen lowers the food bill. The only time “the kitchen’s a mess” is a legitimate excuse is when there are renovations going on in there. Otherwise use the 15-minute timer method (Thanks Flylady!) and start cleaning it up. Worse case scenario, hire a cleaning service to do it for you. After you spend $80 to have someone else clean your kitchen (that week’s grocery bill), not to mention the embarrassment of having someone else see your dirty kitchen, that’s motivation to keep it clean.
Tired
We all get tired. That’s a legitimate excuse for the occasional meal out, but if you find yourself constantly tired, evaluate why that’s happening. Open a can of soup and a box of crackers on those “too tired” nights, or keep store-bought pizzas in the freezer.
Likewise, we’re all busy or we just don’t feel like doing something. I’m too busy to walk my dog, take care of my garden, and I don’t feel like washing my car. But these things all need to be done. I push myself to do it so I don’t have to pay someone else to do it. That’s my motivation. Why pay someone else to do something I’m capable of doing.
Time savers
In a rush? Keep frozen foods in the freezer and bagged salad in the fridge. A peanut butter sandwich can be slapped together in a minute.
Here are a few easy recipes I’ve shared that can be frozen. Freezer bags to the rescue!
Baked Beans in Tomato Soup Sauce
Cooking class
Don’t know how to cook? That’s no excuse in this day and age of the Internet. You can find easy recipes with a little search. Try my Super Easy Vegetarian Pie. If you go to The Kitchn there are lots of recipes and even cooking classes – all free!
Start out with simple foods, like putting bread in the toaster, boiling water to make Jell-O, or using the microwave to heat up a frozen dinner. Then build yourself up to preparing cake from a mix, or opening a bag of frozen French fries and putting them in the oven.
Easier?
It’s easier to eat out.
Easier in what way?
You have to decide where to eat, get in the car and drive there, and make a selection off the menu. And then your wallet takes a hit. Who says you have to take the easy way out anyway?
Eating out has become a bad habit, probably for both your waistline and your wallet. Like many other bad habits, it’s hard to quit. Compare yourself to an addict who wants liquor, cigarettes, drugs, or to gamble. Eating out is no less an addiction and no less dangerous for your health and finances.
Is there much difference between these destructive behaviors?
Get on track
Write down everything you eat out for a week, maybe a month.
I use this free spreadsheet on Boomer & Echo’s site that is for budgeting, but I generally use it to track my spending.
You might be more comfortable using an app or writing in a notebook.
That fancy coffee and muffin on the drive to work, the quick lunch at the sandwich shop, and stopping for fast food on the way home. If it goes in your mouth, and you didn’t fix it at home, write it down.
Total it up.
Are you shocked at the amount?
Which is more painful? Cooking or paying your bills?
If you’re having a difficult time paying down your debt, and part of the problem is eating out, do a search online for free debt or credit counseling. There are non-profits out there who can help.
Let’s work on keeping any type of food purchase off the credit cards. Once the food is eaten, it’s gone forever, but the credit card debt remains.
No more excuses. Quit eating your way into debt.
Published by Cheryl @ The Lifestyle Digs on December 17, 2019 and last updated on May 11, 2025.
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My excuse used to be that l didn’t know how to cook before. Once l met my husband who loves cooking, we started going out less and less. He couldn’t believe l ate out 3 times a day most of the time in a place like L.A that was so expensive 🙂 . It really does add up!
Hi Kemkem. It sure does add up just about anywhere in America or Canada! I went to Subway about 10 days ago and a foot long veggie cost just over $8.00! I hear in places like Mexico and other South American countries where you can buy from street food carts, that’s often cheaper than buying and preparing your own meals, especially for singles. PS – how lucky you are to find a man who cooks!
Great article! I rarely go out to eat because I love to cook and hang in my kitchen. I am like my mom, she only enjoyed her cooking and no other could compare!
Thanks for stopping by! I wouldn’t say I love to cook, but I’m too frugal to eat out a lot. My mother also enjoyed cooking. Mostly gourmet meals that she spent all afternoon working on and my father and I would eat them in minutes which really annoyed her! We were fast eaters.
[…] We all like eating out. Someone else does the cooking and cleaning. Unfortunately eating out is expensive. As much as I love eating out, that money can be better spent on other things. You might not think that spending $10 or $20 on a meal out is a big deal, but that can buy me a bag of fresh fruit and vegetables at the produce store that last me a week or longer. It’s OK to treat yourself occasionally (I plan to have lunch out with friends tomorrow) but your bank account won’t take kindly to constantly eating out. I have a couple of articles with more details on saving money by eating at home instead of restaurants. A Clean Kitchen Lowers the Food Bill and Quit Eating your way into Debt. […]
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