I live abroad and travel through airports frequently where food is usually subpar and expensive. Planning ahead really helps. Before each trip we pack enough food to avoid having to buy meals. One of my favorites is oats with dry milk then just just add water. I am going to try baking a whole wheat loaf before my next trip to see how that works.

I’m definitely one of those people who likes to eat many times a day and even starts getting useless if I go too long without food.

When I’m being good, I make a big batch of something on the weekend, store the leftovers in serving-size containers, and eat the same thing all week. This means I can only make stuff I really like, that I don’t mind eating over and over all week. In return, supper can be ready two minutes after I get home.

For work, I’ve learned that I have to bring a mid-morning snack, something hot and savory for lunch, something sweet, and then a mid-afternoon snack or I might decide I need to go get a snack or meal supplement. I may not eat both of the snacks, but knowing they are there often keeps me from going out.

When I do eat out (and my boyfriend loves to eat out), then (unless it’s a buffet) I bring a plastic container with me. Restaurant meals are so huge that I can easily put half in a container to serve as another meal. (Or sometimes enough for two other meals.) It also helps me eat less of things that really yummy knowing that I will actually enjoy it more later when I am hungry again.

When traveling and I can’t re-heat restaurant leftovers and people insist on going out, I try to get something that won’t be too much food, though I’m not that good at it yet. (At a Chinese restaurant, my bowl of won ton soup was enough for a family of four.) Sometimes I order just a side of macaroni and cheese or something.

I agree with Debbie. One really good method is using last night’s leftovers as tomorrow’s lunch.
Keeping staples around your house can make cooking easier. A box of spaghetti, chicken breasts, ground meat, and veggies are just some examples. You can also cook simply at home and then eat the more complex dishes while you are out. Expensive ingredients can add up quickly, so its usually more economical to eat those dishes at a restaurant.

[…] Early Retirement Extreme gives some tips on how to spend less eating out […]

The main thing for me, is that making sure the food I eat at home tastes as good or better than food I would eat out.

Several times my husband has insisted on going to Olive Garden or Shari’s after I have already started cooking a dinner. This usually frustrates me a lot because I love my own cooking. Once he pressured me to go out, we got to Olive Garden, and there was a line, I was so hungry I begged to go home and eat what I had made!

Learn to cook, learn what you like the taste of. Learn what vegetables and herbs make your food taste wonderful! Buy things fresh close to when you are going to cook them. For example, I bought a red bell pepper, I used half to put in a Mexican salad, then two days later I cut it up the rest small to put in spaghetti and it made the spaghetti taste really special.

If you eat out because of taste of the food, then learn to cook food that tastes better and you will want to eat in more. At least that is the case for me.

@Bridget – This is what I used to do.
http://earlyretirementextreme.com/cooking-for-6-days-in-30-minutes-for-less-than-4.html
Cooking short recipes simultaneously, making sure some of the prep-ingredients (like chopped onions) overlap. Then do everything at once and put it in the freezer/fridge for the rest of the week.

Ive been saving money on food by making chicken wraps for about $0.50 a meal.
At trader joe’s Buy pre-cooked chicken called just chicken for about $5, lettuce, tortillas, and caesar dressing.
They are really good and are about the easiest thing you could ever make.

I wrote an article that some may find useful –
15 Frugal Tips for Dining Out
http://www.frugalhero.com/2009/02/14-frugal-tips-for-dining-out/

We hike on a moments notice and are gluten free so it’s critical to have things we can grab on the way out.

Apples … washed and ready. Toss them in a baggie for easy clean eating on the run.

Hearty heavy corn chips

Water (in our own containers)

If it’s a long day a head than we too eat chicken wraps in corn tortillas. We always use cabbage instead of lettuce. We have a cool bag line we travel with.

Wa la…zoom.

“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure its worth watching.”
Hey was just checking out your blog and you have some amazing content. We will be sure to come back visit on regular basis. Making sure werss you so can stay up to date when you post new content. Me and family are on 3 year trip around the world feel free come check us out as well.

Unstoppable Family
Brian and Rhonda Swan

The best suggestion I can give is to learn to cook.

The sad reality is that if you are the kind of person who loves to eat and you live in any decent town there will probably be a restaurant that you can’t stay out of. For example, I love sushi. Resisting it is so hard. I’ve taught myself to make some sushi, but I’m still not up to restaurant quality.

If you are stuck in this situation, I suggest that you just budget appropriately and just try to reduce how often you go.

If you have friends that love eating out, you’re pretty much out of luck unless you want to start looking for new friends. Just start ordering salad or something else cheap.

cbm: check out The Nutrition Diva podcast. She debunks a lot of supposed “common knowledge.” She has more than one podcast referring to going a long time between meals. Here’s one (with links to a couple more that you’ll see in the text):

http://nutritiondiva.quickanddirtytips.com/benefits-of-fasting.aspx

I eat twice a day. I may or may not try once a day. Unless your first meal is right when you wake up and your last meal is right before you go to bed with your lunch smack dab in the middle (which for most people isn’t the case), then I think eating three times a day is really too much b/c your blood sugar never really gets a chance to normalize. As soon as it dips even a smidge, you feel hungry and then eat another meal.

Jacob i appreciate your points,but have a few items of clarification to my original post which i will ramble intohere:
1. Is it presumed that all viewers of this blog hate their job (even if they do wish to retire early)? i don’t hate my job and in fact find it to be fulfilling even if it is frustrating from time to time.
2. back 2 eating out: by patronizing local eateries (not wendys or TGIF etc etc) i learn more about my neighbors and become connected with my community. coffee at the cafe in the morning, lunch at the vietnamese place, etc.
I support them with my business. This is called URBANISM and it makes my community better, more walkable, vibrant, and INCREASES the value of my own holdings such as real property and businesses. Pretty much the whole world outside suburban US does it this way, and with gusto. and they reap mucho benefits, such as safe streets, environments safe for children, etc. etc.

3. i don’t buy the cost/benefit equation you put forth. lunch at the taco stand i frequent is $3.50 and includes all kinds of great stuff like tons of lettuce, cilantro, pico, bbq chicken, etc. I could never make that on my own and pack it into work everyday.
You may save a wee bit of money if you stay indoors and cook and buy in bulk at walmart in your weekly journey down the Interstate, but what kind of life is that?

Amazing how little one can eat without Water at a Restaurant. Make sure they give you the biggest glass of water they have for free, and they refill it constantly else consider it a diservice to you and tell them their tip money is dependent upon your refills of water so you can eat which is the reason you came out for. (Though it was truely for the socialism)