We try not to do this often, but I do admit- there are times when it is very helpful to just go to McDonald's instead of cooking and cleaning up the kitchen. Especially when we are on our way somewhere adn haven't been home all day. Obviously, it's better if you don't go at all - but here is what we do-

Split meals! The value meals have so many calories and are so big- who needs it all? I have a 4.5 year old and a 21 month old (who has a big appetite). We get the 10 chicken nugget meal and a cheeseburger for all of us and split it. I keep a clean sippy cup in the car for my son and we put water in it- or if we know we will be stopping, we fill it with milk before we leave the house. My daughter and I split the soda, we all share the fries, nuggets, and cheeseburger. Not bad in a pinch for $6. OR- if there is just two of us, we get the 2 cheeseburger meal and share that.

Coupons! Entertainment book, Valpak.com, etc have restaurants/fast food chains that have coupons in there often. We look at the coupons and order what food we want around that. An example- Blimpie's is a sandwich chain. I don't know if they are nationwide, but they have great sub sandwiches, many of which are fairly healthy. Our grocery store prints coupons on the back of their receipts for buy 1 sub, get 1 for free w/ the purchase of a soda. We have a game for coupons etc when I grocery shop. If I save enough money with coupons and pricematching, I will stop at Blimpies and pick up lunch for our family of 4. I can get a 12'' sandwich for my husband, and a 12'' for me, which I then divide for me and the kids. They can get each get a 3'' sandwich, and still leave me w/ a 6'' sandwich. This way we don't pay for 2 kid's meals at $3.29 each. At home, the kids will have milk, and we probably just got SunChips at the grocery store. You get free cookies w/ your sandwich purchase, so they have desert too. On special occasions we do get teh kids meals- my kids are pleased to get them, and know it is an extra special treat. I can usually get the 2 12'' sandwiches, a large soda, and (free) cookies for less than $10, depending on the coupon I've found.

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Darcilew

We do this now and then. I'll stop on the way home from the grocery store and get burgers for me, DH and DS. Two adult burgers and 1 kids burger is about $8 (without coupons). I throw some fries in the oven when we get home and we thoroughly enjoy our treat. Buying the $2 fries in the store gives you probably 4 or 5 times the fries you'd get from a large size at the fast food place. And grabbing a 2 ltr of pop at the store is $1, where it's $2 for a single soda at the fast food joint. Sure it's a splurge for us, but we usually only do it when we have coupons (a burger for free or something) and not very often at that.

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Along the same lines, when we want to eat out as a treat - to check out a new restaurant or for a special occasion - we go for breakfast, lunch or just dessert. Breakfast and lunch are much cheaper meals than dinner so not only are we spending less on the entree but we are saving on the tip.

As for dessert, so many times after a big meal out we can't even think about dessert! I say, "Life is short. Eat dessert first." While alcohol and desserts are the highest percentage money makers for a restaurant, dessert is also one of those items that you don't want a lot of at home so it is nice to have it ONLY on a special occasion and ONLY the one serving. And it saves on calories, too. One restaurant dessert can be enough calories for the whole DAY.

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."