Making a menu is what I do too. We only eat out maybe once a month, most of the time it is order in. About 2 weeks ago we ordered in and before that I can't remember when.
I find it a lot easier not to eat out or order in if I can look at a list of choices and plan ahead.

We cut back on eating out drastically a few months ago for 2 reasons: one, to save money, and two, because we both want to be healthier to try get pregnant.

We are doing very well. Here are my tips:

1) Plan meals ahead of time.
Every Sunday evening I plan meals for the coming week: 7 dinners, daily snacks/desserts, weekend breakfasts for both of us, and all my breakfasts and lunches (dh eats lunch at work). I go the store Monday morning and buy only the items on my list.
If you think you spend too much time at the store, try organizing your list by section and it will go very fast and smooth. For example I organize my list like this: bathroom items, dairy, dry goods, meat, beverages, produce, bread, frozen food. This corresponds with the set up of my local Meijer, so I jet through each section and know exactly where the items I need are.

2) Plan ahead for nights you don't feel like cooking.
Just a few weeks ago I had a horrible headache and dh worked late - I just didn't feel like cooking. We went out to Bob Evans - it was horrible and we both felt sick that night and the next day because we simply were not used to eating restaurant food anymore. Now, I make double batches of freezable foods (sloppy joes, spaghetti, etc) and freeze half, so if I don't feel like cooking one night, we can just pop something homemade in the oven.

3) Vary your cooking/prep habits.
If I make something time-consuming one night, like beef/veggie kabobs with quinoa and various roasted veggies, the next night I'll just do homemade burgers and baked beans - so I am not in the kitchen for 1-2 hours every single night.

4) Get the family involved.
We used to go out for breakfast EVERY Sat and Sun. I really dislike cooking breakfast, so my husband make it together. It is fun, because usually I am in the kitchen alone.

5) When you do go out, make it for lunch.
Instead of dinner and an evening morning, try lunch and a matinee. In my city, a matinee is $5, but evening movies are $8.50. And, don't get movie snacks.

well for us it was easy we did not have the cash to blow even 20 bucks on fast food wich is bad for us anyway. now we maybe eat out once every other month. i plan menus i do allow one night or weekend to do frozen pizza on occasion thats a treat for my family we usually make homemade its cheaper. the other thing that helps us is when we go somewhere on the weekends we wait until after lunch pack water bottles and snacks in the van for the kids and then make sure we are home by supper time. plus we live 25 minutes from the nearest large town that has resturaunts so i don't want the kids out that late on school night anyways...

For me, I think well we could spend $20+ on takeout pizza or $50+ on dinner out.... OR I could buy LOTS of groceries with that money. I figure I could buy much more at the grocery store with what it would cost us to eat just one meal.

I love that idea!

__________________
"It's time to move from what we can do, to what we must do, to what we will do." ~Hillary Clinton

I'm a SAHM as well, and of course I get fast food cravings.
If I don't want a homemade pizza, I buy Freschetta's Pizza from the local grocery store.
They're usually on sale and they're really, very good
I love hamburgers, those I resort to making on my own though - as well as french fries.
If you want something in particular, focus on all the diff types of food you can make.

__________________
You must be the change you want to see in the world ~ Gandhi

I make easy meals and use convenience foods sometimes. I pick up frozen pizzas when they go on sale for like $2.00 or I pick up the Pasta roni pastas that you add milk and water too and cook up, they are a great side dish and my girls love them on their own. They go on sale for like a dollar.

Mashed potatoes are really easy to make and you can prep ahead - peel the potatoes, give them a good rinse, chop them and put in a bowl (I prefer glass) with cold water (make sure the water covers the potatoes), cover the bowl and stick in the fridge. When your ready cook them. This also works for french fries or any other potatoe dish just pat them dry if your going to fry them!!

Rotissierre chicken is a great time saver. My dd loves the drumsticks with some mashed potatoes and corn or peas, you can also take the breast meat and shred or chop it for chicken salad or chicken pot pie (use biscuits to top it instead of making a crust) and even use all the leftover bones and some veggies (onion, garlic, carrot, celery), boil that up and you have a healthy stock you can freeze and use for easy soups.

Trust me it gets easier, dh and I have been doing this for a few weeks and every time he wants me to give in (on nights I may not have really cooked) I look in the pantry or the freezer and whip something up.

__________________

Menu planning is the ONLY way I can reduce my eating out--if I don't know what's for dinner when I leave work then I'm thinking "what should I stop and get?" So--weeks that I menu plan (probably 75% of the time) my eating out budget is nil...weeks that I don't, it's definitely too high!
Menu planning for me requires planning menus during the week that are simple and don't require a lot of clean up.

__________________
Heather

I work nights 7-7am 4 nights a week. So I really miss being at home and I appreciate being at home and try to be home as much as I can now. We used to eat out a lot when I worked the day shift. I didn't plan any menu's though when I worked days so we ate out a lot. I have a wipe board in my kitchen where I write two weeks worth of menu's on, and when I make something, I wipe it off. Then I know what meals are left. I really try to lay things out and plan ahead. My husband loves to eat out but lately he goes out for lunch on his own which runs about $6-8. I would rather him get his "fix" for lunch on his own instead of us all going out and spending $40+. My kids get so wound up and hyper when we are out late a lot and driving around. I think they appreciate being home as well and being able to wind down. Plus when it gets colder I don't think I will want to get out then either.

__________________

Eating out is one of my biggest weaknesses too! I am the ultimate tightwad when it comes to everything else---but I LOVE eating out! I can tell you some things that I have done to help cut costs when I do eat out.

**Eating by myself, I eat on kids meal
**I share a meal with my ds or dh when possible
**I try to drink water, but when I do have that craving for Diet DP I always get my drink with out ice. It comes out of the fountain cold & you get WAY MORE drink. I have a weakness for Sonic drinks. So I always get a RT44 no ice & then add a cup of ice. I can fill that cup MANY times.
**Decide how much you want to budget to eat out, put the CASH in an envelope & when it's gone...it's gone!

Hope this helps! Thanks for everyones ideas too!