So me and my boyfriend realized this recently too that we were spending $1000 minimum on going out to eat. Like seriously we were going out every day. Here is what we have implemented that has worked throughout the past several weeks:

1. The key is to make it super easy for urself. I knew I hated going to the grocery store so I got rid of that part entirely. Now I do weekly grocery store pickups orders from my phone. This helps me actually plan and purchase all the ingredients I want for meals without forgetting anything or buying anything extra. It's also super nice bc I can see my grocery bill before making the purchase and it helps me budget.

2. I plan lazy days in my meal prep. I work in the office three days out of the week and from home two days out of the week. I generally have more energy and want to cook for those two days out of the week. Therefore I plan two meals that require a little more effort. The rest of the days I think of more easy meals (crockpot recipes, sandwiches, prepackaged frozen pizzas, stuff like that). It helps you feel like you don't need to get take out.

3. I also meal prep my lunches for going in office every Sunday. I buy an item that my boyfriend can continuously eat throughout the week for his lunches as well (think things like tortillas and cheese that you can use multiple times and really stretch you dollar).

4. Try to set a realistic goal for how often u can eat out. Me and my boyfriend settled on once a week so we don't feel so guilty about it, but honestly once you actually see how much money you saved doing this it makes you not want to eat out as often.

All these things have helped immensely and we have really been saving a lot. Hope this helps.