Written by Ben Gran

The weekend’s coming. You’re looking for something to do on the town. Maybe a nice time out with your family, maybe a hot date. Whatever the case, chances are you’ll be eating out.

If you’re trying to improve your personal finances and also live a healthier lifestyle, the best place to start is at the dinner table. The old saying “You are what you eat,” is also true for your personal finances. Saving money and eating healthy are often two sides of the same coin.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average American spent $4,016 on food during 2010 – that comes out to $11 per day, per person. However, $1,923 of Americans’ total food budget was spent on meals away from home. So almost 48% of the total we spend on food is spent on restaurants, fast food, pizza deliveries, takeout orders and prepared meals.

Food is one of the biggest discretionary spending items for most Americans. No matter how much money you make, we all have control over what and how we choose to eat. If you want to save money, you might consider cutting out a few of those restaurant meals, and cooking at home instead. According to The Money Chart, an amazing infographic from XKCD, the average single U.S. restaurant meal costs $35.65. A family of four can eat at Arby’s for $34, at Chili’s for $69.64, or can stay home and eat pinto beans and rice for only $9.26.

Depending on the size of your family and depending on how often you dine out, if you add up the cost of all those restaurant meals, you could save hundreds of dollars a month by simply choosing to eat home-cooked meals more often.

Here are a few quick tips to help you kick the habit of dining out:

Plan your meals: Remember when you were in school and the school lunch menu was posted weeks or even a month in advance? You need to apply this same kind of planning to your own kitchen. Sit down with your spouse and kids and brainstorm a long list of meals that you love to eat. Mix up the order so you get a good variety of meals and don’t get bored. Meal planning is one of the most important ways to get in the routine of cooking and eating at home.

Make a shopping list ahead of time: Once you’ve got a week’s worth of meals planned, make a complete shopping list of all the ingredients that you will need. If you have a shopping list, you’ll be less likely to spend extra money on impulse buys at the grocery store. Stick to the list – it will help you stay disciplined and focused.

Go the grocery store once a week: Every time you set foot in a grocery store is an occasion to be tempted by impulse purchases. If you want to save money on groceries, start by limiting the number of times you go to the store. You can’t spend money if you’re not at the store, right? Also, limiting your grocery trips to one per week will save money on gas – not to mention saving you the valuable time you spend driving, shopping and unloading groceries.

Don’t shop hungry: Eat a good meal before you go grocery shopping. If you shop hungry, you’ll be more likely to succumb to impulse buys and expensive convenience foods. If you’re hungry and tired when you get groceries, you’re also more likely to hit a fast food drive-through on the way home – thus defeating part of the purpose of why you wanted to cook at home in the first place.

It is possible to make a big difference in your health and in your wallet just by changing the way you eat. Cut out some restaurant meals and replace them with home cooking.