How much do you spend eating out per month

[gemgirl]

We used to eat out at our local diner every Friday night so I could get a break from cooking once a week. It was nice, it was our "date night". Then we''d walk over to Dunkin Donuts for some iced coffees and coffee coolatas afterwards. When we did that, I guess it cost us about $200.- a month. Then when money started to get tight, we went out to eat once a month. Now it''s gotten to the point that I can''t remember when we went out to eat last. The recession has hit us very hard, and I''m also buying a lot of extra groceries (anything that''s on sale) for a family we know who is having a particularly hard time financially. I don''t mind at all now because I makes me very very happy to hand my friend five or six bags of groceries every couple of weeks.

 

[whitby_2773]

hi zhuzhu

i saw an oprah show a short while ago where she had on suze orman, the financial planner. suze invited on a couple who were chronic take-out orderers - every night about $50. they estimated they spent $400 a week on take out. so of course, suze does the math, and we''ve got an outlay of $20k a year. or $200k over 10 years. without interest. but then suze factored in interest and how this would effect their mortgage if they increased their payments by that amount, and how it would effect retirement, quality of life if they gave up eating out, and it was staggering. it translated into something like retiring 10-15 years earlier.

my husband and i probably spend about half that on eating out - about $800+ a month. after that show, we decided to make a conscious effort to cut it down, which we mainly do by going to more casual/cheaper places, or by going out just for coffee and dessert. we have a favorite local restaurant which we go to regularly in winter just for hot chocolate, and we''ve substituted some of out eating out meals for ''hot chocolate dates'', and it saves us plenty! i also dont gain weight when i dont go out, so it''s a bit of a double whammy benefit.

when i think that eating out for tim and i is 50 bucks, it doesn''t seem like much. but when i think i was probably spending 100k+ on eating out over a 10 yr period - that seemed like nuts, so it was time to look at the bigger picture.

 

[bee*]

I can''t remember the last time that we''ve eaten out. Normally I just cook a dinner at home so I''d say at most we''d spend €50 every couple of months eating out.

 

[Aloros]

Probably about $40 on average for the both of us every month.

We usually only go out to eat if we have coupons, or for happy hour. I do make fancy dinners at home for special occassions or just because I feel like it, and these can get expensive - though not nearly as expensive as eating out. Both of us cook, so it''s not like I''m making dinner all the time.

We have a lot of financial goals we are trying to meet, and we would like to re-do our kitchen in a couple years.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 4/17/2009 11:58:42 AM
Author: whitby_2773


hi zhuzhu


i saw an oprah show a short while ago where she had on suze orman, the financial planner. suze invited on a couple who were chronic take-out orderers - every night about $50. they estimated they spent $400 a week on take out. so of course, suze does the math, and we''ve got an outlay of $20k a year. or $200k over 10 years. without interest. but then suze factored in interest and how this would effect their mortgage if they increased their payments by that amount, and how it would effect retirement, quality of life if they gave up eating out, and it was staggering. it translated into something like retiring 10-15 years earlier.


my husband and i probably spend about half that on eating out - about $800+ a month. after that show, we decided to make a conscious effort to cut it down, which we mainly do by going to more casual/cheaper places, or by going out just for coffee and dessert. we have a favorite local restaurant which we go to regularly in winter just for hot chocolate, and we''ve substituted some of out eating out meals for ''hot chocolate dates'', and it saves us plenty! i also dont gain weight when i dont go out, so it''s a bit of a double whammy benefit.


when i think that eating out for tim and i is 50 bucks, it doesn''t seem like much. but when i think i was probably spending 100k+ on eating out over a 10 yr period - that seemed like nuts, so it was time to look at the bigger picture.

Wow, $50/night and they eat out EVERY NIGHT?!?!?! Holy Christmas!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

One thing FI and I love to do is take advantage of happy hour specials. For example, you can go to McCormick and Schmick''s (Seafood restaurant) and order anything off their bar menu for under $5. And they''re good sized portions too. Part of the fun is finding places like this and part of it is ordering a few smaller things and trying new dishes.

 

[whitby_2773]

Date: 4/17/2009 12:12:36 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
One thing FI and I love to do is take advantage of happy hour specials. For example, you can go to McCormick and Schmick''s (Seafood restaurant) and order anything off their bar menu for under $5. And they''re good sized portions too. Part of the fun is finding places like this and part of it is ordering a few smaller things and trying new dishes.

right! that''s exactly the sort of thing we try to do now. it''s just as much fun and way cheaper.

 

[Burk]

This is so interesting. I''m glad to read we''re not alone. We need to start a budget like Steph!

 

[steph72276]

Date: 4/17/2009 12:22:18 PM
Author: Burk
This is so interesting. I''m glad to read we''re not alone. We need to start a budget like Steph!

Burk, it is so easy to do....we use Microsoft Money and it tracks everything for you. It was seriously like getting a raise when we just paid attention to how we spent our money

 

[E B]

We sat down to budget last night and realized we''d been eating out too much, spending about $300 a month (and we don''t eat fancy- I''m talking pizza, Chipotle, etc.). We''re trying to cut it down to once a week (restaurant trip), or ~$150 a month.

 

[Burk]

Date: 4/17/2009 12:26:22 PM
Author: steph72276

Date: 4/17/2009 12:22:18 PM

Author: Burk

This is so interesting. I''m glad to read we''re not alone. We need to start a budget like Steph!

Burk, it is so easy to do....we use Microsoft Money and it tracks everything for you. It was seriously like getting a raise when we just paid attention to how we spent our money

I''m telling DH about it tonight. We''ve been saying we need to pay more attention forever, but we''re in the process of building a house and really need to keep our finances in check!

 

[CNOS128]

Date: 4/17/2009 12:12:36 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
One thing FI and I love to do is take advantage of happy hour specials. For example, you can go to McCormick and Schmick''s (Seafood restaurant) and order anything off their bar menu for under $5. And they''re good sized portions too. Part of the fun is finding places like this and part of it is ordering a few smaller things and trying new dishes.

I like almost nothing better than eating small plates for dinner!! Yum!

 

[Italiahaircolor]

We''re right around $500.00 a month...but I love cooking, so it''s actually a grocery bill that is overwhelming.

 

[Diamond*Dana]

We very rarely eat out. For our family of 5, we might go out once a month and that will run us around $50.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 4/17/2009 2:05:23 PM
Author: Italiahaircolor
We''re right around $500.00 a month...but I love cooking, so it''s actually a grocery bill that is overwhelming.

Ugh, groceries are SO expensive! We try and focus on eating a lot of fresh produce and frozen for some stuff like spinach. Produce alone is probably 1/2 of our bill with 1/4 for protein and 1/4 for tp, paper towels, etc.

 

[BeachRunner]

Date: 4/17/2009 2:05:23 PM
Author: Italiahaircolor
We''re right around $500.00 a month...but I love cooking, so it''s actually a grocery bill that is overwhelming.

Agreed! Our grocery bill can get pricey for two people, especially when you buy fresh, organic product.

 

[Dancing Fire]

more than i should.

lunchtime!!

 

[Rhea]

For dinners and lunches only, about £150-200, if we aren''t on holiday. We go out for a meal every fortnight. If you include coffees and all snacks out, it''s closer to £250.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Does the amount include little things such as picking up a couple cheeseburgers for my kids?

My dh buys lunch daily and we usually go out to one nice meal a month, so that adds up to around $240. Then there are tons of little food purchases, such as salad bars, chicken tenders for the kids, that probably add up to another $250. It''s all way too much because we''re trying to really cut back and stash more money in savings! Dh just last week has begun bringing his own lunch.

 

[zhuzhu]

I think bringing your own lunch really saves $. Especially here in CA, you can not eat a decent lunch combo (non-fast food) for under $7.00. I rather bring leftover for lunch, and eat dinner with DH''s company at a tasty place of our choice. I used to buy Starbucks coffee about 3 times a week when I worked in the industry. Now I make my own coffee in the morning I get to buy the best beans possible, and still save a tons!

 

[oobiecoo]

We were spending 300-500 a month which was ridiculous for us so we have cut back to $100. Thats usually a couple of nicer meals at our favorite places and then a couple of inexpensive deli or pizza lunches.

 

[icekid]

I''d guess we average around $150/month for non-special occassion times. Maybe one dinner out a month, and my hubby buys lunch at work a couple times/week.

Right now, I have neither the time nor inclination to dine out. There aren''t many good restaurants that are not $$$$ in Delaware. When we do feel like going out, we cannot even think of anywhere local that we want to go! It''s a money-saver, at least. Plus I only usually have one weekend off each month

It is nice to watch our money accumulate in the bank instead..

(this is a new experience for me, just a year out of med school haha)

 

[April20]

I''m not sure how much we spend. We try to limit it to once a week, but sometimes it''s more if we''ve been really busy and are just too tired to cook. If I had to estimate it, I''d guess we spend around $250 during an average month- there are two of us. We try to take advantage of coupons when possible- there''s a local "paper" that puts out coupons for several really great restaurants we love that are around the $15-20 price point per plate. They''re B1G1 so if we want to eat there, we sure as heck try to use the coupon!

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Oh goodess, more than I care to imagine. But it is entertainment, and part of our lifestyle we not willing to relinquish. But we also eat and drink "well" when at home--just not paying the "mark-up" on the same bottle of wine...

cheers--Sharon

 

[Phoenix]

Goodness, some of you seem to have such great discipline. I guess it's hard for us because eating well / eating out is part of our chosen lifestyle. We've cut down on other areas like shopping for clothes, shoes and buying knick-knacks for the house which aren't necesssary or which we may not keep long-term. We figure, we've worked so hard, we have to reward ourselves with something and foods and drinks are not something that we're willing to cut down.

Groceries are another area where we spend a lot of money on. We easily spend $300-400 a week on food shopping (excluding going out), so our eating out (not counting things like Starbucks) is not so much compared to our groceries. We've also chosen to have proper lunches instead of fast food (that stuff is so bad for us). What we haven't done though is buy organics completely (we buy some). I'd hate to think how much our bill would shoot up if we did!

 

[isaku5]

Lately, we''ve been eating out every day at lunchtime. It''s our main meal of the day.

I ''rationalize'' it this way - it''s our entertainment, clothes and meal money combined. Just this past week, we both agreed to start eating at home a few days a week to save $$. I can feel withdrawal already.

 

[LadyBlue]

We do around 500-600, food is my third love, 1. Hubby, 2. Diamonds, 3. Food

 

[Rhea]

I went back to my credit card statements to attempt to give a more accurate answer, and because I''m curious. In mid-Jan - mid-Feb we spent £65.42 on lunches and dinners out. This wouldn''t include coffees and random packets of crisps that we''ve picked up.

In mid Feb - mid March we spent £193.35 and that includes eating out during a long-weekend away. We mostly ate pub food so that kept it low during our time away.

In mid March - mid April we spent £244.75, that includes food during a week holiday. We had a cabin with our own kitchen so that kept it lower than getting a hotel room during that week.

This doesn''t include our coffees out, roughly £6/week between the two of us, more when on holiday and we don''t have access to our own espresso machine, or my lunches, which are paid for in cash and vary from nothing each week when I take leftovers to £20 a week on weeks I have a lot of lunches out with friends.

 

[April20]

Date: 4/17/2009 11:21:06 PM
Author: Phoenix
Goodness, some of you seem to have such great discipline. I guess it''s hard for us because eating well / eating out is part of our chosen lifestyle. We''ve cut down on other areas like shopping for clothes, shoes and buying knick-knacks for the house which aren''t necesssary or which we may not keep long-term. We figure, we''ve worked so hard, we have to reward ourselves with something and foods and drinks are not something that we''re willing to cut down.

Groceries are another area where we spend a lot of money on. We easily spend $300-400 a week on food shopping (excluding going out), so our eating out (not counting things like Starbucks) is not so much compared to our groceries. We''ve also chosen to have proper lunches instead of fast food (that stuff is so bad for us). What we haven''t done though is buy organics completely (we buy some). I''d hate to think how much our bill would shoot up if we did!

That scares the snot out of me!! I am a huge sale/coupon shopper so my perspective is a bit skewed when it comes to how much an average grocery bill costs if you just shop "straight". We average about $40/week (including health/beauty/cleaning) for the two of us. A little more when I hit the meat sales.

 

[Lynn B]

Holy cow! Some of you guys spend a LOT of money eating out!!! Whoa!

We don''t eat out much, and there''s two main reasons. #1, very few choices in our small town, and #2, I love to cook and I love to eat good (and healthy) food, and we can make dinner faster, cheaper, and better than we can dine out anywhere around here!

For us, dining out is mostly just a social event with friends, and of course that''s always fun. But on a day to day basis, nope, not much. We are eating in and chilling out and loving it!

Interesting thread, BTW!!!