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How much do you spend eating out per month

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zhuzhu

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I was just doing some financial calculation, and thought it was really high that DH and I spent around $500 eating out per month (restaurants). Is that about normal for 2 people? How much do your eating-outs cost you?
 

chrono

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We used to eat out at very high end places every weekend (dressed up, jacket, etc) but we''ve cut those down dramatically since the bubs arrived.
 

AmberGretchen

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More than we should
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We live in a high COL area, and we love eating out together - we''re lucky enough to live in San Francisco, which has a large # of wonderful restaurants - food is a whole culture here.
 

Skippy123

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Well hubby eats out everyday for lunch and we go out to eat once or twice during the week so I would guess we spend about $500 -$600. I try to cook most nights. It is 2 of us; it isn't expensive to go out to eat here. Most places are casual.
 

zhuzhu

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Sounds like $500 is about right for 2 people then?
 

neatfreak

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Date: 4/16/2009 11:23:29 PM
Author: zhuzhu
Sounds like $500 is about right for 2 people then?

It''s all about personal preferences. I think we only spend $100 or so on eating out generally unless it''s a special event month. We just have limited income now (finishing PhD''s) and so for us we''d rather spend our discretionary income elsewhere right now. But we do enjoy eating out and I am sure we will do it more often once we have more discretionary funds.

That said I have many other friends who do work FT and spend similarly to us. And we also know people who eat almost every meal out.

The better question is: Do YOU wish you had spent the money elsewhere? Or are you happy spending it on eating out?
 

mrscushion

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Oy. We spend too much. The funny thing is, we''ve cut down sooo much recently and I make lunch and dinner almost every day, but with a couple of lunches out and one fairly expensive dinner per weekend, it adds up. I would say at least $600 every month.
 

scarleta

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We eat at home most of the time ( apparently I am a good cook????)and only eat out occasionally and when I don''t have my kitchen with me ( on holidays).I do enjoy to cook and like to eat my own food too ( boring)
So I guess we don''t spent every week, but when we go out I like to eat something that I don''t cook at home and it is not cheap.
 

Kelli

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I don''t even WANT to do that math. I''m sure it''s a LOT. But we really enjoy our meals out together, and we typically don''t go to expensive places. It''s just that neither of us cooks!
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Mara

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way too much...it''s very expensive here and we got out of the habit of cooking at home when we moved, too much hassle for how busy we are now.

zhu...if we could only spend $500 a month eating out, i''d be ecstatic!
 

lliang_chi

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I cook a lot but I usually get "burnt out" and we order in or eat out 1 meal a week. Usually it''s @ a place with < $20 entree, but we get drinks and stuff. So I''d say we''re probably somewhere around $500 a month. And FI buys lunch every day. I work from home so I cook Bfast (tea & fruit), lunch everday and dinner almost every day. Sometimes I''m lazy on the weekends and we order pizza for lunch. I really need to start serving up leftovers but I feel bad feeding them to FI. I dunno, i guess I''m still in the "kissing up/strutting/honeymoon" phase of moving in together.
 

marcy

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We easily spent that when we used to buy fast food lunches everyday. Now we tend to eat out one night a week and out one breakfast and one dinner every weekend. Probably between those it is more than $500 (it''s rarely fast food, usually includes alcohol and a split dessert).
 

Phoenix

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Yes, easily. I''d say we probably spend twice that amount. We eat out for lunch almost everday and dinner out at least twice a week. We try to cut down on other areas but we get bored with eating at home. It''s also one area where we allow ourselves to "let go" a bit.
 

zhuzhu

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Neither of us buy lunch (he works from home and I refuse to eat the junk food at work) so that is how we can manage to keep it under $500 a month. I am just glad that our spending is not terribly out of line from the "norm" as cooking really is not my cup of tea....
 

Hudson_Hawk

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We eat dinner out probably once a month and we often go out to breakfast on the weekends. I''d say we average about $150-$200/month eating out. We try not to go out to dinner often though so it could be even less. Breakfasts on the weekend average around $20.

We bring our breakfast, coffee, and lunch from home which has cut down a lot on our expenditures in this department. $5/day at Dunkin Donuts and $10 lunches really add up. Factoring in stuff for lunches and breakfasts, I''d say our weekly grocery bill is around $100. I personally think this is really high and I''d like to trim it a bit, but we try to eat really healthy and well (so we don''t get tempted to go out). We try to get takeout when we feel like going out because it''s something different and is often way less expensive than going to a restaurant.
 

steph72276

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Hello! Before we started using a budget every month, I added up how much we were spending on food in general...eating out and groceries combined and it was some where in the $2500 a month range
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. Now that I put us on a budget to track everything, we eat out less, my hubby takes his lunch to work several times a week instead of going out everyday, and we spend less at the grocery store. Now we budget $100/mo (unless it's a birthday or anniversary month) for out to eat and $500/mo on groceries....combined savings of $1900 a month
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elrohwen

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In a typical month we probably spend less than $100. Occasionally we'll go out to a nice place (maybe once every 3 months) and that'll bump up our monthly total to $200. We really enjoy cooking, so we only go out to eat if we're too lazy to cook (like on a Friday night) but even then we usually get something cheap like Chinese food. We spend probably $400-500 on groceries, so I think we make up for the lack of eating out by buying lots of groceries.

ETA: I travel for work and eat out all the time (at whatever restaurants I want) so by the time I'm home, I tend to be burnt out on eating out. I think we would eat out much more if I had a different job.
 

luvthemstrawberries

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Haha. The only eating out we do is lunch on Saturdays at ChickFilA (~$15 for us two), and subs for lunch on Sundays (~$15). We go out to eat maybe once every 2 months other than that, and even that's only the local steakhouse usually. Every now and then we maybe get some take-out Japanese.

We usually just eat at home - we're creatures of habit, and we save a lot of money doing that and bringing our lunches. Our usual suppers aren't large either, and are very easy to make - nothing special usually.

So I guess if you're including fast food/subs, $120 a month for us both. But that's not really restaurants.
 

SarahLovesJS

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Is it normal? Probably not..but I wouldn't say it's unusual either. FI and I spent over $700 one month eating out and we didn't eat out /that/ often it seemed..we just went to too many $50 and $60 meals on the weekends, etc. Right now I've been trying to keep it at $300 or under, but this month we've blown it. I've had a bunch of events and things to go to, he's had to work late, and I'm constantly working on papers..so we're pretty much only eating out aside from an occasional one or two cooked meals. We're doing the opposite of what we wanted to do.
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But we're still going to be on budget..around probably $500 total (but considering we've only spent $70 at the grocery store so far this month the money part balances out..now the health part?
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).
 

CNOS128

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We''ve cut way down on the number of times per month we eat out, and probably now spend about what you''re spending. I think part of it is geographical, too - some cities are just more expensive to eat in!

We used to eat out (or order in, which I included in this calculation) maybe once or twice during the week, and then brunch and dinner each at least once on the weekends. Now, we might go out or order in once during the week or every other week, and go out for one dinner on the weekend, if that.

But when we have dinner on the weekends, we''re usually going to nicer places. Not jacket-required places, probably because I don''t know of any that exist anymore
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, but the better neighborhood places where, once you have 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and a bottle of wine, (and fine, dessert too!) you''ve spent a couple hundred dollars.
We both really like food, and it''s hard for us to live in a place where there are constantly new and delicious places opening, without sampling them for ourselves!
 

fieryred33143

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Close to $600 a month for just the two of us. We barely ever eat at home.

Now with the baby coming we''re making more of an effort to just cook meals. FI came up with a meal calendar where he writes down what meals we are having every day and who''s turn it is to cook (he gets all the hard meals
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). So far its working.
 

geckodani

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We eat out rarely. Probably $50 - $150 a month.
 

MonkeyPie

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We eat out with my parents on Wednesdays - it''s my mom''s Hamburger and Fries day, her favorite thing to eat - and then usually once or twice on the weekends. It adds up, but we try to spend cheaply and not go out TOO much.

One month we didn''t have anything for lunches for a whole week, so we had to buy those, too, and groceries specifically for it. It added up to almost $200 at the end of a WEEK! We were horrified, so we try not to do it too much now.
 

BeachRunner

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We RARELY eat out. We only eat out when we travel. We are both foodies, and love to try new restaurants. When we do eat out, I''d say we spend no less than $100 a meal.

Eating out kind of scares me too. Restaurants add so much filler to your food that even a chicken salad may be "unhealthy".
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So, definitely under $50 a month, for sure!
 

elrohwen

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Date: 4/17/2009 9:29:17 AM
Author: BeachRunner
We RARELY eat out. We only eat out when we travel. We are both foodies, and love to try new restaurants. When we do eat out, I''d say we spend no less than $100 a meal.

Eating out kind of scares me too. Restaurants add so much filler to your food that even a chicken salad may be ''unhealthy''.
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So, definitely under $50 a month, for sure!
BeachRunner, we''re exactly like you and your FI! Sometimes we''ll get Chinese takeout, but otherwise we spend no less than $100 on a meal. I''d rather go some place really good than eat out more often and do it cheaply I guess. We don''t eat out very often, but when we do I don''t feel so bad about spending so much because I know we''re usually very cheap.
 

Bia

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A lot!!!
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-Maybe $250-300/month? That''s just take-out. When we go out for dinner with couples (usually my bro and his wife) we spend a lot more
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BUT we are no longer going to do this, we said already. Let''s see if we really stop...
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DivaDiamond007

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We do date night at least once a month and then sometimes get fast food
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so maybe between $40-$50 per month. That also includes my eating out for lunch at work - which I do at least once a week at a local deli. We live with DH''s parents and his mom likes to cook on her days off she she makes dinner for everybody.

When we were living alone we ate out several times a week before the baby was born so it was probably closer to $150 per month. I think that''s high and we like to eat out waaayyy too much.
 

Lauren8211

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Oh goodness. To be perfectly honest, I think we spend more on eating out than we do on rent.
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purrfectpear

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You don''t want to know
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I eat out at least twice a day (lunch $10, dinner $15+) and sometimes breakfast too ($6).

I think I average about $900 a month for one person
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The puppy is cheaper, he says he only costs $11 a month.
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Inanna

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My FI and I spend anywhere from $500-700 per month eating out. This doesn''t include workday lunches (I usually don''t get lunch and FI buys a lunch at least 3 days per week).
 
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