Author Topic: How often do you dine out?  (Read 30226 times)

Mlkmn

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #50 on: March 11, 2014, 07:58:47 AM »
This is something I've been really trying to curb, and while there's been an improvement, we're still not where I'd like to be. We used to eat out maybe five times a week. Now we're down to once a month just the two of us. Where I fail, though, is at turning other people down. When it's my husband, I know we're on the same page. Explaining to my non-Mustachian friends that I suddenly don't want to go out with them and that it doesn't say anything about our friendship is much more difficult. I also find it difficult to say no to people I work with - somehow I feel like going out with work friends could be detrimental to my career.

An easy way to say no is to tell them you are saving for something big and your family agreed not to eat out while you are doing it. We just tell people we are saving for an adoption. Its true and no one thinks it is weird. Paying off debt also works, as does a down payment on a house. Or find some other reason that you can't eat out. "I am doing a no eating out for 3 months challenge." "My husband and I are seeing who can go the longest without eating out, loser has to...."

dude

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #51 on: March 11, 2014, 08:22:20 AM »
yeah, too much.  Regularly at least 2x/week (usu. Fri & Sat nights) and occasional mid-week nights as well.  It's not the frequency I have a problem with, it's the cost -- @$800/month.  yeah, I know, facepunch.  But we do cook/eat-in most nights, and brown bag it for lunch (with leftovers) every day, and I've been trying to impress upon the wife to not order the $14 cocktails, but rather a glass of wine or beer instead!  ugh.

Elaine

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #52 on: March 11, 2014, 08:27:27 AM »
Once a month or less.

4alpacas

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #53 on: March 11, 2014, 08:28:22 AM »
1-2 x/week for lunch out with coworkers
3x/month with DH

On average, 9 times/month...unless we're traveling (then it's a lot more).

ace1224

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #54 on: March 11, 2014, 08:32:42 AM »
1-2 times a week sometimes 3.  i love going out to eat.  for me its not really the food, i can cook pretty well and my dad is straight up gourmet, but i really like being out and eating.  whether its a hot dog stand or a fancy pants place.  its all about the atmosphere for me. 

GuitarStv

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #55 on: March 11, 2014, 08:38:14 AM »
Plus I've never met a man that substituted something ridiculous like yogurt for sour cream in the mashed potatoes.    Jeez, just eat a single serving and go for a run the next day...food is more than fuel!

Now you have.  I use Greek yogurt in place of sour cream all the time.  Works great on potatoes, mixed up with dill for a chip dip, can be substituted in place of butter in some things while baking, etc.  I wish restaurants would offer this as an option on baked potatoes.

Also use drained cottage cheese in place of ricotta in lasagne, and think it tastes much better.

onehappypanda

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #56 on: March 11, 2014, 09:06:02 AM »
Too often, in my opinion. Food is definitely our biggest budget area to cut back on and we probably eat out 2-3x a week. Usually inexpensive options like take-out or pizza, occasionally a sit down restaurant for dates. I'd like to keep the date nights since we have a great restaurant scene in my city, but scale back on the random take-out.

Take-out nights usually happen when I come home too tired to cook as BF is not great at cooking. We do seem to eat out less in the warmer months because while BF is a non-cook, he enjoys grilling, so "slap something on the grill" nights end up taking the place of take-out nights. We just need to make that carry over to bad weather days ;)

4alpacas

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #57 on: March 11, 2014, 10:46:29 AM »
Plus I've never met a man that substituted something ridiculous like yogurt for sour cream in the mashed potatoes.    Jeez, just eat a single serving and go for a run the next day...food is more than fuel!

Now you have.  I use Greek yogurt in place of sour cream all the time.  Works great on potatoes, mixed up with dill for a chip dip, can be substituted in place of butter in some things while baking, etc.  I wish restaurants would offer this as an option on baked potatoes.

Also use drained cottage cheese in place of ricotta in lasagne, and think it tastes much better.
My DH also likes to sub in cottage cheese.  I'm starting to come around. 

Spork

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #58 on: March 11, 2014, 10:55:03 AM »
Plus I've never met a man that substituted something ridiculous like yogurt for sour cream in the mashed potatoes.    Jeez, just eat a single serving and go for a run the next day...food is more than fuel!

Now you have.  I use Greek yogurt in place of sour cream all the time.  Works great on potatoes, mixed up with dill for a chip dip, can be substituted in place of butter in some things while baking, etc.  I wish restaurants would offer this as an option on baked potatoes.

Also use drained cottage cheese in place of ricotta in lasagne, and think it tastes much better.
My DH also likes to sub in cottage cheese.  I'm starting to come around.

I have no issues with Greek yogurt (as long as it is the real full-fat stuff and not the bastardized icky tasteless stuff)... or with real whole milk cottage cheese (and again: not the awful almost clear runny low fat stuff).  They're both delicious.  ...and so is sour cream... and butter.

Mortgage Free Mike

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #59 on: March 11, 2014, 02:51:23 PM »
The monthly totals are awesome.

It's nice to see that I'm not the only one who eats out more often than MMM standards, but super impressed with those who keep their spending under control.

Most of those who responded are married with children. Any single people who care to share?

Ambergris

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #60 on: March 11, 2014, 02:54:18 PM »
Looking over Mint, we ate out 4 times last year.  We have 4 kids and eating out is a serious treat for us, but super spendy.

I didn't know there were apps for eating out.  What do they do for you?

Same here: but most of these occasions are lunch, and several were work related.  My employer occasionally covers other meals out, but twice I was expected to take out a prospective employee on my own dime.  Ick.

I'm also a singleton.

Workinghard

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #61 on: March 11, 2014, 03:13:35 PM »
Well, I'm glad for this thread. I went to Mint, looked under trends, and saw a bunch of duplicate transactions that didn't show up under the normal transaction tab. Sigh.

Anyway, since Jan we've spent $72 eating out.  Part of that was feeding some kids (not ours) and my BD.

Cwadda

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #62 on: March 11, 2014, 04:10:00 PM »
My family does about 1-2 times per month.

I personally dine out 5-6 times per year and have eat out at non "sit-down" places 5-6 times per year.

RootofGood

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #63 on: March 11, 2014, 09:01:49 PM »
I feel like a champ.  We spent $8 on restaurant food last month (1 chinese take out plate that we stretched into two meals for a family of 5). 

Must have been a hella big plate.

We eat out once every two weeks. I work an odd schedule and have every other weekend off, that's usually when we go out. It used to be a lot more until I found this place back in October.

Pretty big plate it was!  $8 was around 2-2.5 lb of take out from the Chinese place.  They sell by the pound.  We only get meat (plus a few meat filled pot stickers). 

My wife picked up the plate on the way home from work, and in the mean time I made some veggies to accompany the meat.  And a big batch of lo mein (I use ramen noodles).  And we have a rice cooker, so plenty of cheap mixed white/brown rice. 

Our 2 meals for 5 people weren't $8 total, probably closer to $12 including the rice, veggies, and lo mein. 

wtjbatman

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #64 on: March 11, 2014, 10:39:31 PM »
I feel like a champ.  We spent $8 on restaurant food last month (1 chinese take out plate that we stretched into two meals for a family of 5). 

Must have been a hella big plate.

We eat out once every two weeks. I work an odd schedule and have every other weekend off, that's usually when we go out. It used to be a lot more until I found this place back in October.

Pretty big plate it was!  $8 was around 2-2.5 lb of take out from the Chinese place.  They sell by the pound.  We only get meat (plus a few meat filled pot stickers). 

My wife picked up the plate on the way home from work, and in the mean time I made some veggies to accompany the meat.  And a big batch of lo mein (I use ramen noodles).  And we have a rice cooker, so plenty of cheap mixed white/brown rice. 

Our 2 meals for 5 people weren't $8 total, probably closer to $12 including the rice, veggies, and lo mein.

Still, very nice. I just kept picturing this little plate with a pound of chinese food on it, and you feeding your family with it. "Ok now son, you've had three grains of rice, don't be greedy. What would Mr. MM say?"

happy

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #65 on: March 11, 2014, 11:26:20 PM »
It works out once or twice a month, usually for a family birthday or similar celebration/obligation that I carefully choose to enjoy with others.

Albert

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #66 on: March 12, 2014, 05:39:22 AM »
Does work canteen counts as dining out? If not then on average 1-2 times a month. That excludes any dining out on company money as well as any food spending during holidays abroad.

NinetyFour

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #67 on: March 12, 2014, 05:56:33 AM »
Single person here. I go out for breakfast with a hockey buddy/FIREd mentor about once every 6 weeks.  I do it to share the time with him and to pick his brain about financial matters.  (And the blueberry pancakes are really good.)  It costs me about $8 per month.

I must say that I am really surprised by most of the answers thus far. The dining out frequencies are much higher than I would have thought they'd be from this bunch.

limeandpepper

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #68 on: March 12, 2014, 06:29:50 AM »
I eat out pretty often. Food is my hobby, and I enjoy so many aspects - cooking it, eating it, reading about it, writing about it... dining out or getting takeaway is just another facet of that. The frequency can vary though. Sometimes it's once a week, occasionally it's zero. Sometimes it's three times a week, occasionally even more. The amount spent can also vary, but I go for cheap eats the majority of the time.

GuitarStv

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #69 on: March 12, 2014, 06:40:58 AM »
Does work canteen counts as dining out?

Only if you pay for it.

Metta

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #70 on: March 12, 2014, 06:52:33 AM »
It generally works out as a meal out every 6 weeks or so. We're trying to reduce it this year to just four fancy meals out for anniversaries and birthdays. We are assisted in our frugality by living in a city that has few vegan restaurant options and the few require 30-45 minute drives to get to, so they are not much of a temptation.

That said, I put events I am required to attend for work in a separate category in my budget called "work expenses" which includes things like donating to this cause or that cause or donating for a gift for this event or that event, or providing food for some event, or eating out with our group at the semi-mandatory Christmas lunch. That works out to about $40/month. It is an expense that will completely go away once I leave.

RMD

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #71 on: March 12, 2014, 06:56:57 AM »
Varies a LOT.  If my mom is visiting we go out to eat.  She's from a small town and going out to eat (beyond the local truck stop) is a time and travel commitment, so she really enjoys going out to eat at a variety of places while she's visiting.  We take turns picking up the tab and leaving tip.

If mom isn't visiting, we do fast food stuff about once a week and are actively working on stretching that to every other week...and I want April to be a no fast food month.  We will see... I see this as money wasted.  It's usually from laziness or lack of planning.

I have some "foodie" friends.  They cook, too, but we schedule a Girls Night Out every month or so (but not everyone is able to make it every month...I haven't been able to attend since October, I think) and we try new restaurants.  It expands my horizons because DH doesn't venture beyond burgers, really.  I like that I can have a good time, catch up with friends and try something totally new (and usually delicious).  The cost is worth it to me. 

Albert

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #72 on: March 12, 2014, 09:19:36 AM »
Does work canteen counts as dining out?

Only if you pay for it.

I do, albeit it's subsidised. We pay about half of what it would cost in the city.

I have a related question. When you do go out for a meal to what kind of places you frequent? I pretty much never go for a fast food or a take away (rare exceptions during traveling when cooking myself is not possible) so the bill tends to be substantial (30-40$ per person on average). Indian food is my favourite when eating out...

socaso

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #73 on: March 12, 2014, 10:53:09 AM »
We eat out 1-2 times a month and bring home food once a month. We love to try new restaurants and since we live in a large metro area with lots of options I consider the money well spent. Right now our son is a toddler and when we do bring him we bring food for him and let him try things from our plates so it doesn't cost any extra. If we were going to the same places every time or to a lot of chain restaurants I would consider it a waste of money but we are exploring the variety our city has to offer I feel that it is worth the money. Some things we do to help with the cost are going during happy hour and going for lunch. Also I get discount codes from Blackboard Eats which usually get you 30% off and sometimes includes alcohol so it's a good deal. We also have a discount card from our local NPR station because we are member. It only gets about 15% off but we really joined to support the station so that is a bonus.

rocksinmyhead

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #74 on: March 12, 2014, 10:54:46 AM »
I have a related question. When you do go out for a meal to what kind of places you frequent? I pretty much never go for a fast food or a take away (rare exceptions during traveling when cooking myself is not possible) so the bill tends to be substantial (30-40$ per person on average). Indian food is my favourite when eating out...

same here. we also have the bad habit of both drinking alcohol at every restaurant meal, so that makes our bills higher too! we also pretty much never go to Applebees/Cheddars/etc... we are lucky to have TONS of great local restaurants within a 5 mile radius of our house, so going to a chain with mediocre food where less of my money stays local just seems like a waste to me.

If we were going to the same places every time or to a lot of chain restaurants I would consider it a waste of money but we are exploring the variety our city has to offer I feel that it is worth the money.

you took the words right out of my mouth! also, the lunch/happy hour thing is a great idea.

RootofGood

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #75 on: March 12, 2014, 11:04:19 AM »
Still, very nice. I just kept picturing this little plate with a pound of chinese food on it, and you feeding your family with it. "Ok now son, you've had three grains of rice, don't be greedy. What would Mr. MM say?"

Ha ha, no.  :) 

We buy rice in 50 lb sacks.  The good shit from the Asian store imported straight from Thailand usually.  New Crop 2014 Jasmine rice.  Rice is in abundance here.  :)

Although we do joke (in a crass, horrible kind of way) when someone doesn't finish all their food and they toss out a few tablespoons of rice, that that's enough rice to feed a small Cambodian village.  That usually elicits an eye roll from Mrs. RootofGood because when she was a young kid, her little refugee Cambodian village starved a good bit, and her family did things like pass a tiny chunk of meat around and let everyone chew on it some and then let the youngest kids eat it.  Just so they could all get a taste of meat.  And the grandma would go around picking up single grains of rice off the ground, hoping to get enough so everyone could have a few bites for the next meal.

We're living like freaking royalty on our $8 of chinese food compared to those Cambodian villagers of yesteryear.  And our kids are often reminded of it! 

greenmimama

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #76 on: March 12, 2014, 11:26:12 AM »
We only eat out when someone else invites us as their treat or we have a gift card that we received from work or as a gift... so not very often. Last time we paid to eat out was $12 at Steak & Shake in December because of poor meal planning that day. So one time where we paid in the last 5-6 months.

We are in debt reduction mode and fundraising for an adoption, so we don't think it is right for us to go out to eat when other people are giving us money.

We haven't had entertainment, personal, or "fun" money budgeted since October. It gets easier with time.

I really respect that, good for you! We have adopted 3 times and it is worth every penny!

Rural

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #77 on: March 12, 2014, 07:36:14 PM »

I have a related question. When you do go out for a meal to what kind of places you frequent? I pretty much never go for a fast food or a take away (rare exceptions during traveling when cooking myself is not possible) so the bill tends to be substantial (30-40$ per person on average). Indian food is my favourite when eating out...

We don't do fast food, either. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by a take away, but I don't think we do that either. But what we have available are a small number of locally-owned places, no chain restaurants and nothing fancy. We tend to go mostly to the local Mexican place, which is actually quite authentic and incredibly good, and there the price with drinks runs under $10 per person. That's "drinks" in the sense of having some liquid along with your solid food; no alcohol can be served in restaurants anywhere in this area. It's illegal.

Our second choice is a Chinese buffet, and that's a bit lower down the scale in a lot of ways, I think. The buffet here might be the equivalent of your Takeaway. The buffet costs $7.75 a person.

RootofGood

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #78 on: March 12, 2014, 09:00:27 PM »
take away = carry out, to go, take out.  I think it's a Britishism. 


Zikoris

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #79 on: March 12, 2014, 09:12:52 PM »
Quote
I have a related question. When you do go out for a meal to what kind of places you frequent? I pretty much never go for a fast food or a take away (rare exceptions during traveling when cooking myself is not possible) so the bill tends to be substantial (30-40$ per person on average). Indian food is my favourite when eating out...

Of the six actual restaurant meals we had in 2013, one was a mid-priced vegetarian Chinese place for Valentines, one was a pretty fancy place for our anniversary (1/4 of our restaurant spending for the year), one was a make-your-own-stir-fry in a mall food court, one was a cheaper Japanese place the day we got back from France, and two were fully-loaded veggie burgers with fries from a local vegetarian food cart that makes gourmet sandwiches.

Albert

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #80 on: March 13, 2014, 12:18:58 PM »
You guys have an advantage of living in a land of cheap restaurants (quality suffers, though). The cheapest somewhat decent restaurant (I mean the place you sit at a table and get served) I can think of here will be 25-30$ per person (no alcohol). The last time we went to my favourite Indian restaurant was early January and we spent about 100$ for two (including a bottle of wine)...

Albert

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #81 on: March 13, 2014, 12:24:28 PM »
take away = carry out, to go, take out.  I think it's a Britishism.

Sorry, I didn't realise it's not used in US. I'm now using a mix of American and British terms quite liberally. I used to live in US, but now I have quite a few British co-workers and only one American guy.

GuitarStv

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #82 on: March 13, 2014, 12:29:37 PM »
You guys have an advantage of living in a land of cheap restaurants (quality suffers, though). The cheapest somewhat decent restaurant (I mean the place you sit at a table and get served) I can think of here will be 25-30$ per person (no alcohol). The last time we went to my favourite Indian restaurant was early January and we spent about 100$ for two (including a bottle of wine)...

The advantage is actually yours . . . since there's less incentive to waste money eating out.

RootofGood

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #83 on: March 13, 2014, 12:37:35 PM »
You guys have an advantage of living in a land of cheap restaurants (quality suffers, though). The cheapest somewhat decent restaurant (I mean the place you sit at a table and get served) I can think of here will be 25-30$ per person (no alcohol). The last time we went to my favourite Indian restaurant was early January and we spent about 100$ for two (including a bottle of wine)...

Does the quality suffer?  The Indian place in my neighborhood has been there forever (20+ years), and it's run by a dude from India.  The inputs for the food seem to be pretty inexpensive here (pork, chicken, veggies, rice).  I haven't been in a while, but my wife went not long ago and said it was great.  I think it was $25 or so including an alcoholic beverage or two.  It's a nice quality sit-down restaurant.  In fact I think my wife went there 20 years ago for valentine's or pre-prom dinner or something fancy (so it's kind of a fancy restaurant).  The other Indian place we like is $9 including tax and tip for the buffet.  Food is always killer, but the cleanliness is a little lacking. 

wtjbatman

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #84 on: March 13, 2014, 12:43:43 PM »
You guys have an advantage of living in a land of cheap restaurants (quality suffers, though). The cheapest somewhat decent restaurant (I mean the place you sit at a table and get served) I can think of here will be 25-30$ per person (no alcohol). The last time we went to my favourite Indian restaurant was early January and we spent about 100$ for two (including a bottle of wine)...

Does the quality suffer?  The Indian place in my neighborhood has been there forever (20+ years), and it's run by a dude from India.  The inputs for the food seem to be pretty inexpensive here (pork, chicken, veggies, rice).  I haven't been in a while, but my wife went not long ago and said it was great.  I think it was $25 or so including an alcoholic beverage or two.  It's a nice quality sit-down restaurant.  In fact I think my wife went there 20 years ago for valentine's or pre-prom dinner or something fancy (so it's kind of a fancy restaurant).  The other Indian place we like is $9 including tax and tip for the buffet.  Food is always killer, but the cleanliness is a little lacking.

I have to question that also. Sure there are fast food places and lower quality restaurants around, but what Western nation doesn't have those types of places all over the place? It doesn't take much effort to find high quality food here, and one of the benefits of America's melting pot is you can find pretty much authentic everything.

Food is cheap here because we have a lot of it. That doesn't mean it's low quality, or that it is prepared poorly.

Albert

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #85 on: March 13, 2014, 12:59:21 PM »
Does the quality suffer?  The Indian place in my neighborhood has been there forever (20+ years), and it's run by a dude from India.  The inputs for the food seem to be pretty inexpensive here (pork, chicken, veggies, rice).  I haven't been in a while, but my wife went not long ago and said it was great.  I think it was $25 or so including an alcoholic beverage or two.  It's a nice quality sit-down restaurant.  In fact I think my wife went there 20 years ago for valentine's or pre-prom dinner or something fancy (so it's kind of a fancy restaurant).  The other Indian place we like is $9 including tax and tip for the buffet.  Food is always killer, but the cleanliness is a little lacking.

There certainly are very good restaurants in America quite probably including your place, but the average level in my opinion is not very high. To be honest Switzerland is not the shiniest example either - France and Italy has much better food.

The main reason prices here are so high is that people working in those restaurant earn a lot more money than in US.

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #86 on: March 13, 2014, 01:58:22 PM »
We budgeted $100/month for dining out. Without our family of 4 (that includes 2 growing boys) this usually only covers us for 1 meal out. Our oldest is 10 and eats like an adult. Rather than limiting each other's drinks, menu choices, etc., we let everyone get what they want and have a good time knowing we will only be going once for the month.

We get more satisfaction out of this than eating out cheaply more often.

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #87 on: March 13, 2014, 06:27:19 PM »
take away = carry out, to go, take out.  I think it's a Britishism.

I do know that one, but that post said a take away, like it was a particular kind of establishment. Most of the regular sit-down places I can thing of offer takeout, but that doesn't mean the same thing as being a place designed for it. So I wondered if there was a kind of place designed for just takeaway in Switzerland. I was probably just reading too much into it.
« Last Edit: March 13, 2014, 06:29:50 PM by Rural »

Insanity

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #88 on: March 13, 2014, 06:45:49 PM »
We budget roughly $250 for eating out.  We rarely spend half of that as we usually go out when we have gift cards or for a birthday.  We usually average 1-2x a week.  But I have fast food and coffee shops budgeted separately because I usually use it to get out of the house (I work from home).  Including groceries we are probably budget about $700 for food every month.  That included baby formula and diapers.  We are done with the formula so we'll probably see a pretty good drop off in groceries.  That's for a family of four.  My wife hates eating the same thing over and over again. 

zinnie

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #89 on: March 13, 2014, 11:51:47 PM »
every two weeks-ish. usually when someone invites us, or when we get restaurant gift cards. eating out is often kind of disappointing compared to what we make at home, so we mostly save it for really unique food or for social occasions.

RootofGood

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #90 on: March 14, 2014, 08:43:57 AM »
every two weeks-ish. usually when someone invites us, or when we get restaurant gift cards. eating out is often kind of disappointing compared to what we make at home, so we mostly save it for really unique food or for social occasions.

I definitely don't mind paying $8-10 for a lunch out with friends.  I consider it more of an entertainment expense than a "dining out" expense. 

NinetyFour

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #91 on: March 14, 2014, 08:49:50 AM »
We've gone headlong into "debt-reduction mode," which we anticipate we will be in for the next 4-5 years.  Consequentially, we limit our dinning out to once-per-week. 

Sorry, but if you are really "headlong" into paying down debt, why would you still eat out once per week?  And you say you are limiting yourself to this? 

skibikeclimb

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #92 on: March 14, 2014, 11:23:16 AM »
We eat out 2-3 times/week at a cost of $150-200/week. I'll just give myself a facepunch to save time, shall I?

Cassie

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #93 on: March 14, 2014, 01:50:07 PM »
Too funny! Actually if it is bringing you alot of value then maybe it is not too much $. Only you can decide that. Also providing you don't have a bunch of debt, etc.

Miss Growing Green

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #94 on: March 14, 2014, 02:36:55 PM »
I would say we eat out 1.5 times a week- that's once where we eat out together for lunch or dinner, and once where either hubby or myself will eat out alone with our friends.  When we do eat out though, we spend minimally- usually places that are under $10 a plate, and we don't buy drinks-appetizers-desserts.  Sometimes we'll even get a big entree (fajitas) and split it between the two of us.

We could definitely eat out less, but it's a nice luxury that we like to indulge in because it gives us a break from cooking & dishes, and we use it to talk about our relationship, etc.

Peter

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #95 on: March 14, 2014, 03:24:50 PM »
Once or twice per month usually. Although this winter we've been trying to *force* ourselves to go out once per week. Being penned up during the cold winter in a small city is challenging so I imposed the 1 outing/week minimum to try and keep us sane. We've still missed quite a few weeks though. Going out once per week is hard!

YK-Phil

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #96 on: March 14, 2014, 04:49:52 PM »
I work in Yellowknife three weeks at the time, followed by a two week-stint at home (where I am still technically working...) in Calgary. While I am away, I typically eat a mix of whatever fruits, veggies, cheese, etc. I can find that has a little pink 50% off sticker at the grocery store...In the meantime, my Okinawan wife eats what she calls Buddhist monk food, healthy but not very mouth-watering. So when I am released back to civilization, we splurge and I will do her favorite recipes for most dinners, with leftovers for the next lunch, and we will go out at least once a week and spend about $25 at one of our preferred small restaurants. usually every Thursday after she closes her little store later than other days. So all in all, we eat out twice a month and spend a total of about $50.

SweetLife

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Re: How often do you dine out?
« Reply #97 on: March 14, 2014, 05:47:27 PM »
We eat out very rarely (normally) this month is my birthday so I got dinner out twice (one friend and my sister) neither let me pay for anything ... I did go out with other friends for dinner (appetizer only) the week previous so this month has been 3x ... my husband prefers to eat at home (he is a great cook and has been very disappointed with the food when we have gone to restaurants (last year before our hair was on fire...) he also bbq's year round (even in the nasty weather we have had this year!) So for us it isn't worth going out ... plus he says it is cheaper to drink wine at home lol.... and no worries about driving!

I admit this used to be my biggest folly (last year pre-MMM) ... between eating out, taking out and lunches at work ... I was spending a ridiculous amount ... NOW I have spent $36 for the year so far (since January).

I am surprised as well at how often forum peeps go out ... but I understand completely ;)

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!