how much do you spend each month on eating out?
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Anonymous
| We eat out about once a month and get pizza maybe twice a month, so less than $100 total. |
Anonymous
I guess it depends on if you can cook and if you enjoy cooking. We make everything from baked mac and cheese to curry to soups to homemade spring rolls. Having Celiacs and assorted food allergies really limits our ability to eat out too, as well as our budget. We can't afford to buy lunch and dinner out all the time. We eat out once, maybe twice, a month (if at all). We bring leftovers or sandwiches for lunch, and if in a pinch we'll pack a frozen meal rather then eating out. Its also less calories and less salt to cook at home. |
Anonymous
+2 |
Anonymous
| My husband probably spends $50 week on lunch, probably about the same for me. No breakfast or coffee, but dinner out about once a week, so another $50 there. So $600 month? Family of four. |
Anonymous
|
$300-350 month lunch out during the week
$200-250 dinners out with family So $500-600. Sometimes another $100 for just the two of us. |
Anonymous
Or maybe we enjoy cooking at home? And prefer saving some money? We spend 1k on food, total, in a month, including groceries. And that's not that far off from the national average of about 10% of income. |
Anonymous
| We rarely eat out but we buy dinner for almost every Saturday night at Whole Foods, at a cost of about $60. |
Anonymous
We save 50% of our income. Couldn't do that if we spent more than a thousand dollars a month eating out. We're planning to retire at 62. |
Anonymous
Do you have a lot of time to ponder your cuisine? Being bored by what we eat is the last thing on my mind. I work full time, have two older children in activities and go to school part time. |
Anonymous
| $300-$400 a month just on lunch and dinner for my family of 3 (toddler/DH and I). That includes maybe one restaurant meal and lots fast food (i.e. CHIPOTLE--we should own stock, pizza, McDonalds…) It's ridiculous, unhealthy and blows our budget but I just don't have the energy to cook everyday. |
Anonymous
How are doing on saving for college for the 4 and 2 year olds? Are you one of those families who say that they'll start saving for college once the daycare bills stop? LOL. |
Anonymous
Why would you cook every day? I cook our proteins on Sundays. That lasts four nights. Then salad or a veggie and a starch for the kids and dinner is ready. |
Anonymous
We probably spend about $50 a week on lunch for 2 working parents, and about $100 a week on dinners (pizza once a week, and then 1-2 other meals, which might be cheap takeout or a casual neighborhood restaurant). A little more when the weather's nice 
So about $600 a month. It's a luxury, but it's in our budget. |
Anonymous
| OP - It doesn't matter what other people spend. What is the norm for other people, might be excessive for your family. If you can't afford it (or don't want to afford it), stop eating out. Yes, eating out adds up quickly and making your own food is a great way to save money quickly. |
Anonymous
|
Family of 6 (2 adults 4 kids between 6-12)
Each week, while my kids are at an activity, Dh and I go out to a local pizza place/casual Italian and spend about $30...so $120 Once a month date night approx. $100 (usually a bit less) Maybe once a month we'll do take out from somewhere, so about $30 About once a month we'll go out to eat as a family...around $120.... So...I'm estimating we spend around $350-400 per month eating out. |