eating out?

[LivingAlmostLarge]

What do you spend on eating out? Give a monthly number and family size.

We're a family of 4, previously $400/month, currently $50/month or less. I'm surprised at how much we've curbed it.

[tripods68]

Family of 4 +1 in-law

Our monthly Food budget is $700 for groceries & 100 for restaurant.

[TexasHusker]

I would guess we quite easily spend $1K a month eating out. That's only $33 a day, and I know full well we do that, and likely more. Heck, a family can't go to Outback Steakhouse for one meal for $100. A couple of takeout pizzas is $20-25.

This weekend alone... $60 at outback Friday night, $20 chick-fila for kids, $8 for donuts this am, $8 for 5 hot dogs for lunch, $52 for tonight's dinner.

Sheesh

[QuarterMillionMan]

Single guy here. Once a week I will eat out at $7 or $8 per visit to for instance Yoshinoya (teriyaki bowl) using a 2 for 1 coupon or El Pollo Loco chicken using a $6 combo meal 3-piece chicken dinner coupon. So monthly about $30. I live right next to these places (short 2 minutes walk) in addition to a Subway, Popeye's, Taco Bell, and a $5 large pizza place (not Little Caesar's).

Edit to add: I usually bring my own bottled water. As for the 2 for 1, for clarification I save one teri chicken bowl for later. Nope I can't eat both at the same time (lol).

[Nutria]

What do you spend on eating out? Give a monthly number and family size.

We're a family of 4, previously $400/month, currently $50/month or less. I'm surprised at how much we've curbed it.

Family of 4. The budgeted number is $140/mo, but exceed it half the time. When that happens, I shift money from the "Other" budget, so that our aggregate budget is never exceeded.

[Singuy]

I would say about 50/month. We usually get restaurant.com coupons at 70% off of the coupon rate, then use it at restaurant for an additional 60% off. Each meal for my wife and I are usually around 25-30 dollars. We just don't have the time to go out and eat anymore with a newborn. Did it once with the newborn and it was a terrible experience.

We have spent 100 dollars once on a meal at Disney which sucked. All of our meals are under 40 dollars and that's splurging. I have yet to find any meal that beat out cruise meals at high dollar value (and also we are not great at judging good American food like the quality of a steak..)

[kork13]

For my wife & I (+infant), we budget $100/mo for eating out, which is enough for us both to eat out for 2 lunches or 1 dinner each week. Often, we don't see don't even use that much, though we do occasionally exceed it. I enjoy cooking, so I cook most of our meals, and use leftovers for lunches... I ALWAYS make enough for plenty of leftovers, thanks to growing up in a large family.

[LuckyRobin]

$200 a month is what I budget for. This is for a family of 4 with 2 teenagers. We seldom exceed it, but we are often well under it.

[FLA]

I don't budget, I charge it to Discover and then watch the restaurant category, if it seems to be climbing, I cut out eating out for that month

[Nutria]

I don't budget, I charge it to Discover and then watch the restaurant category, if it seems to be climbing, I cut out eating out for that month

Interesting. However, I've seen CCs put charges in some really weird categories, so I don't trust them.

[FLA]

yeah, I eyeball it pretty carefully

[dawnwes]

About $300.

I don't drink which is a huge budget buster. I usually get water.

I go out with my friends a lot. Some of them get 3 or 4 glasses of wine per dinner. The dinner is around $20 and they spend another $32 or so on wine. Crazy to me. But I don't drink so I am not missing anything.

[FLA]

I stopped drinking even occasionally with all the meds I was put on, boy that really does save money. With a Restaurant.com cert bought during one of their sales and drinking water (I am working very hard on giving up diet coke), it sometimes seems almost as cheap as staying home. Just not enough restaurants participate

[MakeAStash]

Eating out is a want rather than a need, so limiting it is an easy way to save money. Spend maybe $50 per month on average for two.

[Fishindude77]

This would be pretty close:

Lunch every workday is $10 = $200
Wife eats lunch out maybe 3 times per week x $10 = $120
We go out for supper and drinks about twice per week x $70 = $560

Total = $880 / month