Eating out

[ronandannette]

Over the course of a year, I’m guessing the average per month for restaurant and take out meals is $500. Some months higher, other months lower.

@ronandannette , no appliances whatsoever? Not even a mini fridge or microwave?

At the moment - no. Up until December 30 we still had the old fridge plugged in, albeit in the living room. We gave all the original appliances away and that was the agreed pick-up date. As of now all we've got is the coffee maker, the toaster and the BBQ, if we were super-motivated.

I suppose I could buy a cheap microwave and dorm fridge but I just don't have the heart to take on one more single thing that then needs to be divested. We've given away almost every major household thing we owned prior to our move in September, and honestly, finding people to take the stuff was harder than I thought.

 

[barkley]

the BBQ, if we were super-motivated.

must be warmer in your parts right now-we are currently sitting at 1 degree with the temps dropping to a projected low of -10 overnight (gonna warm up tomorrow though....3 with a low of only -2 ). yeah-no bbq on us for the near future

 

[Nora03]

Eating out on a regular basis was the one thing we decided we had to give up when we retired. So now we eat out only on special occasions like anniversary or birthdays, except for lunches with friends, which is maybe about $50/month. And eating out while on vacation, although we normally get a condo and cook meals there too sometimes. A bit of each.

 

[ronandannette]

must be warmer in your parts right now-we are currently sitting at 1 degree with the temps dropping to a projected low of -10 overnight (gonna warm up tomorrow though....3 with a low of only -2 ). yeah-no bbq on us for the near future

1 degree above? That's cute. We're in the heart of a Canadian prairies winter. Here's our current conditions; I've posted it in Fahrenheit for you. Things are supposed to turn for the better a little bit next week. Even so, I can promise you somewhere very near here, somebody is grilling even as we speak.

 

[Nora03]

Ha Ha. ronandannette are in the middle of a deep freeze at the moment. I doubt they are doing any barbecue meals.

 

[DisneyHardin]

Some of y’all are making me feel guilty about our eating out habit after reading your more frugal spending habits.

I would take what everyone says with a grain of salt - the Dis tends to sometimes be a competition for who is the most frugal with this kind of stuff.

 

[UnderneathAMagicMoon]

I'm making a chunk roast this Sunday, The meat alone is about $20. Of course it will be a better meal, but still after you add, the veggies, mashed potatoes, and rolls we are talking $30 -$35. Plus all the work involved. And the boys starve waiting an extra 40 mins, waiting for potatoes to cook. Which is the real reason, we get take out most Sundays.

I find this so true! Especially since I want to buy everything pasture raised, organic, etc. That can up to triple the cost. Sometimes it literally costs less just to get something from Panera or Wegman's premade meals.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I would take what everyone says with a grain of salt - the Dis tends to sometimes be a competition for who is the most frugal with this kind of stuff.

I actually figured folks hadn't looked at checks since pre-Covid. I mean, in 2024, chains like Olive Garden, Red Robin, and Outback don't have any entrees under $10 before tax/tip...and I don't think they have any under $15 anymore...so to eat out, just once, at a chain restaurant with just an entree/tip/tax is $20/person/meal...and that's the low end of sit down...

It wasn't that high until 2020...but it is now...and if you don't pay the checks (b/c your spouse does), maybe you don't see it...

 

[ronandannette]

Ha Ha. ronandannette are in the middle of a deep freeze at the moment. I doubt they are doing any barbecue meals.

Yes, but it's a dry cold...

 

[jo-jo]

I would take what everyone says with a grain of salt - the Dis tends to sometimes be a competition for who is the most frugal with this kind of stuff.

Well, in that case, I have never ever eaten out in my entire life. Do I win?

Of course not true.

But what is true, I have never been to a starbucks. So that alone has paid for 5 trips to disney.

 

[Christine]

I thought about this thread today as were were eating out for lunch. DH and I had two Cobb salads, a spinach artichoke dip appetizer, a margarita for me and a bourbon and coke for him. It was right at $100 after tip.

Tonight we’re going out to dinner with our kid for steaks.

Some of y’all are making me feel guilty about our eating out habit after reading your more frugal spending habits.

No need to feel guilty--I didn't even take this post as a frugality contest, lol!!! Just a post to see what people do. If you've got the money and you enjoy your meals out then never feel guilty. I have the money and I would go out BUT I NO LONGER ENJOY IT. Wish I did. As I said upthread, if I was living where my son does in San Diego, I'd probably be out 4 nights a week, some breakfasts and a lunch here or there. I guess maybe I'd get tired of it eventually. Or I'd gain 30 lbs, lol!!

 

[Disneylover99]

I actually figured folks hadn't looked at checks since pre-Covid. I mean, in 2024, chains like Olive Garden, Red Robin, and Outback don't have any entrees under $10 before tax/tip...and I don't think they have any under $15 anymore...so to eat out, just once, at a chain restaurant with just an entree/tip/tax is $20/person/meal...and that's the low end of sit down...

It wasn't that high until 2020...but it is now...and if you don't pay the checks (b/c your spouse does), maybe you don't see it...

I don’t think it’s because people don’t notice what they’re paying. I think the opposite actually. People are more aware than ever and just realize how expensive eating out has become and have tried to scale back.

Some people who ate out regularly pre-Covid stopped during Covid until all restrictions were lifted. Then they realized how much money they saved and that they didn’t really miss it. Plus now the cost of everything has gone up considerably.

I know we used to get Chinese/Greek takeout probably once a month, and these days with price increases and portion sizes going down, we just stopped altogether. It wasn’t worth it for what we were paying and getting.

 

[tony67]

I've mostly given up on eating out just because the quality has become so poor.

I've grown tired of spending 150-200 for mediocre food, or inconsistent food.

We used to eat out about once week at minimum. We used to stock up on gift cards at Christmas - lots of deals where you buy $100 gift card and get 125 etc...

One of the last places that was still pretty consistent got rid of all the waitstaff that had been their for years and brought in a bunch of kids. It's an slightly upscale Italian restaurant. They basically made all the folks that used to bus tables waitstaff. I'm guessing they replaced the kitchen staff as well. Service is now as bad as everywhere else - basically they do the bare minimum and expect 20%. Food is also not as good, for example they stopped making fresh rolls and used prepackaged ones from BJs. Not even the good ones, but the cheapest ones. The give one roll per person and if you want more they charge you. As I said it's an Italian restaurant with lots of sauces and the average dish is around $30, I think you can through us a few rolls. Anyway the last straw was when my wife got a boneless chicken breast that was very fatty and rock hard on the edges. We sent it back and that was the last time we went. Still have $100 gift card to use, but we just dont want to go back. Will just get take out.

 

[jo-jo]

No need to feel guilty--I didn't even take this post as a frugality contest, lol!!! Just a post to see what people do. If you've got the money and you enjoy your meals out then never feel guilty. I have the money and I would go out BUT I NO LONGER ENJOY IT. Wish I did. As I said upthread, if I was living where my son does in San Diego, I'd probably be out 4 nights a week, some breakfasts and a lunch here or there. I guess maybe I'd get tired of it eventually. Or I'd gain 30 lbs, lol!!

Agree, it's no different than asking who buys XYZ and who doesn't. Some people buy a new car every few years, some people have cars 20 years old. Maybe the people who don't eat out, then go to disney and take a VIP tour. Everyone makes the choice what is important to them.

In another thread, I'm tired of cooking, but sick, need a lift, or I'm thankful for you, I'm there with some cookies in no time. The baking (nothing fancy) is more important to me, than slicing up veggies .

 

[TwoMisfits]

I don’t think it’s because people don’t notice what they’re paying. I think the opposite actually. People are more aware than ever and just realize how expensive eating out has become and have tried to scale back.

Some people who ate out regularly pre-Covid stopped during Covid until all restrictions were lifted. Then they realized how much money they saved and that they didn’t really miss it. Plus now the cost of everything has gone up considerably.

I know we used to get Chinese/Greek takeout probably once a month, and these days with price increases and portion sizes going down, we just stopped altogether. It wasn’t worth it for what we were paying and getting.

Yes, we cut way back, too. I was referring to folks who listed number of times/week out and then a number. Those numbers are practically impossible if you're "eating out" unless you are just picking up, say, a pizza...

 

[bluezy]

I actually figured folks hadn't looked at checks since pre-Covid. I mean, in 2024, chains like Olive Garden, Red Robin, and Outback don't have any entrees under $10 before tax/tip...and I don't think they have any under $15 anymore...so to eat out, just once, at a chain restaurant with just an entree/tip/tax is $20/person/meal...and that's the low end of sit down...

It wasn't that high until 2020...but it is now...and if you don't pay the checks (b/c your spouse does), maybe you don't see it...

Maybe it depends on where you live, but our Olive Garden still has lunch specials for $9.99/$10.99 M-F. We don't typically go to Outback but the Longhorn Steakhouses in our area have a lunch menu Mon-Sat with numerous options for $9.99/$10.99. The cheapest steak option on the lunch menu is $14.99, but that was $12.99 just a year ago. DH & I can go to Longhorn for a steak lunch (6 oz steak, baked potato, salad, and a non-alcoholic beverage) on a Saturday and get out of there for about $45 with tax & tip.

I do agree, though, that it's tough to get out of most chain restaurants for less than $20/person. We have a Dairy Queen near us and my daughter asked if I could pick up lunch there the other day. It's not my favorite place for "food" (I like the ice cream, though!) but I sucked it up and picked up lunch there since I know she likes it and she's heading back to college in a few days. She had 2 chili cheese dogs, a small blizzard, and a small order of fries (that we shared); and I had a hot dog, med. drink, and a small sundae. Our bill was $30! For -- at best -- mediocre food. Other than Longhorn and occasionally Olive Garden, DH & I typically stick to privately owned pub type restaurants....which still aren't cheap, but the food is a much better quality than the chains and we're supporting a small business.

 

[nw6675]

Am I allowed to say buttload...as I wait for DoorDash to bring me Chicken Fiesta

 

[gmi3804]

It's partly because I'm getting older, but I'm finding it almost impossible to find a good quality burger for much less than $20. And have you noticed they've gotten so tiny?

 

[ronandannette]

Yes, we cut way back, too. I was referring to folks who listed number of times/week out and then a number. Those numbers are practically impossible if you're "eating out" unless you are just picking up, say, a pizza...

I guess it totally depends on where/what they're eating. For us, now on week 9 of our "no kitchen ordeal", it really has shown the difference between how we like to eat vs how we'd have to eat if economy was the main priority. Pizza is a good example. For our household of 3 adults, we could get a basic large pepperoni from a decent local place for about $20 bucks. It would feed us. But...we don't all want 3 or 4 slices of plain pepperoni - we want some variety so that means two smalls with customized extra toppings and hey, let's get an order of wings too. All of a sudden the pizza meal is up around $60. Same with Chinese take-out. One dish and steamed rice for 3? About $25. A few of our favorite dishes with dumplings and soup? $60 - $75 easy.

Breakfast or lunch entrees, unless you're very careful to only choose the specials, out at a place like Denny's is around $20/person plus tip. Higher-end chains, "interesting local places" or (God forbid) anything approaching fine dining goes through the roof when you're doing various courses and ala carte sides, not even ever factoring in an occasional glass of wine.

Now over these weeks, with everything else going on and because we can afford it (I guess), we have NOT put much effort into purposely trying to keep the costs down. We only ever eat one actual meal per day, and that's all I'm factoring in. And I have been aware that there are off-sets to consider, such as the money we're NOT spending on groceries, which normally would run $200 or more a week anyway and is now under half that. The fact that our chaos prevented us from doing any holiday hosting also saved us probably close to $1,000 that we easily could have spent on baking, homemade food gifts and throwing 2 or 3 parties over Christmas and New Years.

 

[barkley]

I would take what everyone says with a grain of salt - the Dis tends to sometimes be a competition for who is the most frugal with this kind of stuff.

not so much a frugal issue with us as proximity and circumstances-

proximity-no one does food delivery where we live (if they did we likely would avail ourselves on occasion) so esp. during the colder months we are not going to bundle up and brave the roads. during the warmer months we tend to bbq which is as much if not more enjoyable for us than dining out.

circumstances-our youngest who lives with us is autistic and the pandemic did a number mentally on him. one of his first, very fearful ventures out and about after the restrictions were lifted was to a local restaurant which went ok until he was faced with a crowd of people outside and he reacted by getting sick to his stomach-now he has severe agoraphobia and at this point eating away from home is entirely off the table (just within the last few months he at least walked inside a wendy's for a few minutes instead of wating in the car while dh got him something-one of only about a dozen times we've managed, with much therapy, to get him out over the past 2 plus years).