How often do you eat out?

[disneymagicgirl]

Does that $10 include tax? And do you tip for all 3 meals (because the waitstaff is still serving all of you, even if the children's plates are free). I would never be able to find an adult meal for about $4-$5 around here.

I assumed she meant something like chick Fil A where there is no tipping. That's my go to on kids night.

 

[wendow]

We never eat out unless we are on vacation/out of town. Even when on vacation I prefer to get a condo with a full kitchen so I can prepare at least a few quick meals myself. I am vegan so I just find it easier to at home although I can find options at most places if I have to. I love to cook anyways and I really think my home cooked meals taste way better then anything I could get at most restaurants.

Mostly though I am cheap and hate wasting money on sub-par food that I don't enjoy all that much. I can whip up a quick stir-fry or pasta meal in under half an hour and that's usually faster then it would take to order in food or get take-out anyways. The last meal I ate outside of my own kitchen was back in February on our vacation in the Bahamas. If I am going to be away from home or a long time when I know I'll want a meal I'll pack a PB and J sandwich and a banana. I'll do this for the whole family if we are gone somewhere for the whole day (no refrigeration required) along with some granola bars.

SO glad to see someone like me!! I also think my cooking taste way better than most food out and I know it's healthier And yep, pack our lunches when out over lunch

 

[Carina]

FWIW I have been to your beautiful little island OP and it is breathtaking. With that said eating out there was $ and the food so so. So needless to say I can perhaps see why you may not eat out a lot. My kids still talk about the place that does not have ranch dressing.

Oh my goodness, LMK where you went that didn't have Ranch so we can avoid it, my kids go through a bottle of ranch once a week.

I agree eating out here is $ and the food is so-so, but we have traveled to Washington(many times), Oregon, Michigan, Florida, California (several times) and Montana, and I find the food $ and the food so-so and the service so-so everywhere, I end up leaving the restaurant unsatisfied more often than not (and we aren't that picky - I just want to be served what I ordered, without mistakes).

I said my mind is blown, because I had no idea it was so common to eat out that much!
I am not telling anyone not to eat out that much, but I am shocked it's so common.
I originally asked thinking it was pretty rare, as it is rare here amongst people I know to go out more than once a month - many are even less.

So yes, my mind is blown. I also found it contrary to my thoughts that eating out is so time consuming, when so many people responded they ate out (not fast food) because they were busy with weekly events. I tend to find eating at home MUCH faster than a restaurant. And I find it cheaper, and yummier.... Even when we travel I cook 90% of our meals. I don't consider a restaurant a treat.

 

[CdnCarrie]

FWIW I have been to your beautiful little island OP and it is breathtaking. With that said eating out there was $ and the food so so. So needless to say I can perhaps see why you may not eat out a lot. My kids still talk about the place that does not have ranch dressing.

Vancouver Island has a population of 750,000 people which is more than some states like North Dakota.. How many restaurants did you try that you can say that the eating on your "little island' was so so? You must have spent a FORTUNE in dining out!!!

I agree with the OP about eating home being faster usually. I can heat up something in 20 minutes compared to eating out taking 90 minutes. So I don't see how it's quicker.

 

[ceemys]

2 times a month most times. Sometimes if we are really busy, we might eat on the go on saturday.

 

[mrsbicewdw]

So yes, my mind is blown. I also found it contrary to my thoughts that eating out is so time consuming, when so many people responded they ate out (not fast food) because they were busy with weekly events. I tend to find eating at home MUCH faster than a restaurant. And I find it cheaper, and yummier.... Even when we travel I cook 90% of our meals. I don't consider a restaurant a treat.

When I am out and about and we still have a ton of other errands to run, it would be time consuming to drive back home, unload the kids, cook something, clean up, put the kids back in the car, and then drive back out to do the rest of the errands. Running through the drive-thru at Panera is faster. Now we live inside town and it makes it easier to get back home if we want to eat at home, but previously we lived a good 30 minutes outside town (longer in bad weather...which is often with ND winters), so going home to eat and going back out was laughable. Even a non-fast food thing is usually faster for us - our local Mexican spot gets the food out super, super fast and is great and cheap.

Another thing we consider is that in some cases, it is cheaper to eat out than to cook at home. Our grocery prices here are massively inflated (oil fields do that...) just like everything else so some foods are pricey. For instance, if we want steak it is usually cheaper to go out for it than to buy it unless they are having a good sale. Plus I don't have to light the grill and wait for the charcoal to get ready and all that....all with a toddler and baby hanging off my legs.

 

[CAFarmerGirl]

We don't eat out at sit downs very much. Maybe 1x every couple of months? I tried to start a pizza routine every Friday, but that only lasted 3 weeks. We had subway over the weekend...cannot remember the last fast food before that.

For us, it is also inconvenient. We are at least 10 minutes to the nearest cafe and 20 minutes to the chain places. With homework, we don't have the time to eat out. Also, I would just rather spend my money on other things.

 

[aprilgail2]

We are definitely on the far side of the spectrum for eating out. It's usually about 5 times a week for dinner at sit down locations, occasionally it's a carry-out pizza like tonight or Subway, breakfast on the weekends, DS7 and I will grab something from the local coffee place for breakfast 1 or 2 times a week before school and I have lunch with a friend probably every other week. I hate to cook, our schedule is crazy with evening activities for DS and everyone likes something different so it's easier to just go out. I can't imagine only going out only once a month or twice a year.

I am on that end too! We eat out often, some weeks its 5 times others its 3-4. I go out with friends to dinner a lot-we like to go during the week because its less crowded and we can hang out at the table and talk after we finish eating for awhile (and yes, we leave a large tip when we take up a table) There is usually a pizza day in there too. Over the winter I started bringing lunch to work because it was to cold to be running out to get lunch but I do stop at the deli and pick up breakfast on my way to work. If I am off work then I will meet up with friends for lunch too-some of my friends don't work so they meet up all the time for lunch, I can only join when I am on vacation from work.
I would be seriously depressed if I could only go out to dinner once a month.

 

[nene0182]

When I am out and about and we still have a ton of other errands to run, it would be time consuming to drive back home, unload the kids, cook something, clean up, put the kids back in the car, and then drive back out to do the rest of the errands. Running through the drive-thru at Panera is faster. Now we live inside town and it makes it easier to get back home if we want to eat at home, but previously we lived a good 30 minutes outside town (longer in bad weather...which is often with ND winters), so going home to eat and going back out was laughable. Even a non-fast food thing is usually faster for us - our local Mexican spot gets the food out super, super fast and is great and cheap. Another thing we consider is that in some cases, it is cheaper to eat out than to cook at home. Our grocery prices here are massively inflated (oil fields do that...) just like everything else so some foods are pricey. For instance, if we want steak it is usually cheaper to go out for it than to buy it unless they are having a good sale. Plus I don't have to light the grill and wait for the charcoal to get ready and all that....all with a toddler and baby hanging off my legs.

Exactly. I live in ND too and once I'm home on the winter, I am home for the day/night. So if we are running errands and get hungry, we just take a break for dinner or lunch. We also have a local mexican place about 6 blocks away and will walk there for dinner as well as to get a treat from Dairy Queen.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Before the last 3 years of a frozen salary (and increased food prices), we used to comfortably eat out 2-3 times a week. Now, making things work, we eat out once a week as a treat for me. We always pick something I won't or can't cook well (or cheaply), so the Japanese buffet sushi lunch, the Indian buffet, Chinese and Vietnamese are rotated a lot (and if we choose an Italian or Mexican restaurant, I try to get a pain-in-the-butt-to-make food, like mussels, as my main...

 

[hsmamato2]

usually once a week, and it's usually b/c we're with friends,and we all want to hang out and spend time together It's almost always a social thing- I guess you could say my friends are costing me money! It's usually a casual sit down type of place-

 

[hsmamato2]

I actually prefer my own kitchen and food to eating out most of the time...but I don't always feel like hosting people, so that's a factor for us also. We rarely eat out just the 2 of us....

 

[Marionnette]

I assumed she meant something like chick Fil A where there is no tipping. That's my go to on kids night.

I did realize that fast food places do a regular "kids eat free" night. Around here, there might be a free coupon for one kid's meal with an adult meal purchase, but not a dedicated night for that sort of offer. OTOH, sit down restaurants often have that kind of promotion on a weeknight. You would be surprised at the number of people who don't think to tip their server based on serving all of the people at the table, regardless of what the actual OOP cost was.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

Part of the difference is also probably what you eat at home. My husband wants a hot meal for dinner. A sandwich is not going to cut it -- that's what he has for lunch most days. He also does not want "breakfast for dinner," which is a budget-friendly option I see here on the boards a lot. My kids would look at me like I had 2 heads if I suggested they eat cereal for dinner, another go-to quick "meal" I see suggested a lot. The way I was raised, the way my husband was raised, a meal is a meat entree with at least 2 sides (one of them a veggie) and usually bread of some kind. I don't usually cook more than we'll eat for dinner, as leftovers tend to sit and rot in the fridge. There are one or two exceptions to that. Also, chicken is the only meat I will freeze, so I don't just pull something out of the freezer for dinner every night. I plan ahead and buy fresh meat twice a week. Cooking dinner for my family takes at least 45-60 minutes, plus clean-up. Running down the street to Sonny's BBQ is faster and less trouble!

I realize a lot of these are my own hang-ups, but given the option of having leftovers or going out to dinner, chances are my family will choose the restaurant every time. My own mother thinks we eat out too much (and tells me so regularly) and thinks it's easier to cook at home, but with just her and my dad, she doesn't cook family-type meals a lot for just the two of them. On the other hand, my sister is looking at an empty nest in August and wonders if she'll cook much at all anymore!

 

[SM101]

Once or twice a week. It's very much a social thing for me.

Usually my daughter (plus or minus other family) eat out once a week on the weekend, typically at a sit-down type place - I do not do fast food and we generally make "better" choices in what we eat when we eat out (i.e. splitting large meals, etc).

The other time comes in if I go out with friends or have a date, which isn't every week but probably 2-3 times a month....more if I'm actually dating someone (not at this time). I don't tend to eat a huge amount so I might just have an appetizer and a glass of wine.

When we're not eating out, I'm all about the whole foods from scratch thing - I stay away from processed and convenience foods. Stopping at McD's on the way home is never an option. I do cook extras and keep things in the freezer that will make up for a quick meal. Tonight I know is going to be crazy so I pulled a container of homemade meatball minestrone out of the freezer last night and put in the fridge to thaw - all I have to do is reheat tonight and make a salad with it. Even if I hadn't pulled it to thaw early, it would have only taken a couple extra minutes in the microwave to thaw it. I pick the kidlet up late from after school activity and know she'll be starving - I have a bag of nuts & dried fruit for her to munch on in the car on the way home so she doesn't expire before I have time to make dinner.

 

[ebradley23]

In November of 2007, we ate out every meal except Thanksgiving. In January 2008, we committed to being debt free. The first thing I did was add up the money we spent eating out that Nov. We spent $1500 eating out! $1500 on something that turns to crap!! For the 9 months it took for us to pay off credit cards, we ate at home and took our lunch every single day. That included birthdays and anniversary. Now we eat out approximately 1 night a week. We have the funds to do this now that we are debt free, though. I want to sock away some extra funds prior to our WDW trip in Sept, so the first place we will cut back is eating out. Four months worth will be about $700 extra $$ to spend while we are on vacation (trip is at the end of Sept).

 

[thebeesknees]

We do takeout pizza a couple times a month, and then maybe once a week during the school year when I am working I will get lunch out. DH and I usually only take the kids to sit-down restaurants when we are on vacation and don't want fast food for dinner. I can't remember the last time we had a date night, but we are planning one for this Saturday and I am hoping we can try out the Japanese hibachi place that just went in down the road from us.

 

[aprilgail2]

Part of the difference is also probably what you eat at home. My husband wants a hot meal for dinner. A sandwich is not going to cut it -- that's what he has for lunch most days. He also does not want "breakfast for dinner," which is a budget-friendly option I see here on the boards a lot. My kids would look at me like I had 2 heads if I suggested they eat cereal for dinner, another go-to quick "meal" I see suggested a lot. The way I was raised, the way my husband was raised, a meal is a meat entree with at least 2 sides (one of them a veggie) and usually bread of some kind. I don't usually cook more than we'll eat for dinner, as leftovers tend to sit and rot in the fridge. There are one or two exceptions to that. Also, chicken is the only meat I will freeze, so I don't just pull something out of the freezer for dinner every night. I plan ahead and buy fresh meat twice a week. Cooking dinner for my family takes at least 45-60 minutes, plus clean-up. Running down the street to Sonny's BBQ is faster and less trouble! I realize a lot of these are my own hang-ups, but given the option of having leftovers or going out to dinner, chances are my family will choose the restaurant every time. My own mother thinks we eat out too much (and tells me so regularly) and thinks it's easier to cook at home, but with just her and my dad, she doesn't cook family-type meals a lot for just the two of them. On the other hand, my sister is looking at an empty nest in August and wonders if she'll cook much at all anymore!

Good lord if I had to be on that strict of a menu I would never cook-meat, 2 sides and a bread-no breakfast for dinners? He would be coming home and cooking 50% of the time if I had to meet those types of demands every day!

 

[podgirl]

We live within a five minute walk to well over a dozen restaurants and eat out maybe once or twice a year. We are very bad people for the economy! But for us, trips means no packing food at all. Last summer we went to Asia and Europe for five weeks and ate out every meal and when we drove down to WDW at Christmas we hopped in the car and didn't even pack snacks. I guess we're all or nothing people.

 

[Marionnette]

Good lord if I had to be on that strict of a menu I would never cook-meat, 2 sides and a bread-no breakfast for dinners? He would be coming home and cooking 50% of the time if I had to meet those types of demands every day!

I see nothing wrong with what the PP considers to be a dinner meal. I was also raised the same way, except that there were always 2 vegetables and a starch in addition to the protein. The only times I served breakfast-for-dinner in my own home was when my husband had late hours at the office and it was just me and the kids. And even then, it wasn't a bowl of cereal! It was pancakes, waffles, bacon & eggs or some other hot meal.

I never thought of it as "demands", since I felt the same way as my husband in that regard. They are preferences just like someone who chooses to eat organic or paleo.