A resolution?

[bobquasit]

I had a wild idea yesterday.

What if we stopped going out to eat?

A meal in a restaurant usually costs about $30 for the three of us, on average. I did some math, and eating at home costs around $9 for the three of us (or less). So each meal out effectively takes $21 out of our budget

Comments

[tonysalieri]

Rowan and I did this. We used to eat out at least once or twice a week, and now we do it more like two or three times a month. The savings very quickly add up!

[audacian]

Eating in saves LOTS of money! It's definitely the best way to go.

[autobeast]

I don't allow myself to eat out more than once a month for the exact same reasons. The issue for me was that with my commute, it was really hard to plan that kind of meal.

[mom_o_cass]

We rarely go out to eat and I swear it’;s what has helped us stay afloat with the price of daycare. I eat lunch out a lot still, but only something under $5, and no more than twice weekly. somehow we’re doing it. We don’t even own a home. I doubt we’ll be able to buy here in Boston ever.
But yes, eating in has saved us a good amount.

[klyfix]

Maybe, uhh, just cutting back by half as far as the eating out? It might be too much of a shock to the system to totally cut out dining out, perhaps. While the savings might not be as substantial, never eating out strikes me as way too much to try if you're all in a regular habit of it.

Mind you, I have pretty much no sense of how to budget and my food expenditures vary more with if I manage to get out and shop or what I buy on the spur of the moment as much as anything. Lately been eating less, for no clear reason.