How much do you spend on eating out?

[Sonnenwende]

According to my Discover card, over the last 24 months, my family has averaged $26 a month on eating out. Some months, we never went even to McDonald's. I generally do not bother without a coupon or some kind of discount. My brother is kind of the opposite of me and I think devotes $300 a month to eating out (only him and his fiance, no kids). I devote no part of the budget to this. It comes from blow money or monthly leftovers if there are any.

What do you devote to this a month?

[Momto5RN]

20$ a week for fast food for me and the 3 youngest kids - but it comes out of my free spending / allowance because it means i dont have to cook on a busy day or a day when my fibro is acting up.

maybe once every 2-3 months we eat out at a place like outback can run 80-120 depending on who all goes .
usually go as a celebration for birthday or graduation etc . not just to go eat .
that comes out of entertaiment area .

once every 2 weeks we get pizza on a weekend - we slacked alot lately and did once a week on sundays because of all kinds of activities but i am trying to get it back to once every other week . we spend from 18-24 on pizza night depending on what local pizza place its coming from . i like supporting small local businesses we like one for sicilian the best and one for regular the best . this is usually out of my paycheck as its never regular amt so i usually figure the budget on a little less then regular pay in case we have a slow week , so usually have extra over what we need

if money is real tight we dont do it at all . IE pay this week was enough but not much extra - i need the extra for shirts for work so no pizza -

[jas]

I would say it is for sure what I spend my blow money on the most. The amount varies each month. If we take the whole family out, 5 of us, it costs us probably 120.00 dollars. That is not very often, say once every four or five months and it is to a somewhat nice place and that cost is saved for in advance.

[Ramona]

We splurge on takeout Chinese once or twice a month, it costs approx $20 each time and we really look forward to it.

[Neeley]

About every two weeks we order take-out from our favorite Chinese place. Their daily special is $2.99, less than $10 for the three of us. If the Chinese place does not have anything we like for the daily special we will go to Hibachi Grill. It's $6.49 per person, right at $20 for the three of us.

We do not live off of a budget (we only have a mortgage,tuition and three utility bills), so the money doesn't come from a specific area, just comes from the checking account.

[khaski]

Devote? Nothing.It might come from $ from the business we've allocated for 'household' (there's never specifics set other than an amount, it's 'flex' money) or leftover in our weekly regular income budget. We might eat mcdonald's or such 4 times a year- the nearest is 20+ minutes away. Rarely get coffee or donuts out, we do order subs/pizza or chinese every 3-6 weeks or so to the tune of $20-$45. I would guestimate we might spend $20-60 a month, more often towards the $20.

[Contrary Housewife]

Too much, really. If I don't count the times DH eats lunch out instead of taking something it can range from $40 or $50 a month to $400 or so. (that was our worst this year) I try to limit it to twice a month at a moderate priced restaurant, but there are times when I am too tired and in pain and can't face cooking and we might eat out several times. Also, we travel often and that means eating at restaurants several days in a row, often 3 meals a day though I try to take snacks and things we can make in our hotel room.

[frugalfranny]

Don't 'devote' anything............go when I feel like it.

If I feel that I have been going too often......I cut back.
I seem to run in streaks according to what my schedule is...probably no more than $20 a month AVERAGE.

I will use a coupon if I am just grabbing 'something quick' for
me but when I eat with someone we don't always have a coupon but go to 'reasonably priced' places.

[midlight21]

Too much really....and we've been working on reducing that so that we have more to put in our BEF fund.

[frugalfoster]

No budget for eating out at our house. I just can't justify it. Think about it.... $100 bucks for a family to go out to eat??? You can buy a weeks worth of groceries for that amount...and you would be eating well for the whole week, not just for one night. If you want something special...go thru your cookbooks and try something different and make that evening special yourself. Theme a dinner party for their birthday and they will remember it long after they would remember the restaurant experience. I know because I hear my own children still talk about their past birthday dinners. Eating out...it's a waste of money!

Today we are having my husbands family for a dinner. I recently took a taste of home cooking class...(I was able to help behind the scenes).. My contributions to the dinner are bowtie chicken alfredo pasta (homemade alfredo) Tuscan bread salad and chocolate agave cake. It's fun to cook!

[greekislandgirl]

I budget €1 every week for eating out. A meal out for 2 costs about €20, so we can eat out every 5 months or so. We save it up for when I'm not feeling well enough to cook and need a break.

[Anastasis]

From my personal money, I eat out about 2-3 times per month - and drinks 1-2 x month budget about $100.

My program gives me $7 each time I'm on call (about every 4 days) so I'll usually save that for my dinner when I'm on call (bring my lunch) - so I eat out more frequently but it doesn't come out of my budget.

I get coffee from the cafeteria 2-3 x per week but that comes out of the call money budget.

[heartofmine]

Eating out is something I've cut way back on. We use to eat out every Sunday after church. No more! I preplan a meal each weekend with enough leftovers for our supper too. Its a lot cheaper.

Dh and I sometimes go out on his day off but nothing fancy. We always drink water with lemon and its free.

[Starlight9803]

I don't devote a certain amount for eating out, on the rare occasions that we do go out, it comes out of our blow money, or extra money left out of the grocery budget. We only go out about 3-4 times a year, only 1 or 2 of those times is at a fairly nice restaurant.

[dancemommy]

We don't devote a certain amount. But we always use coupons or discounts- kids eat free, etc. We eat out usually once a week as a family and my husband and/or I may grab something once or twice. It is an amount that I feel comfortable with given our income and lifestyle. We don't go to "sit down" restaurants all that much and not fast food either. Usually those in between types like Panera, Qdoba, Panda Express, Paradise, etc. Maybe a sit down restaurant once a month- usually mexican so it is cheap.