I Can't Even Enjoy Eating Out!

**mikandmari** · 03-20-2007, 11:59 PM

Over the past month I've gotten my kitchen under control. I've even started a price/menu book and all, and little goes to waste... We've stopped eating out so much, which saves big $$$!!

So today my husband brings home a little extra money from work from selling scrap metal. At the spur of the moment we decided to use the money to treat ourselves to 1/2 price burger nite at our local neighborhood restaurant/pub, since we've been so good lately!

I could hardly enjoy it! All I could think was how much food I could have bought with the money. We drank 2 beers each, at $3.00 apiece = $12.00

These prices never used to phase me one bit. Now, from my price book I know that a bottle of beer drank at home costs about .74 !! I just kept thinking "What a ripoff!" I don't think it will be too difficult to stay home next time!

**Marie78** · 03-21-2007, 02:01 AM

We feel the same way here since I have been keeping a price book and budgeting our groceries. I figured out the cost of our meals and we allow ourselves to go out to eat once a month. Each time we are out we are floored by the prices. We went out this month with a gift card to the Olive Garden. We drank water and then ordered our meals and then passed on dessert because we couldn't believe how much they were charging. We came in at about $25 for that one meal (free if you consider it was a gift card), but all we could think was that was 1/2 a weeks groceries (with cat food, litter, toiletries, and paper products included). Any time I go out to eat now I order only water, pass on dessert, and I try to pick a menu item that isn't too expensive, but is something I wouldn't probably make at home. A few years ago when my fiance and I were in our 1st year of dating phase we used to eat out a few times or more each week! I am horrified when I think of all the wasted money during that time, oh and the fact that we each gained about 30lbs that we haven't been able to budge!

**Luv2BeFrugal** · 03-21-2007, 03:24 AM

My hubby and I feel the same way...eating out is insanely expensive!!! I figure if you go to a sit down restaurant you'd usually tip $3...that's enough to eat a nice dinner on at home easy!!! Not to mention the actual bill for the meals!!

I really need to do more with my price book...I got a good start and then slacked off...

I'm trying to get my parents to stop eating out so much...they eat out at LEAST 5 times a week (no, I'm not exaggerating)... And then my dad complains about money!!

**frugalwanttobe** · 03-21-2007, 07:20 AM

I feel the same way. I think about all of the pizza delivery nights that amounted to 30 dollars each time. I can now make 2 pizzas for a couple of dollars each and to be honest I like the flavor of our pizzas better than the delivery services. This week when I make our pizza I have left over sauce in the freezer from last week. I have the cheese in the freezer which I bought on sale.

Another "trick" I have been using is I try to make 1 supper a week that is like something we would order out. ie steak subs, chimichangas, Chinese food. Last week my DH and I made lo mein and we put peanuts on the top and DH said he liked it better than the one he had at the local Chinese restaurant.

For us right now, places like Target, Walmart and restaurants, we are calling Dream Stealers. They get in the way of our dream of becoming debt free. It does make it easier to look at the Target flyer, flip through it and then put it in the recycling bin and say, "No thanks Dream Stealer."

Don't forget to get your free iced coffee at Dunkin Donuts today. (Free is not a dream stealer. LOL)

**miss_thrifty** · 03-21-2007, 07:45 AM

The cheapest meals me and hubby have are at Wendys each a bowl of chilli(small at $1.79 each and share large pop) all under $5 or go to Timmys have each a bowl of soup buy a large roll and get water, same thing. Thats our treat to each other at times to feel better about bills, not like their going anywheres fast. lol 1 at atime lol

**justpeachy92** · 03-21-2007, 08:25 AM

On the rare occasion we go out to eat I don't feel guilty about what we spend. The money has been budgeted in for the meal out, we didn't take the money from somewhere else to go out. So I focus on enjoying my treat. I am the type of person that would fall of the frugral wagon and never get back on if it meant never enjoying a small luxery like dinner out.

**Dancing Lotus** · 03-21-2007, 09:31 AM

I have become the same way. NOt just about eating out either. I went to a clothing store yesterday and was shocked at the prices. I didnt buy a thing. I told dh I must be spending too much time at thrift stores and need to go to vistit real stores once in a while to get a reality check.

**Persimmon Lace** · 03-21-2007, 09:37 AM

We go out mostly for breakfast on Saturday morning and Sunday after church for lunch. I don't feel guilty as we eat at home in the evenings. If friends call us to go out on Friday nights I just make sure it's budgeted in and we will skip Satuday breakfast. I like the break from the dishes more than the food itself.

**lanford66** · 03-21-2007, 09:44 AM

I agree with everyone. Prices are so high to eat out. My daughter is in volleyball/soccer and we're running everyday of week except Sunday, and we always try to eat before we head out to p/u from practice or go to game. If not, it would easily be $15-20 for 3 each night. When we go to tournaments, I always brings all types of snacks so we're not tempting to splurge at the nearby restaurants. Keeps us full (or semi-full. LOL) until we get home. My hubby used to balk at the idea, but once we started crackin down on the budget, he sees the logic behind it. The only hard time is when we're hours from home and at tourneys all day that it seems we spend a chunk of money. I usually try to budget when I know a tourney is coming so it doesn't sink our budget.

**littlemotherhaywood** · 03-21-2007, 10:15 AM

We do budget some blow money to eat out but anymore the prices really bother me. I'm probably not as frugal in the kitchen as I could be. Since I've been pregnant it's been hard to even get in there and cook. I have awful cravings for anything but what we have in the house. We really want to crack down though. Dh is gone a few evenings a week and he usually buys something while he's out. Now even though he's using his blow money, it's started to bother me. I told him I'd rather save some of that money for a better use. Once you eat the food, it's gone. We decided we would eat out twice a month. Once on our "date" night and once with the kids. I packed him a very nice dinner last night before he left for his second job and class. I felt a lot better knowing he was not only eating cheaply, but healthy as well. Restaurant portions are ridiculous.

**tigo** · 03-21-2007, 11:04 AM

Between the prices and portions it really is out of control. SO and I normally split an entree if we go out. We used to go out about once a week, now we hardly do.

**ewokgirl** · 03-21-2007, 12:48 PM

I don't usually mind eating out. We budget for it, so it's not a big deal. However, where I get upset is when I eat something I'm paying a lot for, and I realize that what I make at home is much better. A couple of years ago, we went to a once-favorite Japanese restaurant for our anniversary. The food is always good there, but recently I'd been making a lot of Asian foods at home. I realized that I liked what I made even better. Mine had more flavor, and it cost probably a quarter of what we were paying at the restaurant.

Several months ago we kept seeing commercials for a BBQ cheddar burger from Whataburger. DH was salivating every time he saw that, but I didn't want to spend the money to eat out there. So, we improvised and made them at home. They were GOOD!

We ate a while ago at a Mexican restaurant for a friend's birthday. I was looking forward all day to cheese enchiladas, but they weren't on the menu. Several days later, I was STILL craving cheese enchiladas, so I dug through my cookbooks to find a recipe. Betty Crocker has a stellar recipe for them, and they tasted as good as a restaurant! I was so proud, especially when I discovered how easy they were to make!

**lori121** · 03-21-2007, 02:08 PM

I feel the same way. Plus it usually doesn't taste good.. That or I need to find better resturants..

**i.m.cheap** · 03-21-2007, 02:54 PM

I have always felt that eating out is a BIG waste of money. We try to limit it to birthdays or anniversaries. I can make a nice meal at home that will feed the three of us for about $3.

**kabin63** · 03-21-2007, 02:56 PM

Yeah, food just doesn't seem to taste as good now at a resturant. Although I still like subway sandwiches I rarely eat there unless I get a good deal because it's so expensive. Here's a clue folks. The local subways are owned by one guy, who happens to live near by us. His house is 6,000 sq. ft. They foyer alone is 30 ft. or more tall, I've been inside the place. Every time I want to go to subway I think about his house and change my mind most tiimes.