I just did the math. My husband and I spend about $150.00 per month on going out to eat. Anyone know what the average is?

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If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

I don't know what the average is, but I was thinking that you are on the high end. Then I asked DH. We spend between $60-$65/month including tips. That also includes DHs business luncheons every Friday. I honestly would've guessed $50ish, but we figured it out. I think a lot of people will be surprised at how much they spend. Thanks for the topic.

I am not sure what the national average is. I would say that my dh and I go out to dinner about once every six weeks. Sometimes it may be longer than that. Probably we spend about $40. We don't do fast food, so that isn't an issue. We do occasionally get a pizza or sandwiches.

For just the 2 of you? For a family of four including DH, myself, DD-16 and DS almost 14 we used to spend around $180 a month. Now we're down to $80 a month going out only once a week.

OK, you got me thinking. Are all of you including tips for your food, and coffee & fountain drinks from the convenience store?

We go out once a week for weekend lunch or dinner - for 4, that's about $40-45 incl tax & tip - and pizza one week night for $12. So, I'd say we spend $225/month on "restaurant" meals. If you added my cafeteria lunches during the work week, that would be another $100 a month.

How do the rest of you get by on so little??? $80 a month for once a week out for 4 people too old to eat from the kids menu?

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

Gosh, I might spend that in a year. We do not eat out much. I do not like food from out. I never ate fast food, and now my daughter does not eat it(joined the gym).

There are only a couple of places I even half enjoy, but we like to eat home cooking. I order pizza every once in a while, but that is it. I was raised on home cooking, and it is what we like to eat. I also like to eat at my home.

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"When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream."

John Lennon

We do not eat fast food either.....the boys (teenagers) do love our village's pizza though and do have it one week/work night a week. The other meal is usually Chinese, Thai, Indian, or sushi....not things that I do at home.

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

I would think it depends on the type of restaurants you eat at. We don't eat out that often either, but we spent that on just the 2 of us on one meal for our anniversary last year!

Lisa

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"It's not having what you want,
It's wanting what you've got"

I hear ya there, Lisa. I took my mom, stepdad and DS out to dinner for her 70th b-day when we were in Cancun....$300 for the 4 of us. I think it had something to do with the 3 bottles of wine though. LOL

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

Oh, did I mention that I don't eat most food that people go out for? I don't eat seafood, Chinese, Mexican, etc. Maybe that is part of the reason we don't eat out much.

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"When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream."

John Lennon

I only eat out once a month. I go to subway, they have the BEST Tuna Sub. So I guess it's about $10.00 a month for me. I thought that was too much!

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Support bacteria -- it's the only culture some people have!

If Vegetarians eat Vegetables. Do Humanitarians eat Humans?

'Vegetarian' is an old Native American word for bad hunter.

lol, that is maybe what I spend and it is on pizza. My mom loves the blt at subway.

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"When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream."

John Lennon

We go to Braum's on Sunday after church. DD gets a regular size burger, FF, drink, DS gets chicken strips, gravy, FF, drink, DH and I share the (HUGE) third lb burger, FF, drink for DH and I have water for $13.22. Plus, ice cream cones for everyone $5.50.
The food at Braum's is better than Sonic and much cheaper!!

Braum's Ice Cream and Dairy Stores

$500-$1000/month the last few years. Less the past few months, but we are getting back to enjoying a few things again. We will meet friends at leatst once a week. A bottle of wine and two meals is easily $150 after the tip. We consider it entertainment. We don't eat fast food. Sit down, white linen table clothes. Generally, we will go to a finer restaurant 2 times/month just the two of us. We generally spend 2-3 hours enjoying each other's good company and good food.

Food and tips. We don't get coffee or fountain drinks from the convenience store. We brew coffee at home and rarely drink soda. We don't do fast food -- mostly ethnic restaurants or seafood. We usually prefer it to white linen places because we tend to overeat at those. We do the fancy stuff on our anniversary and maybe birthdays. That's about it though.

__________________
If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

We spend probably an average of $350 a month going out for meals. Keep in mind, we have four kids who are big foodies, and this includes our date nights too. We have actually gotten better about knowing who has what specials on what nights, so we tend to gravitate to those locations. Also, when DH and I go out, we usually share and appetizer, and entree, and dessert (we leave a bigger tip to compensate). So, for that $350, we are actually getting out at least once a week, sometimes twice. But all other nights are spent at home, we pack our lunches, and I coupon shop like crazy, keeping our grocery bill low. We are cutting back for the summer, so that we can use the extra cash to take little day trips here and there.

We eat our fairly often. I utilize free kids night, cheap appetizers, etc. W do not eat fast food except maybe once a month Chick Fil A. It's sit down places. During a non-vacation time, we spend roughly $300-$500 a month eating out including tips (and we are good tippers) and drinks. It also includes my 2 time a week lunches that I have during the school year which is "my time" and meeting friends for drinks. Oh, and we get Papa Murphy's pizza 2-3 times a month too. It doesn't include special occasions or weekends out of town. For example, we just spent 2 nights with my parents in Denver and spent $200 in food in 2 days but then again, we bought my parents food (they paid for rooms and entertainment so it was a wash). If we couldn't afford it, we wouldn't do it. There have been months when it's much higher (when times were better) and times when it was much lower (in leaner times). We like to try to "stimulate" the economy best we can.

We don't ever get food from gas stations or convience stores except on road trips to vacation destinations

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

I've never tried the BLT. I might do that next month. I have asked for bacon on my tuna sub before. It sounds nasty, but it's good!

__________________
Support bacteria -- it's the only culture some people have!

If Vegetarians eat Vegetables. Do Humanitarians eat Humans?

'Vegetarian' is an old Native American word for bad hunter.

ummmm, it really does sound nasty. lol, sorry.

__________________
"When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream."

John Lennon