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Pricey? Not really. $25 a person is diner/family restaurant level eating at pretty much the bottom of what is available around here.
i was thinking the same thing. in a waitress service restaurant for only adults i doubt we get out for less than $25/person most of the time. if i include my kids then maybe it happens since feeding them is super cheap.
Currently, my wife and I eat out at regular restaurants about 4 times a week. On average we spend about $25 a meal per person, so that would equal about $200 a week for both of us.
After looking at our credit card bill for eating out, we asked each other if it was really worth it. My wife asked how much would each of these $25 meals cost if we cooked them and bought the food at the grocery store. (Equal quality food and ingredients) Is it worth the hassle to eat at home for most of our meals to save money? We eat out so we have more variety in our food, etc.
Let's say having that meal that costs us $50 combined at home costs us $10 from the grocery store. So we would save about $160 a week. If we invested that money saved in the Stock Market over a five year period how much would we have?
I would consider it as one of the first things to cut back on to cut costs, but I wouldn’t cut back for the sake of investing. Eating out is good food and friends and family time. It’s discretionary spending that’s part of living life. I wouldn’t trade it in for a bigger investment balance.
If we invested that money saved in the Stock Market over a five year period how much would we have?
While you can certainly benefit financially by not eating out as often, I do not believe in not spending any of your money and investing in it all. Otherwise you'll have millions of dollars in the bank when you die, not having enjoyed any of it. But I'm sure those you will your money too will be thanking you. There's more than life than accumulating wealth. After all when do you stop investing and enjoy your hard earned nest egg?
i was thinking the same thing. in a waitress service restaurant for only adults i doubt we get out for less than $25/person most of the time. if i include my kids then maybe it happens since feeding them is super cheap.
My two granddaughters love Japanese seaweed salad at the local Thai restaurant and the one time we went to a seafood place (DIL not particularly fond of seafood), the older one happily shared some of DS' bucket of crab legs. Little sister wasn't yet at the age when pediatricians say you should feed them seafood but given her openness to just about any food I bet she'll like them when she tries them. So, they're not super-cheap even when they share a dish! It's fun to indulge them, though.
Currently, my wife and I eat out at regular restaurants about 4 times a week. On average we spend about $25 a meal per person, so that would equal about $200 a week for both of us.
After looking at our credit card bill for eating out, we asked each other if it was really worth it. My wife asked how much would each of these $25 meals cost if we cooked them and bought the food at the grocery store. (Equal quality food and ingredients) Is it worth the hassle to eat at home for most of our meals to save money? We eat out so we have more variety in our food, etc.
Let's say having that meal that costs us $50 combined at home costs us $10 from the grocery store. So we would save about $160 a week. If we invested that money saved in the Stock Market over a five year period how much would we have?
There are any number of calculators online thst will give you a dollar figure.
Another thread on here asks what people spend at the grocery store. I state FOOD only i spend about $30/w for 2 of us.
A sarcastic comment was made about us getting "our 6 servings of veggies "....so i listed a home cooked go-to menu item i often eat:: i call it "chicken Tuscano":
1 whole rotisserie chicken (Walmart monday morning leftovers from the weekend $2.45), select favorite meat off the bone.
1 can diced tomatoes, plain, garlic herbed or fire roasted ($0.39/16 oz can)
1 small can mushrooms pieces and stems ($0.33)
1 small can sliced black olives ($0.49)
Shredded mozzarella (fresh ball shredded or bag bought).
Italian seasoning or fresh chopped parsley
Select your meat off the bone, top with some of the diced tomatoes, some mushrooms, some black olives, mozzarella and herbs, heat and melt mozzarella in 350°oven for 15-20 mins or microwave.
Yes, you can by all means buy fresh mushrooms and dice your own tomatoes.
Since i easily get 6 meals out of the chicken ($0.42/serving) and about 3, maybe 4vout of the others, its cheap.!
I would totally consider doing just that. Eat out less and/or look for cheaper ways to enjoy a meal. My wife and I find entrees to be over-portioned and generally lowest common denominator (they want to sell to general interest/taste), so they tend to be all the same. Chicken, broiled fish, steak, etc. We find appetizers and desserts to be more interesting and laborious to DIY. Therefore, we tend to order order two apps, one entree, and a dessert to share. Our check average ranges from $9/pp on the cheap side, to $60/pp if going nicer with cocktails.
In our monthly expenditure projects, we try to spend no more 5% of our income on dining out but we try to spend at least 3% of our income on groceries. We generally do pretty well there, but we do treat a lot of friends and family out and we eat out when we go out of town...that's why I have a separate category for "gifting" and "travel."
Nah OP. keep doing as you are. Your doing fine. In 20 years or so look back and think of where you'd be, versus where you are.
“Hypothetically, $160 a week at 7% grows to almost $50k after 5 years.” From a previous poster, so 20 years should be about $200 k. Just look at the memories you will have
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