One of my friends asked me about my budget for eating out; how much I set aside each month for that, as she thought it might help her with her eating out budget.
How much one spends on eating out is a very individual thing, I believe. Some of us eat out (or get take out) quite frequently or on a regular basis, other's not so much. Some of us will buy fast food and consider that eating out while others prefer to go to a nice restaurant, especially if it is a special occasion. But, I suppose, almost all of us eat out on occasion.
Eating out is something I consider as a discretionary expense. It is not a fixed expense like the mortgage (or rent) or the car payment, or property taxes. It is an expense over which we have some control and choice.
There are several questions to ask ourselves when setting up a budget for something like eating out. That is the best thing about discretionary expenses - we make the final determination, based on our answers to those questions. Questions such as, "How much can I afford to spend on eating out?" "How much do I want to spend?" "How much do I feel comfortable spending?"
Another question to ask is, "How much am I spending now?"
Do you know how much you spend on eating out on any given month? If you don't, and you want to find out, gather any receipts, credit card slips, etc., if you have any, from previous meals out and then, add them up and see what you have spent in the last couple of months.
If not, then, do you have an estimate of how much you would usually spend at a typical meal out? Shall we estimate about $25? How did I come up with that amount? Most entrees seem to cost about $12-$15, desserts are around $5, a non-alcoholic drink like lemonade, ice tea, or soda is around $2.50 unless one chooses to drink water, and at least a $2.50 for a tip.
The next question is, how often do you go out to eat? Once a week? Once a week at $25 per meal times four weeks a month means you are spending $100 per person per month on eating out. If you pay for your friend's lunch, as well, then, $50 per week and $200 per month. If you are a family of four and each person's meal comes to $25, then, I'd budget $100 per meal and if you regularly eat out as a family once a week for four weeks each month, then, I'd budget at least $400 a month for eating out.
The next question is, how much would you like to spend on going out to eat, either individually or as a family? How much are you comfortable spending? Is $100 per person per month an amount you are able to budget? Is it an amount you are comfortable with spending? If so, then, that would be the amount I'd budget for eating out.
Or do you need to cut back on that amount? If so, what can you do? Will going out to eat every other week be sufficient? Are there less expensive places in which to go out to eat? Breakfasts can be cheaper than other meals; lunch is usually less expensive than dinner. Can you go out for appetizers and dessert instead of a full meal?
In answer to my friend's original question of how much I budget for eating out, I budget $25 per month for eating out. That is sufficient for me to treat myself to a fast food type meal once a week ($6.25/meal), or a sit down lunch at a restaurant twice a month if paying for myself only ($12.50), or a lunch out with a friend or my daughter once a month, if I am paying for both of us(2 x $12.50). If it is a special occasion, such as someone's birthday, I might take another $20 or so from the birthday gifts budget or from the miscellaneous budget to splurge on a more expensive meal. Some months I don't spend all what I've budgeted and then, I carry over the surplus to the next month. Some months, I go over the budgeted amount, in which case, I cut back the next month and make adjustments.
Could I afford to spend more than $25/month for eating out? Yes. Would I be comfortable with spending more? Maybe. Do I want to spend more than that? No! Ha, ha.
My daughter, too, budgets for a lunch out every week as a treat for herself. According to her, she spends about $10 per week on eating out (more when she comes home and goes out with friends!) Apparently, that's an amount she's comfortable with spending.
Ultimately, it is how much you can afford to spend and how much you are comfortable with spending and want to spend!
Do you have a budget for eating out? If so, how do you decide how much to budget for it, each month?
Reading this has made me realise I very rarely eat out (I usually take a picnic). I guess it makes it more of a treat when I do.
ReplyDeleteIt's always a good idea to budget for this kind of thing. I have friends who seem to eat out all the time without thinking about it and then wonder where all their money has gone at the end of the month. X
Taking a picnic with you when you go out is an excellent idea! Somehow, I don't see too many people here (or, at least, in my acquaintance) taking picnics with them.
DeleteI take my breakfasts, lunches, and snacks to work with me for the most part. Once a week or so, I might buy a croissant for breakfast or get something for lunch. But, if I get together with family or friends, unless I have them come home to a meal, we go out to eat.
My husband likes to eat out more than I do, but we both enjoy someone else doing the cooking. Now that my son cooks dinner for us, we eat out much less than we used to and that makes me and our budget happy. Although, like you, we could afford to eat out more than we do.
ReplyDeleteI think for many, it is that someone else doing the cooking that is the attraction.
DeleteI have a colleague who buys lunch everyday and it is usually just a salad or a sandwich, but she says she can't be bothered to pack a lunch to bring to the office, every morning. My sister said she and her husband go out to lunch or dinner, every day.
I say it is fine, as long as you can afford to do so and enjoy it.
No I don't have a budget for it. As you know, we spend what I consider is way too much on eating out but, but we've decided not to sweat it. When we go eat out at a restaurant, we don't have a budget either. We tend to never order the most expensive thing on the menu, but we don't necessarily order the cheapest either. I tend to drink water but Greg likes to get a beer (or two) if we're at a sit-down restaurant. We rarely order an appetizer and almost never dessert. We do tip at least 20% usually, which brings up the cost. Nowadays, it's nice for the two of us to go out to breakfast on a weekend or to a meal after a nice long hike, for instance. We can afford it (we just paid off our house and are completely debt free now!) so I'm going to stop obsessing about it. But the frugal shopper in me winces each month when I see how much we have spent, lol. I do color code those expenses according to the reason for eating out/ordering in on my spreadsheet, and we have made progress on the "ordering in because I was too lazy to cook dinner" front. Most of our reasons for eating out are socializing (dates, with friends, with visiting kids). As a matter of fact, I'm meeting a friend for breakfast in less than an hour!
ReplyDeleteWhat I have started doing is buying gift cards for restaurants that we like (we're kind of limited in our immediate area) when there's a promotion going on, so as to reduce the costs somewhat. So yesterday I ordered a $50 Darden gift card from Staples because it was on sale for just $40. When the end of year sales will reappear when many restaurants offer a bonus amount if you spend a minimum amount, I'll probably stock up. The most rewards I'll get back on a credit card for eating out will be 5% (Discover Rewards through Sept, right now) so any discount larger than that is money in my pocket, even if we have to spend the money now. Moving forward, I'll use my Swagbucks for getting restaurant gift cards for my daughter who is away at college. She enjoys eating out and I want to be able to treat her once in a while. However, it'll all depend on how social she is once she's truly settled. I think she's enjoying cooking for herself right now.
I love your post and description of how you budget yourself, though. I think it's going to be helpful for a lot of your readers who might be struggling with this whole expense category.
One of the reasons why I budget for eating out is, if I have a budgeted amount for anything, then, I don't feel guilty about spending that amount of money on that particular purpose. It is as if I am giving myself permission to spend. There is no self-recrimination at the end of the month. Purposeful spending, I call it. :)
DeleteWe don't budget for eating out maybe because we rarely do, either individually or as a family. I think maybe it's because a lot of our 'restaurants' where we live are either chains and I always think, well that was nothing special, I could have made it myself from the freezer or they have some fancy pants chef's name attached to them and handing over a ridiculous amount of money for meagre portions sticks in my throat. And don't even get me started on drinks. They cost a fortune over here and it doesn't matter whether they're alcoholic or not.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong we do eat out occasionally but it's not something that's a 'feel good' priority for us. In fact a better treat for me is to stick my PJ's on and get a takeaway although tbh we've not had one of those for a while either. Top and bottom for me is you can't beat home cooking :) xx
Home cooking is the best, but I must admit I enjoy going out for food that I don't normally cook at home. I include takeaway as eating out, as both daughter and I prefer to buy the food and bring it home to eat, as opposed to eating it at the restaurant.
DeleteInteresting blog question. Purchasing lunch/drinks/snacks when I worked had no appeal and I rather thought not a good use of my money. For the most part my hubby took his lunch to work. It was our choice to first off send all of our children to top universities and to travel. I often heard remarks like "how do you afford the tuition/air fares etc." often from those who choose to purchase daily lunches, coffees etc. When we visited our children away at uni we always took them and friends out to eat and do so now. Hopefully we all have some discretionary funds and if you want to eat out etc. do so but please don't go on about how you can't afford this or that. I dare say there are quite a few who have no idea how much they spend doing this so I think your budget plan is a good one. OK I am off my soap box!
ReplyDeleteLOL, Sandy, you think a lot like I do. :) I know people who complain they have no money but they go out to eat several times a week and it's always $25 or more, each time. It is a form of entertainment for them, but one they can ill-afford. Sometimes, they ask me how to manage their finances better, and I offer suggestions. They agree that they should cut back on going out to eat, for example, but the next time I speak with them, they tell me they went out to breakfast or lunch or dinner and I know they are not willing to make the effort. It's all a matter of priority, I suppose. What is more important to one. :)
DeleteSuch an interesting series of posts on budgeting. You got me pondering my gas budget, and now the "eating out" budget. I don't have an "eating out" budget per se. Any restaurant meals have to come out of my household budget. When my husband and I were working and still had kids at home our food budget was much larger than it is today. We have always packed lunches for school and work, except for the very occasional pizza day. But because we both worked, we did have take out meals once in a while, for the sheer convenience of not having to think of "what's for supper". Once the kids moved out, we ate more and more at home. Like others have mentioned, the ones who complained the loudest about never having enough money at the end of the month, were the ones who were always eating out. If you can afford to eat out, you should enjoy it. As a single pensioner, I can't afford to do it often, so I don't. When I do eat at a restaurant, like tomorrow evening when a group of us celebrate a friend's birthday, it is very special. That dinner will come out of my household budget, so I will be giving up something in return.
ReplyDeleteThank you for saying they are interesting, Susan. I've recently taken a paycut due to taking so many sick leave days (instead of working to make up the time, as I did during my chemo treatments), so I am looking at the budget with a critical eye and sharing my thoughts.
DeleteEating out to celebrate with friends, while knowing that doing so means one needs to cut back elsewhere, makes one think carefully about it, doesn't it? It forces one to make a mindful choice. I think it makes the meal out even more special. I hope you will have a lovely meal out and enjoy every moment of it. :)
We don't eat out a lot but I fetch in a large submarine once a week for lunch and every 3 or 4 weeks we go for breakfast with friends. Otherwise it is infrequent, often because we are in another town over lunch time. When DS and family come, if there is a local buffet we usually treat them and all of us enjoy that. I do have a feeling that any day now we are going to hit the chip wagon for supper as we love their fries and I've heard their chicken is good. They have tables with umbrellas outside, and a store inside that is good to visit. It's been a while since we've been out for dinner, except for the buffet. Just not in the habit, I suppose. I always felt a kindred spirit with the character in "Dallas" who liked to get a takeout of chinese food and eat it on the couch!
ReplyDeleteI am assuming your chip wagon is similar to our food trucks. They are quite popular here. When it is daughter and I, we tend to prefer to order take out to bring home and eat. Buffets are wasted on us because we fill up so quickly, but there are one or two buffets we enjoy going to, on occasion.
DeleteWe eat out at least once a week and about every other month we eat at one of the really nice restaurants in town. We count it as entertainment and have it factored into our budgets, but the months we eat at the nicer places usually means our other meals out for that month are very meager (usually either take out Thai or Chinese)
ReplyDeleteAnne, it sounds like you've got things all figured out and under control. :) Dining out can be a wonderful experience, as long as it doesn't ruin the budget.
DeleteI do not have a set amount for eating out [but would be a thing to do in my new budget]. We vary, sometimes we eat out several times a month, sometimes not at all. If we go to a doctors visit or out of town, we eat out.. Some times, we pick up take out.. All depends.. I make extra "easy " meals for the days, I don't want to cook, or we just want a quick meal..
ReplyDeleteI think as I work on my new budget, I will had this one in.. This would let me know, what we are really spending.. great idea. Thanks for sharing BLess.
You are welcome, Judy. You could just keep the receipts from eating out for a month or two and then, see how you did, or, allocate what you think is a reasonable amount and see how that works out. :)
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