To be honest, I've seen one or more members who have reported lower living expenses than ours, who has also mentioned eating out every day. And I wondered what we were doing wrong, we eat out most Sat & Sun's, and I can't imagine how we'd afford to eat out more often - with the caveat we rarely eat fast food or the like. Our budget is $70/week eating out, and we never seem to have a gain on that expense item, always a loss...
Fortunately we both enjoy cooking somewhat.
I don't think you are doing anything wrong.
I have been keeping records (to the penny) of what I am spending on eating out this year, and balancing my records to the penny with the cash left in my wallet each week since we pay in cash. Because of the question you raise, I pulled up the
exact amount spent eating lunch out every single day this year so far and computed the average amount that I have spent eating lunch out.
For each of us the cost of eating lunch out every day averages $60/week, including all charges and tip. So, for both of us together that would be $120/week,
considerably more than your $70. However, I only pay $60, my share since we keep our money separate.
We have not eaten fast food for even one of our restaurant lunches this year thus far. Fast food is not only a nutritional disaster IMO, but also not all that fast and often more expensive than regular restaurants here. Not to mention that fast food is more fattening and doesn't taste very good to us (we're spoiled and enjoy our local NOLA cuisine!
). We also don't eat at high rolling tourist places, but usually at local Cajun, Creole, and especially Italian neighborhood restaurants that would probably horrify a tourist. We enjoy the food at these places, though, and enjoy the warm down home atmosphere and being treated like family.
We try to eat sensibly, and this surely lowers the amount we spend - - we are not celebrating and killing the fatted calf, but instead we are eating every day lunch in a restaurant. We enjoy splitting one entree between the two of us most of the time. When we don't, I try to bring half home for dinner (but that is also included in the expenditures on lunch that I listed, as though I ate it for lunch). We take advantage of weekday lunch specials at least once a week, sometimes twice.
We never order alcoholic drinks, appetizers, desserts, side dishes, and so on, since we do not drink and since the rest we regard as more for celebrations than an every day lunch. Lately I have been ordering water instead of diet Coke because the caffeine is bothering me. Just TRY to get something to drink without alcohol, sugar, or caffeine in a restaurant. Usually it seems like water is the only choice.