Eating out vs groceries

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spanky That's certainly true in Monterrey Park, CA where a typical Chinese entree costs less than $5. The competition is fierce as there are so many Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants.

The same is true here among most small family run neighborhood restaurants here, whether they are Chinese restaurants or Cajun/Creole restaurants that serve our local New Orleans food. At the latter we can split a shrimp po'boy for $4 each, or get a cup of seafood gumbo for $5. To get a full dinner will cost more but it is too much food.

Tonight for dinner we split a grilled chicken sandwich, made with freshly baked French bread, and with fresh lettuce and a slice of fresh, locally grown Creole tomato. It was $3.50 each.

But, we ordered iced tea instead of water so that plus the tip jacked up the price a little.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Finance Dave The problem with doing that is that your health would likely suffer tremendously, which would cost you more in the long run.

Or quite a bit less in the cardiac short run...

[audreyh1]

Eating out for us is a priority. Well - only if there are places worth eating out, because we eat well at home too. It really depends whether we are in an area famous for good restaurants or not. I really enjoy being waited on by a good waiter as well as enjoying good food.

Our grocery bill goes up when we are somewhere with mediocre restaurants (and unfortunately there are large swathes of rural areas just like that). We'll fine dine at home, and I'll pay up for better ingredients when that happens.

We are already retired, therefore not trying to save for the future by economizing of food.

Audrey

[happy2bretired]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khan I mentioned a year or so ago I ordered a pizza; I'd forgotten how salty that stuff was. I was thirsty for two days.

Me too. I ran over to the grocery store deli last night for a couple slices of pizza. I haven't had any pizza for quite a while and boy were they salty. I ate the pizza with a big plain bunch of spinach trying to balance out some of that salt.

[HFWR]

Granted, I haven't done much "fine dining", but most of what I have done was more pretense than anything. A medallion of meat, a few sprigs of arugula, and a squirt of raspberry truffle reduction, and, viola, that'll be $50 (or more)...

Don't see the charm.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R The same is true here among most small family run neighborhood restaurants here, whether they are Chinese restaurants or Cajun/Creole restaurants that serve our local New Orleans food. At the latter we can split a shrimp po'boy for $4 each, or get a cup of seafood gumbo for $5. To get a full dinner will cost more but it is too much food. Tonight for dinner we split a grilled chicken sandwich, made with freshly baked French bread, and with fresh lettuce and a slice of fresh, locally grown Creole tomato. It was $3.50 each. But, we ordered iced tea instead of water so that plus the tip jacked up the price a little.

Southern Louisiana is one of those areas we eat out a LOT. Even the humblest place seems to have great food. We extended one stay near Lafayette an extra week, even though the campground itself was marginal, just so we could revisit every single restaurant we had enjoyed the previous week. Yum!!!!

Audrey

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HFWR Granted, I haven't done much "fine dining", but most of what I have done was more pretense than anything. A medallion of meat, a few sprigs of arugula, and a squirt of raspberry truffle reduction, and, viola, that'll be $50 (or more)... Don't see the charm.

Yeah, you have to weed out the places that really do provide value. There are plenty of fine dining places that really do deliver in taste and quantity. Lots of pretenders out there though.....

Audrey

[kcowan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcowan According to the way they calculate this, if your food split 61/39 then for every dollar you spend on groceries, you would spend 0.63 dollars on food in restaurants and this is higher than the 0.54 average. It sounds like you are above average. And a way above the average for this group.

Quote:

Originally Posted by accountingsucks Perhaps I am reading this wrong; but to clarify, for every $ spent on "food" 39 cents for me is eating out while the average Albertan is at 54 cents so I'm quite abit lower than the average but higher than the average here. Alot of my socializing is over beer/wings + taking girls out so that is probably why.

OK then your numbers were wrong. Instead of a 61/39 split in spending, you have 1.0/1.39 = 72% groceries and 28% dining out (if you can call wings and beer dining). Not a big difference but what would we expect from accountingsucks!

My wife and I distinguish dining out from eating out. Dining out usually involves a medallion over aparagus spears with some wine, for example. Eating out means Applebees (or similar) with a bring home meal of leftovers. A meal for two is usually enough for four or more.

Does the amount spent on the portion that is brought home count towards dining in?

[Chester_A._Riley]

Quicken sez I had a ratio of 35% dining out to 65% groceries for the last 12 months.

[Ronnieboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JOHNNIE36 Spanky, you're living "high on the hog" if you spend $100 to take the family of four out for dinner! DW and I go out at least twice a week, it never costs over $25 for the two of us. That includes the tip. We stay away from drinks and usually order iced tea. I guess it's our upbringing. The idea is to take a break from the kitchen, not seeing how much money one can spend. However, it's nice to see you take the family out and give mother a break.

$100? easy to do. Me and the 3 boys went out to Olive Garden for Father's Day and spent $80. No wine, but we did have lemonade or pop.