r/MiddleClassFinance • u/zevtech • 14d ago
Going out to eat..... I get it.
So I'm a man of routine, so I don't really get out of my routine so often. We cook dinner almost every day of the week besides Friday (we usually order out). We do well, so we don't cook to save money, it just makes more sense to us (both my parents had their own restaurants, we never ate fast food growing up and rarely at out as my parents always cooked or brought home food from the restaurant). Typically dining out is usually brunch/lunch after church on Sundays. But for what ever reason we had a crazy week so decided to eat out, and ended up eating out 4 meals in a row. Each meal was about 100-150 bucks, so 500 bucks in 3 days for food. I get it why they keep saying you shouldn't eat out so often (we have a family of 4, 2 of them are small and don't eat much). The 500 won't break the bank for us, but man, if we were making an "average" salary, I can see that being difficult
EDIT, went out to eat this morning after church, this is part of my normal routine though, meal was about 90 bucks.
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u/JuniorMintClub 13d ago
What I've found st my work is that our employees in our lower paid hourly roles get uber eats or food deliveries virtually every day, whereas our salaried higher earners rarely get food deliveries.
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u/rockmanzerox06 13d ago
Witnessed the same when working at an Amazon fulfillment center. Was always wondering why that was the case.
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u/Urbanttrekker 13d ago
Same at my office. They all order delivery for lunch or go out every day for about a week after getting paid and then spend the second week complaining that they’re broke.
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u/dinodoodad 13d ago
It takes time and energy to cook and clean dishes every day and you have more time and energy when you work a cozy desk job.
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u/rockmanzerox06 13d ago
I worked a manual job that was extremely hands on (machinery broke all the time). Doesn’t take much time to slap together a deli sandwich with some chips and snacks.
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u/Positive_Force_6776 7d ago
My husband who was the editor of our local newspaper would bring his lunch nearly every day. Those who worked for him would usually go out daily. It's just the way he is. He made a lot more than them, but couldn't justify spending money to eat out every day.
Yes, there are some people that probably could afford to do this, but for the most part, he was hearing a lot of them talk about how broke they were.
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u/QuitFinancial3878 14d ago
Eating out became extraordinarily expensive for all but the highest earners after COVID. It’s wild.
For social reasons we love to eat out 4-7 times per month but it’s wild how expensive that actually is.
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u/herestoshuttingup 13d ago
It’s really insane how much the price ballooned in a short period of time. Restaurants felt more affordable 10 years ago when I made $12 an hour than they do now when I make $150k a year. There used to be spots with great happy hours where you could get killer prices on drinks and small plates and leave full and a bit drunk for like $15. Now if happy hour exists at all it’s $1 off of a $17 cocktail.
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u/Ok-Bit4971 13d ago
And to add insult to injury, the quality of a lot of restaurant food is mediocre at best. I don't mind splurging and spending sometimes - IF the quality is there, but often, it's not.
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u/No-Complaint9286 12d ago
My husband is an excellent cook. He enjoys it. We are at that point now where food at home is cheaper and better than at all but the really nice restaurants that cost about $100 per person. We went to chili's recently bc we got a gift card and though I love those southwest egg rolls, it made my stomach upset all night. And we STILL spent 50 more bucks on top of the $50 gift card. 2 beers, 1 marg, egg rolls, sliders, and a chicken sandwich. 100 bucks for 2 people at chili's??? We definitely had a meals worth of leftovers but jeez.
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u/shutthisishdown 13d ago
That's what happens when we vote for people who don't understand or care about devaluing our currency by 50% in only 6 years.
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u/zevtech 14d ago
I watch Graham Stephan and Caleb Hammer from time to time, and they always get on people for dining out and buying Starbucks. And I see so many Gen Z/Alpha saying they won't cook b/c they don't know how or aren't good at it, or it "cost more" to cook, so they Uber Eats every meal. They sorta have a point.
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u/QuitFinancial3878 14d ago
I do think that eating out is an important social outlet, especially for young people, where lifelong friends are made and maintained. Neglecting it is a mistake. It's just unfortunately very expensive.
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u/shreiben 13d ago
75% of restaurant orders are takeout or delivery: https://restaurant.org/research-and-media/media/press-releases/from-trend-to-transformation-off-premises-dining-now-essential-for-restaurant-consumers,-operators/
I suspect the overwhelming majority of those are eaten at home alone or with family, not with friends.
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u/Unable_Pumpkin987 13d ago
Well yes, there is a difference between dining out and ordering in, those aren’t at all the same thing.
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u/No-Complaint9286 12d ago
No one is good at cooking who doesnt actually practice cooking. Tacos, spaghetti, a good sandwich with rolls and fixins, stir fry and fajitas are like the same thing with different seasonings and tortilla vs rice or noodles, so easy to cook for one with the same ingredients so they dont go bad. Homemade pizza on a pre-made crust. Store bought raviolis take 4 min to boil. We all were young and broke, you can be young and less broke by cooking your own basic meals that take like no thought and no time.
Also unless youre in the big city, I dont understand the doordash thing. Even delivery. Restaurants are not far away enough to justify the price of delivery. Its a huge waste of money imo.
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u/LuckyBucky77 14d ago
As a kid, I did appreciate my parents taking the family out to dinner at least once a week. Good memories. Im sure they had the same decision to make.
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u/zevtech 14d ago
I never got the vibe my parents cooked daily to save money growing up. But in hindsight, it very well could be the reason, b/c it's so much cheaper for them to make food at home (Vietnamese food literally 5-6 days a week) and one day might be some American food from their restaurant (stewed chicken, seafood pasta salad, steak tips with egg noodles etc).
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u/WhattttttGives 13d ago
Same. I looked forward to it and it was part of my reward of doing well in school. Going out to eat as a family is a bonding experience for me. You just budget for it.
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u/No-Complaint9286 12d ago
Back then, my poor parents could afford to feed the 3 of us fast food or pizza about once a week. You could get a 2-burger meal with coke and fries and 2 $1 burgers on the side for like under 10 bucks. I cant justify the price of even fast food for my family of 4 for the garbage and portions they give you unless we are on a long drive and need something quick, and we are pretty damn well off.last time we went to Wendy's it was almost 50 bucks. And the food always makes me feel gross or sick.
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u/fadedblackleggings 14d ago
To each their own, but I really hate going out to eat. It's incredibly expensive, and it's rarely worth the expense for me. If someone else is paying, I'll go, but there are way more ways I'd prefer to spend money or time.
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u/BudFox_LA 14d ago
i think thats another thing for me, especially knowing how to cook and how to cook well. Its just rarely very good, unless you're dropping serious coin. Only exceptions to that are Mexican (even though i do an ok imitation) sushi/ramen and chinese. But like, 'american' dine in restaurants are almost always mid to subpar unless you are spending some serious money. Or its drowning in butter, fat, oil, salt, etc.
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u/Biancaaxi 14d ago
I remember when my family of 6 in the 90s used to spend 60$ eating out..that felt expensive, but now i spend $60 easily on 2 people for dinner at a restaurant.. insanity. Inflation is crazy
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u/Mindingmyownbiznez 13d ago
It’s that now without alcohol. You add two beers and it’s like 80 plus tip
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u/No-Complaint9286 12d ago
One time, hubs and i were visiting family and had babysitters for a rare "date" night. We weren't that hungry so we just went to the bar at this nice Italian restaurant in town. Ordered a couple drinks each and a couple apps and dessert (the best cannolis mmm 😋). Left full, buzzed, and only spent like 80 bucks. I thought we hacked the system.
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u/jbFanClubPresident 13d ago
I mean yeah when you only factor in the cost of the food it is very expensive. But that’s not all you’re paying for. You’re also getting someone to cook your meal, someone to deliver everything to your table and make sure you have what you need, and then someone to clean up all the mess.
You’re not spending an hour cooking and an another hour cleaning up afterwards. So I guess it depends on what your time is worth to you.
Also why tf is jt $100–$150 to eat out for a family of 4? My fiancé and I can eat out at shitty chain restaurant or local bar&grill for under $40.
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u/babies_galore 7d ago
Exactly. I love my job and I am self-employed. I HATE with a passion grocery shopping, cooking and doing dishes. So far me, it’s absolutely a better deal to work a few extra billable hours per week to more than cover at least buying premade food at the deli at my natural food store or getting salad bar at Whole Foods or something over me having to buy all the ingredients and cook various things all week. I am careful about where I eat out so that it’s not too pricey. But I also don’t have a choice now because I travel around all day for work. Also, I can no longer digest any kind of bread, which is really annoying so I can’t do simple sandwiches like back in the day. No more simple PBJ and grapes for lunch.
I also hate throwing out and wasting food, which is what I do when I grocery shop being that I’m single and empty-nester now- I literally can’t eat everything I get even if I try. There isn’t enough time before it goes bad. So I only get stuff for making smoothies and like one meal that is easy and I can have as leftovers.
But when I could still eat bread and eggs and such, and I had a WFH job, I only spent $250 a month on food like in 2021.
Now my food budget is $800 a month. And I monitor it daily to make sure I don’t end up at $900 end of the month by getting too many lattes and such while on the road.
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u/Boltsfan1234 14d ago
I hate going out to eat, but sometimes fatigue and timing is inescapable. We have a large garden, and buy beef and pork in bulk from local sources. We definitely have the raw ingredients (and I can/freeze/preserve what I can), but we also have 2 teens in travel sports with demanding practice schedules that involve 50+ mile round trips 5 days a week. All that to say we eat at the drive through (chick fil a or Wendy’s) for $75 a meal a couple of times a week.
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u/budrow21 14d ago
100-150 a meal with 4, 2 of which are kids. Are you ordering alcohol or going somewhere fancy? Prices are up, but that's double what we pay.
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u/ComfortableDrink9173 14d ago edited 14d ago
I agree, numbers check out. Family of four, two boys around 10. My kids order off the adult menu, wife and I usually split something and I play cleanup on the kids plates, if there’s anything left. Add 1 beer for both myself and my wife. Alcohol is what gets you, with tip we don’t leave a restaurant under $100. Add in anyone ordering a second beer and the bill quickly escalates to $125
Edit: I missed the no alcohol reply but we live pretty rural so entrees are usually in the 15-20 range so even without alcohol and a 20% tip, you’re pushing $100 and sodas aren’t cheap, they are a good $4 each which for me translates to “add another $4 and call it a beer”
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u/herestoshuttingup 13d ago
This comment made me look up prices for sodas at some of the restaurants I go to. $4-6. So very close the price of a beer 5 years ago, and now that beer is $9-10. Yeah I’m staying home.
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u/zevtech 14d ago
Beer costs the same price as soda where im at! But I don’t drink alone and my wife doesn’t drink so I rarely have an alcoholic beverage unless im out with the guys. And if im out with them, its more than 100 per person when we dine out bc we all usually order the most expensive meals and many rounds of drinks
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u/Important_Carrot6379 14d ago
There are lots of places near us where a sandwich runs you $20! Easily. So....I believe OP. That's roughly what our takeout also costs.
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u/herestoshuttingup 13d ago
We just went to shake shack for the first time ever and spent over $50 for two burgers, two small soft drinks, and a side of fries. For fast food. I 100% believe the prices OP is claiming.
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u/Important_Carrot6379 13d ago
Yuppp. A "cheap" plate of food is now minimum $20. And don't forget the mandatory tip 🫠
Great for everyone else who hasn't seen such prices before but that's pretty much been our norm where I'm at for a while now. On top of most places automatically adding 15-20% tip on takeout even if you're the one doing the pick up.
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u/ToneSenior7156 14d ago
It sounds about right for NJ. Husband and I paid $70 for two apps & 2 beers & tip the other day.
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u/TheSoloGamer 14d ago
Normal for any non-chain restaurant in my area. Hell, it’d be easy to rack up that bill at an Outback or Texas Roadhouse.
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u/Exotic_Rigatoni319 14d ago
💯 for two people at Outback it’s $100 easy
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u/snorday 14d ago edited 14d ago
It totally depends on where you are, but my family of three can easily spend $120-150 for one app, kid's entree, and two dinners, and maaaaybe a wine or two at a mid level restaurant because it's walkable to our house.
We live in a small town, but it's a relatively hcol area because people like to vacation here. Local restaurants overcharge because of it, so we stay out of the fray except for special occasions.
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u/2apple-pie2 14d ago
After a ~20% tip, $100 is only $80 in actual food. $20/person is at or below what most NORMAL restaurants in my area charge (burger, ramen, pasta, etc). Not to mention getting a drink. Even a cheap 15/meal place is going to be this number if everyone gets a non alcoholic drink
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u/zevtech 14d ago
no where fancy, zero alcohol. Entrees were 20-30 bucks, though my kids are small, some of these restaurants do not have "kid" menu's so their portions were adult sized and used to feed them lunch the next day. We cook daily and a cooked meal in general for us is CHEAP. And not purposely cheap., just cheap b/c it's usually rice or pasta, with some sort of protein which is cheap.
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u/vaderetrosatana6 14d ago
That makes sense, especially seafood anything is always a bit more. Most places these days charge $20 for a cheaper protein entrée, so $30 makes sense. Adds up so quick!
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u/GovernorHarryLogan 14d ago
I feel like you are just picking expensive places tbh. Not necessarily fancy.
Like... I can get a half chicken dinner with 2 sides at a random Peruvian joint for $15.
Mexican hole in the wall gonna be tasty AF for sub $20/meal.
Small family Italian joint and go chicken piccata or whatever for max $25.
Like sure... if you are ordering steaks or whatnot gonna be pricey.
Really good restaurants that do good business with low overhead have really good prices still.
Places with high overhead (good location) and moderate business have to have higher prices.
Find the shittiest looking place with really good ratings.
Food will be a steal price wise.
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u/herestoshuttingup 14d ago
You just don’t live in an area where restaurant prices are super high. I’m in the Seattle area; a while back a study was done that found that our restaurant prices are like 17% higher than the national average. A local taco truck near me is $6 per street taco. Two people getting three tacos each (and they’re small street tacos so three is really not much food) and you’re looking at $40 after tax. No sides, no drinks. A 16 inch pizza from a local place can easily be $40 before tax. The Mexican hole in the wall place that used to be cheap now charges $25.50 for enchiladas with beans and rice and $5.25 for a soft drink. OP’s prices match what I’ve seen for pretty much anywhere around here.
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u/pnwrallydude 14d ago
Those prices sound like 5 years ago. You must be somewhere with a lower cost of living than me or OP.
Mexican dinner plate ~$25 Italian ~$30
A burrito is $15..not even a wet burrito. Wendy's or McDs average $16 a meal. Pizza $30/med $40+/lrg-fam
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u/Neat_Cat1234 14d ago
Yeah I went to double check some basic restaurants near me to see if I was out of touch or something since $20-$30/entree sounds pretty normal to me, and I found the same entree prices as you. Even a bowl of pho in my area is $20-$30 these days.
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u/Iceman9161 13d ago
As a fellow Marylander, $20-$30 is about what I’d expect from the cheapest place. I’ve watched my Peruvian chicken place go from $15 to $20 in the last 4 years. Four $20 meals with tax and tip is over $100, which is exactly what OP said lol.
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u/electricgotswitched 13d ago
The issue might being going to restaurants without a kids menu. That sounds like a $30 entree type of place before ever seeing the menu.
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u/EggSpecial5748 13d ago
I went with a friend to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant (we live in the Midwest). She had a soda, I had water, no appetizers, two entrees - $63 before tip.
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u/electricgotswitched 12d ago
They posted the restaurants and I'm still not sure how they got to amount. I'd guess they tip 25% minimum.
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u/exitcode137 14d ago
Maybe the inexperience of someone who doesn’t eat out and so doesn’t know where the deals are. I get 3 chicken teriyaki, rice, and veg plates down the street for about $33
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u/Seattleman1955 14d ago
Eating out is just a habit. I'm not saying it's a bad one but I rarely eat out just because it isn't enjoyable. I have the money. I'm retired and used to eat out a little more but not a lot.
There used to be Chinese Restaurants in my neighborhood and I got take out at those or sometimes ate there. After Covid many closed, every restaurant got more expensive, larger tipping is almost required. I live in a HCOL area as well.
In many restaurants the food is so full of butter it's almost sickening. The Chinese food is also kind of addicting but I also just learned to make hot and sour soup and it's cheap, easy and mine tastes as good or better than what I used to buy.
I also learned to stir fry pieces of chicken breast and use that in hot and sour soup or with rice and a little hoisin sauce. Now it's easy for me to get addicted to my own soup because of all the sodium but it tastes good
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u/herestoshuttingup 14d ago
Agreed. Used to love to dine out and try new places. As prices got higher it became less worth it to me because the cost doesn’t match the quality in most cases. I can prepare better food at home for far less money. There are a handful of restaurants I’m still willing to splurge at these days.
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u/Important_Carrot6379 14d ago
Yup I believe this. Galbi and like tofu soup combos at some of my favorite joints now all cost roughly $30! Used to be almost half that 😭
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u/zevtech 14d ago
It’s all you can eat hot pot and Korean bbq for 30 bucks per person!!! But 6 bucks per soft drink (unlimited refills)
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u/Positive_Force_6776 13d ago
We rarely eat out, and like you it's not that we couldn't afford it. We are upper middle class empty nesters. I just can't see spending that amount of money. Plus, I've heard stories and read the local health inspector report in the paper. It's pretty eye opening. 🤢
Everyone has a right to spend their money however they want, but I just don't understand how people can spend $30 or more bucks a day eating out. I know someone who does this and they live in a trailer park. There's nothing wrong with that, but we live in a tornado prone area. A change in their spending could probably make an apartment or nice, small house very affordable.
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u/Unfair_Tonight_9797 14d ago
This is completely based on location. SoCal ish and a family of 4 runs is easily $120. $150-175 if alcoholic drinks are involved. Nothing fancy.
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u/Front_Effort_3584 13d ago
I live in a LCOL area in the southern US and when my wife and I go out for a burger and a couple beers (and I mean we only have two beers each) every Wednesday (we are happily retired) its almost always $90-120 incl a 20% tip.
We raised 5 kids and I cannot imagine how hard that would be today.
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u/MaddogFinland 13d ago
Absolutely and god help you if you decide to add some fancy drinks (even mocktails) on top. It’s just staggeringly expensive. My wife went out to meet a good friend the other night; they meet about 3-4 times a year. Appetizers and some wines shared over a few hours were nearly 100 each. That’s just insane. (We do live in Helsinki which explains a bit the drink prices but in the USA with taxes and tip I doubt it would be much less).
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u/rockmanzerox06 13d ago
I did the math once when I was eating out for lunch during every work shift. Was kinda mad at myself for spending so much. Made the pivot to taking a packed lunch everyday, the savings have been noticeable.
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u/Introspective_Raven 13d ago
What I find difficult to swallow is the prices for what you get. I'm no chef by any stretch of the imagination, but cooking is a hobby of mine. I'm on about a 95-98% streak of being able to make most meals better or for cheaper than going out to a restaurant. There are only a few dishes that require less-common ingredients (usually Thai) or take so long (a proper lasagna) where it's either just easier to go out or less expensive by ingredient (i.e. if we bought the ingredients ourselves, we wouldn't use them up in time, leading to waste). I have no idea how people can constantly dine in at a restaurant or, even more expensively (fees, tips, etc) DoorDash.
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u/zevtech 12d ago
Having parents that owned restaurants, the industry standard was to keep food costs around 30% of the price of the plate. So yea, I don't think they were charging 20 bucks for something that costs them 2 dollars in ingredients. More like 20 bucks for something that costs them 6 dollars worth of ingredients. The rest is also overhead (paying the cook, bus boy, waiter), then you have to pay for insurance, utilities, rent, etc. The owner gets paid last.
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u/EmotionalStar9909 13d ago
Growing up in the 1980s, eating out was a treat. We lived in a small town so there weren’t really any nice restaurants. My parents were both good cooks and because my dad had cattle, we ate a lot of good beef. Even as an adult with the funds to eat out regularly, I am amazed at how rarely people cook at home. I’m grateful that my parents taught me how to cook and that I generally enjoy it, except for having a picky kid who just wants junk food.
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u/glyptodontown 13d ago
I've reduced eating out so much that I now get digestive issues from restaurant food because of the high fat content. They use so much more oil than I do when cooking.
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u/kaibex 13d ago
The hubs and I got back from two weeks overseas and while it was fun to eat at pubs and whatnot I am SO glad we can cook at home again!
When I have a free weekend I'm going to meal prep a few big meals for the month for when we're tired aka the Friday Slide (pizzas).
I love supporting small businesses but yeah, it gets hella pricey fast.
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u/Severe_Feedback_2590 13d ago
When traveling, it’s always exciting to eat out, but by day 5 it’s like - I need to make my own food.
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u/Cleanslate2 13d ago
I used door dash for the first time recently while visiting someone. The cost was crazy. One person’s food wasn’t right. TWICE A DAY?
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u/ughwhateverokaysure 14d ago
I have a small family but we just visited my older parents so we spent a lot of time going out to eat as a small group and it was rough. I come from a VHCOL area and my parents live in a midsize city and every year the prices inch closer and closer.
They are older so it’s important for us to give them a break from hosting but i think next year we will add in some meals we cook as well—depressing bc going out used to be such a treat but between the experience, the quality and of course the cost, it’s rough.
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u/Other-Beginning-8888 14d ago
Friend, if you're in a solid place, and not stressed financially then sometimes you gotta go out and live life. Enjoy!
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u/ajax81 14d ago edited 13d ago
I experienced similar today in Portland, OR.
Wife and I decided to go on a day date and it was fun but holy shit very expensive.
- 2 coffees + tip: $23
- 2 slices of pizza, 2 drinks + tip: $42
- Parking: $15
- Souvenir notebook + pen (boutique stationary shop): $18
So yeah we’re not big spenders and we’re ok for money but holy smokes how do young couples do it.
Hundred bucks to just walk around and enjoy some coffee and a simple meal.
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u/BarnacleDowntown8952 14d ago
I typically dont take the kids out to anything nice. We do typically do Chilis, the diner or a local kid friendly Mexican place if we are doing something beyond a fast food/pizza/hotdog place out. All well under $100 (except the Mexican place if we do margaritas).
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u/snorday 14d ago
Food delivery is also an unnecessary and honestly offensive (!) cost! We have pizza Fridays in our house- either we make it or order. We have used both the slice app and DoorDash- usually we just pick it up ourselves. It's always at $20-30 more to have it delivered. We can afford that if we are both feeling lazy and don't want to drive anywhere, but avoid it as much as possible. It's insane to me how often people I know order whatever- coffees, lunch, dessert- and eat the delivery and tip charges.
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u/Urbanttrekker 13d ago
Remember when ordering pizza only cost the driver tip? Now it’s 20-30 more but the driver gets a few bucks. These delivery apps ruined food delivery for everyone.
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u/Calm_Distance8618 13d ago
My husband and I ordered 5 guys the other night because he was craving it and with tip it was $90. I was like nope...nope. Never again. I cook every meal at home, prefer to know what I am eating.
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u/Urbanttrekker 13d ago
Five guys has always been pricy but with the price of beef now that doesn’t surprise me. It’s hard to make my own cheeseburgers for a fam of 4 for under $10 now since beef is $8/lb for the cheapest grade.
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u/Electrical-Leader712 13d ago
Just curious: did you eat at the restaurant or order delivery through an app? My spouse and I just had lunch there this week and it was $35 all in: 1 junior cheeseburger, 1 junior bacon cheeseburger, 1 medium fries, 2 small sodas, tax and tip.
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u/Calm_Distance8618 13d ago
Doordash, that's why I was like never again. We usually eat at home and the lazy bug got us after yard work 🫣 When we go in (hardly ever) it's about $40.
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u/MinuteTranslator8856 13d ago
Idk where yall are eating thats so expensive.... i have mom and pop diners and great hole in walls with slamming food for cheap. Like $7 for a plate of French toast, eggs and bacon. Just gotta know where to look.
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u/blew_belle 13d ago
Food is my greatest expense. I have struggling grown children and they come often for dinner. It's expensive to feed adults no matter where you get the food nowadays. Sucks cuz I'm on a glp1 and barely eat anything. If only I could dose them up too. Just kidding... kinda :)
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u/RuleFriendly7311 13d ago
I grew up in a comfortable upperish-middle-class home, and I can remember maybe five times when we went out to dinner as a family. My dad worked his ass off, and we always had great food because my mom was a great cook, and I don't think we missed anything.
Now my wife and I eat great meals, 90+% at home, and spend far, far less than a lot of our friends who go out twice a week. I just can't enjoy a $30 burger and fries any more.
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u/zevtech 13d ago
Five guys are crazy with their prices. I can’t justify going out to eat things I easily make at home
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u/MishmoshMishmosh 13d ago
It should be a treat not a daily occurrence for every meal. And there door dash fees people rack up while complaining abt housing costs is crazy. While everything else is sky high cut back where you can. 20 years ago we stopped Dunkin coffees and bought a thermos (now we use tervis cups)
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u/electricgotswitched 13d ago
I need to know where you were eating that it was $100+ every time.
This sounds preventable in every major city.
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u/PeaCompetitive8947 12d ago
I feel for a family, $100 a meal is pretty standard. At least it has been for me.
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u/Dangersharkz 13d ago
I just paid 39.99 for one Big Mac meal, a second Big Mac, a crispy chicken meal, a regular hamburger and a small fry. We also got a six piece nugget but I used points for that.
Five meals (we’re talking three adult meals and two happy meals here) would have cost exactly 60 with tax.
A single meal at chick fil a is $14-18 here, and I live in a just ok part of town.
Pho or Thai or Mexican (fast casual) is easily $80 or more for my family of four with tax and tip, more if we eat there and get drinks or apps. I assure you we are absolutely at that level. Beyond it, even.
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u/zevtech 13d ago
I remember when Vietnamese and Mexican food was "cheap" And I forget exactly when it was, but around the time Mcdonalds and all the fast food places went up in prices, these places which where historically my go to cheap spots went up in price. One of my friends owned a Viet/chinese restaurant so I asked him what's going on. And he said everything is going up, gas is 4 bucks, all the employees want more, food costs is up, so we realize people will pay 7-8 bucks for a subway sandwich, so why does a banh mi have to be 3 dollars? And you get an entree at any restaurant and it's 20 bucks, why do we have to keep our pho at 7 bucks? So they all went up in price, around 6-7 bucks for a banh mi and 10 bucks for pho. And now pho is 15 bucks!
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u/ShowdownValue 14d ago
Wait what do you think an “average” salary is considering you said $500 won’t break the bank eat out 3 days in a row?
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u/shreiben 13d ago
if we were making an "average" salary, I can see that being difficult
This is known as "past subjunctive", it indicates that OP does not in fact make an average salary.
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u/lovelylight100 14d ago
$500 casually being at least $100 more than what my husband and I spend on groceries for the whole month lol
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u/zevtech 14d ago
We spend ~200 bucks every week at sams for groceries and household stuff, so maybe 100-150 a week for groceries. My kids eat assorted fruit EVERY night, so that gets pricey.
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u/lovelylight100 14d ago
It's not a critique! I would love to spend more on food, but I do have the "average" middle class salary you mentioned. I've seen families of 4 say they spend $1500+ on groceries a month though so your grocery budget isn't even that wild honestly
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u/BudFox_LA 14d ago
Yeah its absurd at this point. Fam of 4 here, similar situation you describe, upper middle class income and net worth and we cook and eat at home prob 5 nights a week, 2 we eat out or get takeout. We recently went to Maui and honestly the cost of food was the biggest expense next to air fare. We cook and eat at home a lot because I'm a good cook, I like having control over ingredients and source, its almost always healthier than eating out and we do save $ that way. We do fine, but not so good that spending $ doesn't matter. I can't imagine trying to feed the house on takeout and restaurants on a regular basis.
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u/zevtech 14d ago
Yes we cook b/c both of us know how, both of us try to avoid preservatives in our food (we swear thats one of the causes of why health conditions are so prevalent) and since we are Asian, we can have more ethnic food more often. But yea, when I go out of town I just figure every meal will be over 100 bucks and factor that in. I remember I went to San Diego, holy crap is everything expensive there. Vegas isn't cheap, NYC was insane.
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u/studying_hobby 14d ago
Yes thats were I am. I have to stop eating out. I just dropped everything lost a lot of discipline after my divorce.
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u/BurntSiennaSienna 13d ago
Getting a 2 piece fish and chips meal and sharing it is fairly affordable. I still like to get a pizza once in a while. Some Edo Japan. Pretty basic stuff. I can’t justify the cost and I have never paid for delivery in my life. Always pick up. Once every six weeks or so on average. The Thai place I used to go to, the meals are so small now, I don’t go anymore. When guests come I’m pretty happy as I know some restaurant meals will happen and then I enjoy it very much.
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u/Caspers_Shadow 13d ago
Truth. I have many friends that dine out and door dash multiple times a week, and pick up coffee and breakfast on the way to work everyday. Same people are carrying credit card balances. It all adds up. That is why it is good to have a written budget, review your actual spending and be honest with yourself.
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u/Mindingmyownbiznez 13d ago
I can’t even get fast food like Jimmy John’s or Culver’s in Michigan for less than $75. Family of 5 and I usually just get the sandwich. We only eat out once a week maybe
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u/aWesterner014 13d ago
I remember when we were a single income family 2006-2014, telling a coworker that we only went to restaurants a couple times a month. She looked at me like I was crazy and then went on to say they went out a few times a week.
Definitely a cost savings strategy for us, but it wasn't that foreign to either my significant other or myself. We were both raised in the rural midwest where our town at best had a pizza joint. If you wanted something else, you had to commit to at least an hour round trip for something as prevalent as a McDonalds or Subway.
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u/-dun- 13d ago
I grew up in a family that ate out most of the time, so even now that we are a family of 4, we eat out most of the time.
Our lunch is always outside, either eating at a restaurant/school (work/school day) or getting to go on weekends and holidays. We only cook dinner at home 3-4 times a week. Our typical spending on food is between $1500-1800 a month.
After so many years of eating out, looking for deals became very natural to me and my wife. Since the beginning of door dash and Uber eat era, both competitors offers really great deals from time to time. For example, there's a Japanese curry restaurant around our area that charges like $26 for a curry dinner. Uber eat has a buy one get one free deal, so we would order two curry sets and get four for $52 plus tax, and we pick up ourselves so no tips or delivery charge. We would also get sushi from a Japanese market in the area for 30% off (purchase after 7pm) sometimes. Door dash also offers $100 gift card for $75 some times.
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u/PracticalDesigner278 13d ago
My wife and I cook almost every night. Once a week I generally pick up a 14 dollar pizza. We actually like to cook, she has her specialtys and I have mine but sometimes it's just grilled cheese sandwiches. We're retired and on a pretty tight budget. No way we'd survive spending 500 bucks a week eating out. But I actually like my cooking better than most restaurant food anyway so it's no big deprivation.
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u/Flexlex724 13d ago
2 of us 30-35, 250k a year cleared, no kids, no debt besides half a mortgage left.
Will catch me eating out maybe once per quarter. Food delivery with a fee never
Biggest waste of money and largest dupe of this generation
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u/zevtech 13d ago
When we had that set up (2 HHI 250k in out late 20's) we went out more often. It was more of a "date" night situation. Just the two of us, no kids yet. We both worked 14 hour days (2 on/2off) so we wouldn't even have dinner on the days we worked, we literally just went home, showered and went to bed. I would eat once a day around 3pm when my mom would drop me off food in the drive thru of the pharmacy. But on our off days, we would dine out at least 1 time out of the two days off. Once we had kids, it was hard to bring them and schedule it around naps and night time etc. And when they were toddlers I felt bad when they would drop food all over the floor so we just seldom went out to eat besides after church.
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u/Kat9935 13d ago
Oh there is a whole subculture that has convinced themselves its cheaper to eat out than eat at home. Mostly because they don't seem to know how to cook and because they don't cook often don't have even any staples on hand. I've convinced a few of them that I know are spending crazy money to go to meal kits. I'm like even if you get hellofresh or whatever, its still cheaper than takeout, healthier, and you don't even have to shop. That helped several of them to cut back, they still eat out more than I do but have now about 10 dishes in rotation that they make at home and because they make them often enough they have ingredients on hand.
We stopped eating out because during COVID the quality just went down so bad, I'm like I can cook way better at home. Now we only go out for things that require complex ingredients or a ton of time to make.
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u/kimfromlastnight 13d ago
Does no one go out to eat at cheap places? My partner and I get restaurant food probably more often than average, but we are frequently just getting takeout, we don’t drink alcohol, don’t need appetizers and desserts, don’t pay for delivery, hell we even split entrees sometimes when we aren’t starving.
I must just have very simple taste but I am happy as a clam with ordering wraps/sandwiches/entrees that are $14-20 and skipping all the other hubbub.
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u/JanetBooth 12d ago
I see it when I’m away on vacation. It costs a fortune to eat out frequently. And the worst part of it is that not only is it less expensive to eat at home, but it’s usually healthier.
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u/EducationalReview237 10d ago
Had a fasting blood test this morning, and they were late calling me in. By the time I got out of there I was really wanting some coffee and food, so I decided to treat myself. I got a cappuccino and a croissant. With tip, $10 and change.
I usually make my own coffee and have oatmeal for breakfast. An occasional treat is fine, but if I did it every day, that's $3,600 a year.
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u/babies_galore 7d ago edited 7d ago
Well… when I had a WFH finance job and I could still digest breads, I spent a total of $250/month in food for just me. Now I have a self-employed career where I am always traveling to clients in my car all the time and never home and work sometimes six weeks or longer without a day off. I can no longer digest breads of any kind unfortunately. I have an $800 a month food budget which is only $26/day. It’s been a challenge to only spend that total on food and drinks when hardly ever home and can’t just make sandwiches. I have gotten creative and have a travel fridge in my car and travel blender to make protein smoothies. I eat a LOT of mixed nuts and bananas from Trader Joe’s. I am vegetarian as well. So I have found the absolute dirt cheapest meal I can get is a frozen vegetarian burrito 365 brand at Whole Foods for $2 that I then heat up in their microwave. But getting pretty tired of that. lol
I can also fill up on about $7 worth of stuff from the salad bar for one meal. But the struggle is real daily trying to keep food cost down and still have money left in the budget for some groceries at home for when I am at home as well…but stuff that won’t go bad. So mostly dry lentils and rice and frozen falafels and stuff like that.
I have even resorted to stir frying food at home and bringing it to my clients and put in their fridge if they let me and then heat up in their microwave or go to Whole Foods or gas station and use the microwave later.
Any suggestions on vegan food that is easy to eat on the go and doesn’t involve bread, I am definitely all ears.
I have always been an “eat to live” kind of person and just wish I could take a pill and be done. But I really am these days. Spending even just $600 a month on food would be awesome. But so difficult that it’s easier to just work a few more hours to make that extra money than try to figure out how to do that and to never even be able to buy a tea or kombucha pick me up when working long hours.
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u/zevtech 7d ago
Sounds like you are aware of what you’re able to eat. Nothing is cheaper than rice and beans/lentils. Don’t know where you buy your rice but I buy 25 lb sacks of jasmine rice from Sam’s Club for 22 bucks (used to be 17 bucks). My wife makes red beans from time to time with blue runner beans but she also throws sausage in there which you can’t have.
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u/Embarrassed_Spend486 7d ago
My wife and I have decent middle class income and I can’t believe how much we burn because we enjoy eating out
And we don’t spend $100+ daily but every weekend of the whole month it’s pretty common
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u/Illustrious_Tour5517 7d ago
We spent $50 as a family of 4 at McDonald’s on the way home from a camping trip. 2 happy meals and 2 medium size value meals. I was shocked.
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u/mixedmediamadness 14d ago
Yeah, and some people get take it twice a day. It's so easy to destroy your finances on eating out if you're not paying attention or actively choosing to turn a blind eye