How often do you go out to eat?

[kitchen]

i'm not too embarassed to admit that i'm in the 5-10x a week category. okay sometimes it's 5-10x, sometimes it's like, 3-6x.

i try and bring my lunch to work but that doesnt always happen (clearly) though most weeks i bring it at least 3xs a week and i buy a lunch from the mom & pop korean deli across the way for the days i don't.

my guy is a cook so we often have opposite schedules (he works most nights, i work the 9-5). on the days we have off together, we go out to eat maybe 60% of time time, mainly because my guy doesnt feel like cooking since he cooks for a living and try as i might, i'm just mediocre. plus we live right in chinatown where there is SO SO SO much cheap and tasty food, 5 min bikeride from little india where theres at least 10 different indian buffets for less than $10, 5 min bikeride from a hip-ish gentrifying neighbourhood that has great bistros, sushi, etc (but those are def "special occasion" nights, maybe once a month IF that). when we do go out to eat we rarely spend more than $40 for the both of us, but most of the time if we're in chinatown its about $15 for us both (dim sum on sundays can get to about $25).

on nights that i'm not eating with my partner, sometimes i'll go out with friends or neighbours, or get takeout, or eat out alone (which i kinda love doing). but at least 2xs a week i'll make a big thing at home which me and my guy will eat for the week. either a curry or stew or roast veg thing that we can pick at and put over rice or noodles.

toronto has an amazing food culture and theres so many affordable local restaurants and so many different types of food. i cant remember the last time i ate at a chain resto other than obligatory lunch with a family member type thing. i could definitely eat lunch & dinner in different restaurant for a year and never hit a chain. i like being a regular in my neighbourhood spots, being able to strike up a convo with a restaurant owner when we run into each other at the grocery, getting the best ingredients set aside for me because the owner knows i always come in on tuesdays and love ordering xyz.

however this is all beginning to change as winter comes, we eat in more, and football sundays means homemade vegan pizzas.
_________________
THE MUNDANE IS TO BE CHERISHED

[Figwit]

Having a newborn and a husband that has broken 5 dishes + burned several complete meals already = we eat out almost every day. Unless he's home and can watch the baby while I speedily prep the meal for him to complete while I nurse.
_________________
good, clean, fair.

small is possible.

[anniebeegoode]

[knittykat]

Not as much as I would like to??? :-)

I like to cook, but frankly, I'd just rather be waited on and served what I point at than plan meals, do dishes, etc.
_________________
"Fun is where you find it" - jackierocket

[gemma]

[daysleeper]

bluejedi -- no judgement from me! If you broke the week down into 21 meals, I used to eat 18 of them out, and 16 of them in my car. Thats another thread... eating in the car.

kitchen -- yeah... your food utopia would be a problem for me... I'd never be able to stop. It would be more efficient for me to just hand over my paycheck and set up non-stop delivery in advance. Indian buffet? I'd be there every other day.

petunia - I hear ya on not knowing what to do with leftovers. If I make too much, I usually eat too much. When cooking for the dude, he eats a pretty good portion and usually has seconds or sometimes thirds throughout the evening. If there is anything left over, its usually just enough for one meal. When I'm by myself I try to stick to things like stir frys and salads, things very heavy with vegetables so if I eat the whole thing its not a big deal. If I make pasta, I weigh out 2-4 oz and thats all I cook.

I still love restaurants, but when lunch for 2 comes out to a weekly food budget I have to stop and think. Its only very recently that I started to really scrutinize how much I spent on food. I have many to choose from. I usually gravitate towards restaurants who serve food that I don't know how to replicate at home. I've tried to make Indian food at home and its never good.

I gave up starsucks and other 5 buck coffees during my 2005 meltdown, but I still hit up the convenience stores very often.
_________________
Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley

Blog!

[rawrlie]

we're pretty broke right now so we go out maybe twice a week. sometimes it's pizza, sometimes it's jimmy johns, sometimes it's fast food, sometimes it's sit-down, classy if you squint really hard style fast food [what up, pei wei], but it's almost never an actual restaurant. we can totes afford an occasional $20 meal for the two of us, but not $40-50+.

eating at home is something that is easier to do if you do it for long stretches of time. i always resist making stuff at the beginning of the week and end up going all out by the weekend. pinterest helps keep my interest piqued as i am always trolling for new recipes. and it saves a ton of money! but i'm not going to lie: if i could, i would probably eat out more. ain't nothing wrong with that, though. everyone has to eat something
_________________
yeah it's overwhelming, but what else can we do?
get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute?

[shortskirt]

I went through a phase where I was working really weird hours, and I had a hard time keeping groceries in the house, so it was either eat out or skip dinner altogether. I've been doing a little better lately by making larger meals and freezing the leftovers, even if it's just pizza or quiche, so at least I have a quick meal when I get home from work at 8 or 9 at night.

I probably eat one or two dinners out a week, plus one brunch on the weekend. When I was with my husband, we would eat out for lunch at least once a week, but now I bring my lunch to work everyday.

A lot of my social outings with my friends are dinners out. I'm pretty lucky that the restaurants we frequent are somewhat healthy and not too expensive. Either the Korean or Taiwanese restaurants cost me about $15 including tip, and I'm stuffed full of delicious vegetarian food when I leave. plus I've had lots of good conversation with my amazing friends.

My main weakness is sushi. It's kind of expensive, and I tend to order for takeout it by myself, and bring it home and eat it on the couch. I guess I put the cost benefit in the whole dining out experience, not just the food!

[Gigi]

I don't eat out nearly as much now that I'm single, which is weird because that seems to be the opposite of how these things usually go (settled with a long term partner = cooking together, single = take-out every night).

I usually go out for drinks with friends at this great rooftop bar a few times a month, but we make sure to get there in time to catch the happy hour specials, which are awesome. In addition to my drink(s), I will usually get some flautas or a quesadilla.

I almost always bring my lunch to work, but if I was too tired or lazy to pack it the night before, I'll grab a sandwich from the cafeteria. That probably happens a couple times a month. I probably get coffee out a couple times a month too, either from a coffee shop or from the cafeteria.

Other than that, I don't eat out very often. Honestly, besides the whole money saving issue, it's usually sheer laziness. By the time I get home from work, I'm exhausted and all I want to do is take my bra off and sit on the couch--so going out to get food doesn't exactly appeal to me. This laziness also applies to cooking, though, so let me be clear that my lack of going out to eat does NOT mean I'm cooking fabulous healthy, organic meals with fresh, local food. It's pretty embarrassing how often I eat cereal for dinner, for example.

[silverfish2007]

we eat out 1-2x/week. and sometimes my husband will get fast food during the week but i take my lunch to work every day. there arent a ton of good local restaurants here unfortunately and i just dont care for chains that much (because of dietary restrictions, cost for quality of food, and just the food itself). but i have to say that the meals we eat at home are nothing special. yes, sometimes i actually do what i would call "cooking" but most nights its just throwing together something quick. at least three nights this past week i had a veggie dog, steamed broccoli, and canned beans for dinner. my lunches are usually 1/2 sandwich, yogurt, and fruit. so nothing fancy. i like cooking but mostly what i like about eating out is no clean up!
_________________
candy to carrots

[Sleepyhouse]

Couple times a week if we include grabbing fast food or something at a convenience store. Usually at least once/weekend with the BF.


I'm currently a bit bitter about eating out / food costs / convenience foods. Mostly because I am trying to eat healthy/ lose weight and I prefer to cook my own foods. My BF complains that we "never eat together" because I CANNOT AFFORD to feed the both of us MY type of diet and he won't chip in. So I feed myself and let him fend for himself. Then he buys like skillet meals and stuff for $6/7 each and eats the entire thing.

I KNOW I could make better/healthier meals that BOTH of us could eat if he would just friggin' CHIP IN.



Anyway, I would like eating out more (I have a list a mile long of restaurants i'd like to try) but its just so damn expensive and DOES NOT fit in with 'dieting' at all.

Boo. Stupid food.

[carlee134]

woof. almost every single day.

And the sad thing is that I am a proud and good cook! I should just eat at home but I looove eating out. Plus I'm helping to stimulate the economy...right?
_________________
greenbean: " It's not a party without the PARTY RATS!"
Agnes: " Nobody on Glitter is a doctor. NOBODY ON GLITTER IS A DOCTOR. "

[carlee134]

also: here's a great link to a cool food blog about making food at home on the cheap. Might be of some use to ya'll!

http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/
_________________
greenbean: " It's not a party without the PARTY RATS!"
Agnes: " Nobody on Glitter is a doctor. NOBODY ON GLITTER IS A DOCTOR. "

[tinyrock]

Around five times a week? A ton last week because school started and I'm spending 10-12 hours a day away from home, so I pack one meal and buy one. And consume it during class, rude but unavoidable sometimes.

I missed cooking at home so much last week, I'm totally pumped to cook the food I bought last weekend! There are about three restaurants near campus that have a decent veggie option, so I'm pretty tired of all of them.

[PurpleDoor]

Honestly, I am also in the camp of "If I had more $$/if better restaurant food was available I would eat out more" camp. Yes, I am a damn good cook. Yes, I do enjoy cooking. But also YES, sometimes I like to just sit down and let someone else make my food and then not have to worry about dishes.

For me, a big part of it is budget. Mine is limited, and I value sticking to it more than I do convenience, I guess. Even eating out at cheapie fast food places is just not as cheap as cooking up budget food at home. I can make a meal for under $2/person at home, so cooking more than eating out is a major financial no-brainer.