Eating out in restaurants is normally done infrequently and is treated like a “special occassion” by most people.  The bill + tip for two may start at $20 and depend on other factors, such as the fanciness of the place and manu items.  However, in my experience, it’s not uncommon to get out of a restaurant $40-50 lighter, after an appetizer, a couple of entrees, and some drinks.

At the same time, if are not having your meals prepared and served to you, then you must be doing the preparing and serving youself.  Since I believe that hitting all food groups is a must, I like all food.  I can eat fish, meat, poultry, vegetables, fruit, it really does not matter to me as long as it’s decently prepared.  Hell, in college I ate nothing but Ramen and multi-vitamins, and chased that with Old Crow.

I imagine, the grocery bills vary greatly for all people, and since we don’t buy a lot of pop, chips, or deep-fried foods, ours consists mostly of meat, veg, and booze (I’ve developed a taste for sake and riesling).  Thus, the grocery bill hovered around $100 a week for the two of us; probably $350-400 a month.

Then the time crunch at work came, and I had less and less time to do anything, let alone cook.  So we started going out more.  Waste of money, you say?

A big-assed steak wrap at Chipotle or Freebird’s is like eight bucks.  Get a couple waters, and call that a decently healthy meal for two.  You get your fat from steak, vitamins from vegetables, carbs from the tortilla and rice, and protein from beans, all in one meal.  Do that twice a day, and you’re out $16-20.  Eating during the work week now realistically costs you a hundred bucks.  Get a carton of eggs, some milk and bread ($8-10), and you’ll have breakfasts for the first, and most important, meal, probably for the entire week.  Your entire eating out experience still costs you around a hundred, give or take ten bucks.  If you once in a while buy a little groceries for the weekend, you can squeeze into the same $400-450 a month.

However, in our case there’s a few other associated benefits to eating out – a dozen good places to eat within a walking distance from home.  Every time we go out, we walk at least a mile, most of the time a couple, which can be counted as exercise.  Also, we don’t dirty as many dishes, which cuts on damned Brawny and soap.

In the long run, eating out is still more expensive, especially you’re a miser, there’s no arguing that.  However, in my experience, it’s not all that bad for your budget, either.  The key is sensibility.  We’re fortunate to live in a country where portion sizes keep growing, and it’s pretty much mandatory to walk out of a restaurant with a “doggie bag“.  \

If you take full advantage of huge portions, the financial side of eating out may surprise you.