Ottakee Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Is it ANY food/meal eaten away from home that you pay for? Is it a sit down meal? Something in between? Going "out to eat" can be very expensive........but on the flip side, right now you can get a $1.99 kid's meal at Wendy's with a grilled chicken wrap, apples, and milk.....or other less healthy but tasty choices. Does a $5 footlong Subway sub cut into 3 ($1.67 each) or 4 ($1.25 each) pieces count as going "out" to eat? How about when you pick up 1 thing from the dollar menu for each person and then fill in with fruits and veggies from home? Obviously those things are much cheaper than say a sit down meal at Applebee's, Olive Garden, etc. for the whole family. It seems like we go out to eat quite a bit.........but in reality it is things like splitting a $5 sub 3 or 4 ways, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 I would consider Wendy's, Subway, etc. "takeout", even if we eat at the restaurant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Weirdly, when we eat fast food we call it 'grabbing something to eat' but when we eat at a sit down restaurant, we call it eating out. So we have a daytrip tomorrow and dh asked me this morning whether we are grabbing some lunch or eating out. But budget wise and grocery wise, all food not prepared here is 'dining out'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Depends on the context. If I'm talking to someone about how often we go out to eat vs cook at home, I mean anything. If DH tells me to arrange a sitter so we can go out to eat, I'd think he'd lost his marbles if he pulls up at a drive thru. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73349 Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Eating away from home, not for free, counts as "going out to eat" to me. The things you mentioned we are more apt to go get and bring home, and then drink water, use our own plates, etc., and I call them takeout. Same budget category. I don't really enjoy the atmosphere of restaurants, even nice ones; to me, it's all about whether the food tastes good and whether I had to do the cooking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 This is just semantics right? We generally don't do fast food unless we're on the go. And I tend to call that "grabbing something on the way to XXX". But in some instances I might say "we're going out to subway, because dad is working late". It's a bigger deal to actually go out to a sit down restaurant here, but still might happen 2-3 a month. But we do grab and go stuff 2-3 times a week on a pretty regular basis. We also do breakfast and lunch at home much more than most families with school kids and 2 working parents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 For us the phrase "going out to eat" typically means a sit down meal at a restaurant where someone takes our order and brings us our food and drinks. A full meal that takes the place of a full meal that we would otherwise have at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Grabbing a quick bite or picking something up is just that for me, I don't consider it "eating out"............ Going out is more of a planned meal, to be eaten leisurely, often with friends, more for the purposes of recreation than needing to get the family fed. And they come from two different parts of our budget too........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted July 2, 2014 Author Share Posted July 2, 2014 It is semantics. Part of it came because a budgeting guru was saying that going out to eat was so much more costly than eating at home. I guess I thought well, not if you call splitting a $5 sub going "out" to eat. Last night dh and I had a coupon for 1/2 off a pizza (all kids are away at camp) so we picked up the pizza and then took it to the beach to eat. It was really windy so we sat in our car right along the boardwalk and watched the crowds, etc. Pizza was good and it was SO relaxing. We just had a pop each from the gas station but we didnt' have to worry about a tip, other diners, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candicane Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Going out to eat means sitting down at a restaurant. Anything fast food (MCD's, Subway, etc) that I can take home isn't going out to eat. I never, well almost never, eat within the place itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Strawberry Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Going out to eat means sitting down and eating in an establishment. If we take it with us, it's a picnic, or a purchased meal, not unlike buying prepared from the grocery store. I might buy us a picnic lunch from a drive through on the way to the splash park tomorrow if I don't have time to pack one tonight (which I probably won't) or I might buy one from a store on the way. No difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 It is semantics. Part of it came because a budgeting guru was saying that going out to eat was so much more costly than eating at home. I guess I thought well, not if you call splitting a $5 sub going "out" to eat. Last night dh and I had a coupon for 1/2 off a pizza (all kids are away at camp) so we picked up the pizza and then took it to the beach to eat. It was really windy so we sat in our car right along the boardwalk and watched the crowds, etc. Pizza was good and it was SO relaxing. We just had a pop each from the gas station but we didnt' have to worry about a tip, other diners, etc. Sounds like a great date. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenneinCA Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Anything where I don't have to do the dishes counts in my book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Strawberry Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 It is semantics. Part of it came because a budgeting guru was saying that going out to eat was so much more costly than eating at home. I guess I thought well, not if you call splitting a $5 sub going "out" to eat. Last night dh and I had a coupon for 1/2 off a pizza (all kids are away at camp) so we picked up the pizza and then took it to the beach to eat. It was really windy so we sat in our car right along the boardwalk and watched the crowds, etc. Pizza was good and it was SO relaxing. We just had a pop each from the gas station but we didnt' have to worry about a tip, other diners, etc. I do believe it's less expensive to pack your own subs than to pay $5 for a rather skimpy one from Subway. I know for my 4 kids and myself, a single sandwich is no longer a meal. That would barely be a snack. We went out to Jimmy John's last week, and I paid $30 for sandwiches, chips and drinks. Sigh. I could have fed them at home for less, for sure. Budget-wise, I think it depends. Definitely what you did is cheaper than a restaurant meal. But cooking a fresh, homemade pizza (or other, less $$ meal) at home would be cheaper. I am always stunned by how much money most people spend on food. We spend well under $500 a month on food for 6 people in total, including takeout and dining out. We eat VERY well. Most of our meals come out to well under $1 per serving. Well under. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMommy Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Going out to eat means someone waits on me. Doesn't happen very often, but I love it when it does! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Going out to eat in our budget means we don't cook. Someone other than family is doing the cooking and the food was not purchased at the grocery store. It doesn't matter if it's sit down, takeout, or delivery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 I consider that we went out to eat if we obtain ready-to-eat food someplace other than home. If we get a sandwich at the local convenience chain, we still went out to eat. In almost every case it is cheaper to eat at home, unless that would mean buying special ingredients for a meal and not using it all. For example, it might be cheaper for me to get a BLT at Wawa than make one at home, if I didn't buy bacon, bread, tomatoes, mayo and lettuce anyway, or if I bought it but ended up throwing some of it away because I couldn't use it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carriede Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 But budget wise and grocery wise, all food not prepared here is 'dining out'. This. We go one step farther and say that any cooked, prepared food is eating out. So, if I get a cooked chicken and a few sides from Kroger for an easy dinner, that money is counted as eating out. This is mostly for the purpose of budgeting... I want my grocery budget to be a NEED category, whereas we can cut out "eating out" if we need to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 I count any restaurant (even fast food) as "eating out". I count any grocery store item (even prepared food from the deli) as "groceries". I very very rarely eat fast food though. Health concerns mean that we need higher quality of food with sometimes individual preparation (to avoid allergens) so eating out is 90% of the time at somewhere at least on the caliber of Panera. Prepared food is bought when my health is so bad that I cannot cook. In that case, getting something from the deli is cheaper than a sit-down restaurant and I'm able to read ingredients and choose items that fit our dietary needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyP Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 In general conversation, going out to eat means sitting down to eat in a restaurant. Budget wise, any purchase of food away from home would come from our entertainment $$. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 This. We go one step farther and say that any cooked, prepared food is eating out. So, if I get a cooked chicken and a few sides from Kroger for an easy dinner, that money is counted as eating out. This is mostly for the purpose of budgeting... I want my grocery budget to be a NEED category, whereas we can cut out "eating out" if we need to. Hmm...I never thought about putting a rotisserie chicken in the 'eating out' category. I should probably look more closely at dividing our grocery spending into categories- knowing how much prepared food I buy might be helpful. I track spending and at the end of the month combine groceries and eating out together and see how much we spent on food for the month. It drives me crazy when people tell me they feed a family of four on $200 a month but don't include the $400 they spent on fast food or restaurants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 I consider it "grabbing something out" whether we eat there, in the car, or bring it home. To me "going out to eat" is a planned activity at a sit down, full service restaurant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Hmm...I never thought about putting a rotisserie chicken in the 'eating out' category. I should probably look more closely at dividing our grocery spending into categories- knowing how much prepared food I buy might be helpful. I consider it a "quick meal" rather than getting something out. Whole raw chickens aren't much cheaper in my area than cooked rotisserie chickens. Then I have to add in prep time, spices, and the cost of electricity for the oven or crock pot. YMMV, but I don't save much money by passing up a rotisserie chicken. Also, I treat it the same as when I do cook one myself. We use it for leftovers (chicken salad or fried rice with chicken) and I cook the carcass to make broth. Again, this will depend on what prices are like for whole chicken in your area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 We eat out a lot. Anytime out is considered going out. Can be a run through Wendy's between martial arts and scouts or $100 dinner for three with app and salad. If we are out of the house, we are out. Currently we live in the boonies and the groceryt store and everything starts at 3.5 miles away, so no one delivers to us here except the one good pizza place. So any time we want chinese, indian or anything else, we have to actually go get it. So that adds to our eating out. We are moving soon and hoping to have a better restaurant selection and many more deliver options. But because the food comes to us, even though it came from somewhere else, we don't consider it 'eating out'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Strawberry Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 I agree. Not that I think anyone needs to apologize for doing things differently. I prefer my own cooking too. Although pizza is one thing I do not make at home. I don't think homemade pizza is nearly as good. The compromise would be one of those take and bake ones from the grocery store. Here they often run specials $5.99 for a large. Two of them is enough for my family of 4 with leftovers eaten later that night or for breakfast. So $12 for 4 people for pizza is not bad. Another thing I don't make at home is fried chicken. There are too many reasonably priced fried chicken joints around here for me to justify the work and mess. I didn't mean to sound so critical. I hope no one was offended. :( I don't cook meat at all. D does, but his skills are somewhat limited. We don't fry chicken either. We buy it at the grocery store, fresh, cheap, and yummy. Not often, but on occasion. To me the problem is not so much the dough. It's the oven. Pizza places really do have the more ideal ovens than home ovens. I can't really imitate that at home. The texture of homemade pizza is just not the same to me. I have found a charcoal grill with a lid, very hot, makes a fantastic pizza oven. Bonus, it doesn't heat the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erin Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 If we invite friends "out to eat" we're talking somewhere Applebees-ish and up. But in our own family, "out to eat" means anywhere we have to pay, including McDonald's... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 I agree. Not that I think anyone needs to apologize for doing things differently. I prefer my own cooking too. Although pizza is one thing I do not make at home. I don't think homemade pizza is nearly as good. The compromise would be one of those take and bake ones from the grocery store. Here they often run specials $5.99 for a large. Two of them is enough for my family of 4 with leftovers eaten later that night or for breakfast. So $12 for 4 people for pizza is not bad. I like my own cooking too, and so does my family. And fortunately I enjoy cooking. We don't go out to eat very often. I spent 2 months not being able to access my kitchen when we were renovating. At first it was exciting. Yay! I don't have to cook (and worse, clean up). By the time the kitchen was done though I was really glad to NOT have to eat out yet again. I agree with you on the pizza. We like my homemade pizza but we consider it very different from pizza that we get at a pizzeria. We prefer the latter. I just don't have or want to invest in the equipment to get the crust the way we like it (NY style). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Going out to eat for us can mean eating on our picnic table out back... :lol: But in more conventional terms... it's pretty much anytime I don't have to cook or do dishes... neither of which are chores I enjoy. AND we're doing it FAR more often now when it's just the two of us than we ever did with all three boys home. The difference in cost is amazing. It's one of the perks of empty nesting. But right now garden food is "in" so we're enjoying the absolute better taste of home-grown more than going out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrittanyM Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 They're all eating out to me. Different, but eating out, yes. We rarely just "go out" for dinner though since we live in a rural area most of our dining out is because we're running errands or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Anytime we eat something we buy already cooked and I don't have to cook it, that's eating out. We can't afford to eat at places like Applebee's very often, so our eating out is mostly places like Subway and Wendy's. Many fast food restaurants have some healthy choices if you look carefully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRG Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 I think of going out to eat as spending money on a meal that someone else has cooked. For me it boils down to money spent, not whether we sat in a restaurant or what we ordered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolatechip Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 I consider going to any restaurant "going out to eat." This includes fast food. I'm in a toss-up on things like delis inside grocery stores. I lean towards not considering that "eating out." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 If I do not make it, then we are eating out. :) I have a grocery budget and an eating out budget, and that is how I determine where to take money from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elfknitter.# Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 All those things are going out to eat IMO. :iagree: The only difference between them is where I'm eating it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Any meal I eat in a restaurant (of any level) is eating out to me. If we get it to go and eat at home, it's takeout. The only time we go somewhere where a tip is required is when we eat out with my parents. It's just not in our budget. We "splurge" on Arbys once in a while (ds's 2nd favorite fast food - first isn't near us). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheryl Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Ruth Chris' last Saturday! WOW! DH received 2 gift cards from work totaling to quite a sizeable amount to that particular restaurant. We'd never been there as it's out of our budget. It was delicious! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 If I go somewhere, and pay someone to prepare food for me to consume, I have gone out to eat. that's where it goes in our budget entries. whether it's an ice cream cone, $8 at the teriyaki place, or $75 at my favorite french restaurant, it's "going out to eat". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Ruth Chris' last Saturday! WOW! DH received 2 gift cards from work totaling to quite a sizeable amount to that particular restaurant. We'd never been there as it's out of our budget. It was delicious! we go when dog and ponies are there. dh likes to check out the dog and pony, and we get a great steak dinner. :svengo: oh, my, that is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 going out to eat = eating in a restaurant with a server which requires drinks and a tip = 1-2x/yr for our family getting take out = fast food or other food that you take out of the restaurant to eat elsewhere = 3-4x/month for our family (usually on payday) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Any food where the preparation and clean-up don't fall on me. I count Chipotle that I pick up and eat on my patio as going out to eat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheryl Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 we go when dog and ponies are there. dh likes to check out the dog and pony, and we get a great steak dinner. :svengo: oh, my, that is good. explain.....don't know what that means in restaurant terms. And to think I went horseback riding today! LOL! That was our first time there. Is there more I should know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Going out to eat-a nice sit down meal. Grabbing a bite to eat-fast food, chipolte type place etc. Technically, any meal eaten elsewhere would be going out to eat. The terminology is semantics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 <snip> I do have to try the grilled pizza thing. I don't have a charcoal grill, but still I'm intrigued by trying grilled pizza. We had grilled pizza tonight. We were dubious the first time we tried it, but it is the best. We have a gas grill and it is great. Someone mentioned rotisserie chickens. That is one prepared food item I count as groceries. It is cheaper for me to buy a rotis. chick than buy a raw one and cook it. Someone else mentioned budget categories. I used to have a ton of grocery-related categories, but it got to be too complicated; the receipts would take so long to go through to enter. So now it's groceries, groceries for others (like if I am taking food to church for something), beer/wine/spirits, prepared foods, and dining which is anything we eat out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiMi 4under3 Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Going out to eat = I DON'T HAVE TO COOK, OR CLEAN THE KITCHEN TONIGHT!!!! I don't care if it's a five-star sit down meal or take-out pizza :thumbup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted July 3, 2014 Author Share Posted July 3, 2014 Going out to eat = I DON'T HAVE TO COOK, OR CLEAN THE KITCHEN TONIGHT!!!! I don't care if it's a five-star sit down meal or take-out pizza :thumbup: I like your thinking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Someone else mentioned budget categories. I used to have a ton of grocery-related categories, but it got to be too complicated; the receipts would take so long to go through to enter. So now it's groceries, groceries for others (like if I am taking food to church for something), beer/wine/spirits, prepared foods, and dining which is anything we eat out. My budget categories are broader....... if I buy it at the grocery store, it comes out of the grocery budget............. If we go out to eat as a family (at least 3 of us), I use our dining out/recreation budget.......... if I'm just picking something small up, to bring home, I usually count that as "groceries" unless I've used cash for it....... We only get a little bit of cash each week, for little things that we don't feel like keeping up with receipts for, which we call "spending money" and aren't accountable for............ like dh picked up a piece of CAKE from a restaurant tonight, which was mighty awesome...... he used cash, so it was spending money......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 I mentioned budget categories. I separate out the household stuff from food, and also separate out the food I buy dd for her apartment while away at school. Also, I occasionally make cakes for people and I separate those costs out. I also track food we eat out, whether it's grabbing a quick lunch on the go or eating at a regular restaurant. I also note how much we spent on eating out while traveling. We're a bit under five years until dh retires so we're doing a lot of expense tracking to come up with our expected retirement budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Going out to eat in my house just means I am not in the mood to cook or cleanup the mess. It can be anywhere. When hubby ask me to pick where to go for fine dining, it means we are going somewhere relatively pricy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Is it ANY food/meal eaten away from home that you pay for? Is it a sit down meal? Something in between? Going "out to eat" can be very expensive........but on the flip side, right now you can get a $1.99 kid's meal at Wendy's with a grilled chicken wrap, apples, and milk.....or other less healthy but tasty choices. Does a $5 footlong Subway sub cut into 3 ($1.67 each) or 4 ($1.25 each) pieces count as going "out" to eat? How about when you pick up 1 thing from the dollar menu for each person and then fill in with fruits and veggies from home? Obviously those things are much cheaper than say a sit down meal at Applebee's, Olive Garden, etc. for the whole family. It seems like we go out to eat quite a bit.........but in reality it is things like splitting a $5 sub 3 or 4 ways, etc. I consider it "going out to eat" if it meets both of the following criteria. 1. I am not eating it in my home. 2. I did not have to cook/prepare it. So, for me Subway counts as eating out, as does Olive Garden, the community BBQ over the weekend, fries and a Coke at the drive-thru window at McDonald's, the Lions pancake fundraiser breakfast, etc., etc. I'm really not that fussy about what constitutes going out to eat. I'm usually just glad that someone else is cooking for me for a change. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted July 3, 2014 Share Posted July 3, 2014 Going out to eat is when MOM gets a break - no cooking, no cleaning, and someone waits on me and fetches MY every whim instead of me serving everyone else in the family. Wendy's and fast food to eat at home is "grabbing fast food." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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