Reply #71: We haven't eaten out as a family for well over a year... fine with me

[renate]

My husband's family was, briefly (and therefore typically), in the restaurant business... it's a HARD way to make a living and I have every single sympathy in the world for restaurant owners.

A couple of times my family have gone out (when I was out of town), and we do grab a bite when we're on the road and it's cheaper to go to McDonald's than to go anywhere else, but otherwise we haven't gone out to eat in over 15 months. It's really not that painful a thing to give up (I'm the one who does the cooking, so I can say that). By shopping at Trader Joe's and Costco, and by avoiding meat or cutting down on it, I can feed four of us well at dinner for less than $10, easy. Going out to eat would be actually unpleasant for me because I'd be thinking about what could be bought for the $30 or $40 over the cost of an at-home meal.

I'm certainly not criticizing those who enjoy eating out, nor--by any means--am I calling restaurants overpriced, because they're not. Most barely make a profit.