We’ve been real estate investors until the market turned and our income began to disappear. So, in an effort to still get to eat out, my husband and I started challenging each other to find restaurants that we could eat at for $5 each. We actually didn’t mind just ordering water to drink and receiving smaller portions of food (which was better for us anyway).

It was so much fun, that the project evolved into creating a website for restaurants to post their $5 and $10 meals for everyone to see. It’s been so popular here in San Antonio that we’re branching out to other cities. Consumers like us are really appreciating knowing about affordable places to eat that don’t require “drive through”.

I try to go out for a $500+ meal once a year. We have $200 dining out budget and sometimes we go over. Its fine because that what we enjoy doing. My goal of early retirement is right on track because we still save 30% of our salary, we’ve increased our mortgage payments so that 50% goes towards principal, we are also putting a lump sum payment.

Life is meant to be enjoyed but if saving every last dime is what you enjoy then go live in a grass hut and drink your own recycled urine.

Love your blog! Think you’re a great source of information. Wasn’t trying to take pot shots. Just surprised at the amount you spend on eating out. For the record, I use coupon mom to save on groceries, eat out once a month, car pool with my wife in our only car, max out our Roth’s, max out 401k/TSP, use Heath Savings Accounts, set thermostat to 66 in winter, have 18%/23% debt ratio w/ 30 yr fixed, and don’t have loans on depreciating assets. I practice what I preach.

Once again, can’t thank you enough for the information over the months I’ve been reading. I always appreciate your opinion.

That’s great that you feel you can afford $500 a month for eating out while you have a loan for a depreciating asset and minimal equity in your home.

And yes, we do live large in the areas of cars and dining out, but my wife’s MINI has been paid off for 1.5 years and my truck is 3 years old and 2/3rds paid off. We both really like our vehicles and we’re pretty content with them. The problem before was that we didn’t align our needs and wants and bought cars that weren’t right for us.

The problem for us is that we can more than afford even $500 a month, but we recognize that just because we can doesn’t mean we should. And that’s why I’m being open on here, partly to tell you guys a story, but also to keep us accountable to our own budget. It’s been realistic for 2 years now, but only because we use coupons and share dinners.

I don’t need to count pennies, and I could easily afford to eat out. I just prefer to cook, and also consider spending the cost of two nice skirts on one meal a total waste of money. I can buy a sweater and a skirt at Ann Taylor on sale for less than $82. Nowadays, when expensive stores cannot sell much of their stuff so stores like TJ Maxx get a lot of nice things, I recently bought two pairs of new all-leather designer shoes at TJ Maxx and spent less in total. Is a single meal really worth 2 nice pairs of shoes? If you don’t care about shoes, I am sure you can think of a number of useful items $82 can buy. It seems totally strange to me to spend that much for a single meal.

Oh well, I can and do spend on other stuff, like theater tickets, and maybe you get as much in “experience” from a single dinner as I get from a visit to the Metropolitan opera. But… I can easily afford what I do with my 6 digit salary and no debt, not even mortgage. I don’t even bother with having a budget. So If you can afford dinners and they give you as much pleasure as some of the other items that cost the same, no problem. I just could never bring myself to spend that much on eating out. Probably a cultural thing – most of my immigrant friends cook.