Finding it increasingly difficult to justify eating out at pubs etc

Agree!

My DH is a really good cook as well, so I just end up thinking he could’ve done this better and for a fraction of the cost.

Yes we've never been big fans anyway, but would really pain me to go now. We just get the supermarket takeaway boxes/meal deals as a "treat"!

Yes strong agree. Add in my kids often don't eat much. Waste of money and time.

Absolutely! I refuse to pay £17 for fish and chips which is tiny compared to a chippy and usually less good, especially when it's £6 for a drink and the atmosphere is a bit shit.

We used to eat out a lot, but stopped completely a while back.
It wasn’t just the meals cost a fortune, the quality had really altered in a lot of places we used to eat out at. It was more like eating a very extremely overpriced ready meal!

Agreed, and it makes me sad because our DC will have a narrower upbringing than I would like. The local farm to us has a new company running their cafe and a brownie or slice of loaf cake was £5!

I agree we're over £100 for a family of four for a pub meal with no alcohol. It's too much. We can only go every 2-3months now and I'm not sure it's worth it.

Yes! DH and I used to eat out at least twice a week. Once in the week and then again on a Sunday. Occasionally we would have a takeaway on a weekend night too or visit a pub again.
We have actually stopped going just over the past month. We were finding we were spending at least £45 on a standard pub meal each and one or two drinks each. A few times the bill came to nearer £70, as we had a starter and I had a cup of tea!

Also we only tend to pop out for an hour hour and a half or so which makes it a very pricey hour!
We calculated we were spending, most months, over £500 which is bonkers really. Clearly lots of other people are thinking the same!

We do have a good disposable income and enjoy eating out (and not cooking) but have decided that we're going to book some more short breaks and holidays with the cash instead.

Agreed. DH and I were just looking at the menu for a local village pub and couldn’t believe it when we saw sausage, mash and peas priced at £17.50! Who the fuck is paying that for bangers and mash, literally the most basic meal that even the most inept cooks can make at home?! There were also starters priced at £12 when I swear I was paying that for decent main only a few years ago…

Yes. Especially for an average place. It’s not worth it.

Yes, as well as the cost meals going up we’ve definitely noticed that the quality and level of service has absolutely dived over the past few years. Also a lot of the restaurants we used to go to frequently are looking grubby and in need of refurbishment, while charging top whack for their food. The overall experience is no longer worth the money.

We have one really lovely local independent restaurant that we eat out at often and the main reason I think it’s so consistently good is that the owners are there all the time, she is front of house, he is head chef. They close the place when they go on holiday.

Yes. No way I can justify the cost for fairly meh food, especially because DHs cooking is fantastic. It's a shame though because I miss the experience of eating out