is going out for lunch/brunch once a week as a family too much?

[7999ghkk]

Guess same as everyone else trying to manage the coming cost of living rise o trying to budget ahead. We have two little kids and we regularly - once a week go out for lunch/brunch on a sunday. We dont get any other takeaways and although I do go out for dinner or drinks with friend once or twice a month - DH and I havent been out together on an evening since sept 2019 and he very rarely goes out. But going out for food with family has become our regular. Would you cut it out? Or keep it? It seems like an unnecessary extra but kids dont like ice cream or sweets so cant fob them off with that. How often do you go out to eat as a family.

Just to clarify. You mean that between you you bringing 6.5k net a month. Of which 2.5k is committed to the mortgage and 1.5k to childcare, so giving you £2.5k a month to cover all bills, transport, food and discretionary spending? Whilst that is a comfortable amount, exactly how comfortable will depend a lot on your other financial commitments and spending habits.

If I were you I would do a more detailed review of my finances and work out precisely how much discretionary spending I had each month. I would then look at how the current cost of living crisis is likely to affect that and review whether I had enough in savings etc. I would then decide whether I valued the weekly brunch enough for it to take up that proportion of my discretionary spend. Personally I wouldn't place enough value on regular brunch to spend £2.5k a year on it, especially when that was my monthly income after mortgage and childcare. You might value it differently and may well be able to afford it given your priorities and spending.

They key is to have informed and mindful spending.

If you can afford it and enjoy it, yes it is fine.

As everyone says, it depends on your budget, priorities and whether you enjoy it as a family! We love eating out, my teens still love it and get excited, we go out about once a week together, but manage a lunch or two as well, which is cheaper. We don't drink and often share a dessert (just out of choice) so it's a reasonable price and we do take in to consideration costs when thinking about where to go.

To me, having to do a picnic would be a giant hassle followed by washing up so that wouldn't be for me.

Clearly if you have budget issues, takeaways and eating out are disposable items along with cleaners, gardeners, extra child activities and so on. You just have to decide where your priorities are- for me, eating out is part of a social world and so it's something I love to have my children do, and they in turn often eat out with their teenage friends now as a social activity- they meet for pizza and a chat somewhere mid-priced. That's what I do with my friends.

If that's not your lifestyle, don't do it!

Of course it's fine. As long as you're not struggling it's a lovely thing to do and it's keeping local businesses going.

This is a bit of a strange question OP, because it sounds like you are asking for other people's opinions on whether eating out is 'worth it', and really only you can answer that! Perhaps you are feeling a bit guilty for spending money unnecessarily, particularly when the economic outlook is so gloomy.

For what it's worth, I do think eating out regularly(ish) with young children is a good thing to do if you can comfortably afford it. It's good for them to learn the etiquette around how restaurants work, and if everyone is having a good time, then great. It's also a lot cheaper to do when children are young.

Whether you would get more value or enjoyment from spending the money on something else instead is a question only you can answer.

It just goes to show how income is irrelevant. Our household income is less than half of the OP yet I think nothing of spending £50 on brunch.
We have no mortgage or childcare to pay for, our biggest outgoing is food (including eating out and food shopping) followed by energy.

I love eating out as a family, don’t think it’s frivolous at all (as long as it’s better/different to what I can knock up at home) I’d guess we spend £400pm+ on eating out as a family

we average less often than that but probably at least twice a month, and more over school holidays.We enjoy it and can afford it - though usually just cafe lunch which is under £30 for us all. It's cheaper and more relaxed than eating out with kids in the evening. We rarely get takeaways.

Our household income is nowhere near as high as yours. I would keep going if you enjoy it! I also think it's nice that young kids get used to eating out as they can learn how to behave.

You earn £120k, and someone is likely either working very hard now or has worked very hard in the past to reach a position where they can do that. Most people never have that opportunity. It sounds as though a huge proportion of your income goes on things which are necessary, but aren't things you enjoy or for youreselves. This is where you get to enjoy £50/week of all that hard work, and spend quality time with your family. It's hardly extravagant, it's not like your at the Ritz every week.If your bills go up £50/week, then you'll have to stop. Don't worry about it. And don't feel guilty, because the economy depends on people who have money spending it; if everyone now takes the attitude that they'd better save and not spend, then a lot of small businesses will be going bust!

@Headteacher415 I totally agree- there are so many small enterprises that depend on 'some' people not just paying for essentials. If it's not affecting your quality of life carry on.

We go out together to eat as a family of 5 probably once a week. Sometimes though there may be 3 or 4 of us depending on what the older ones are up to.
combination of lunch, brunch or dinner.
We can afford it, we enjoy it and it broadens the littlest ones food horizons.
If you enjoy it and can afford it, carry on! We find they’re really nice opportunities for conversation and we all take it in turns to choose where to go. It’s taken us on some really nice little jaunts to new places we would never usually have found.

This.

I see frequent custom of the local cafes, delis etc as the duty of those that can afford it. And I'd much rather spend my money on a nice family brunch then a takeaway pizza or similar.