Does anyone else do this for the rest of the week if you've been out for a meal?

[Sshhhitsstillsummer]

Never used to, but restaurant prices were not as extortionate as they seem to be nowadays.
Went out for a nice lunch today, spent around 70, which is quite a lot for us, but we wanted an end of holidays last meal.
Now I will probably cut right back for the week on food spending.
For example, simple pasta dishes, omlettes, beans on toast and jacket potatoes for the week.
Does anyone else do this?

Don't be ridiculous.

No we don’t do this but we don’t view eating out as food spending so maybe that’s why.

No, because the money for food shopping and eating out comes out of different budgets.

I do plan a couple of cheaper meals in each week anyway.

If I've blown a big chunk of disposable income on a meal or night out, I would probably have a few freezer meals the following week. But generally eating out doesn't have a huge impact on my monthly spend.

Yes, we’d do that if spent a lot on a meal out xx gotta make up for it somewhere xx

No, it will be a bleak day when I have to budget like that.

Yes, I’d do this but normally in the run up to the meal out not after.

I would'nt spend £70 on a lunch because of the squeeze it would cause on my discretionery spending.

No. If eating out meant I had to have omelettes for the rest of the week, I wouldn’t eat out.

Two adults and a child, very good, fresh fish etc

😂😂😂😂

Same as a PP, we have a different pot for eating out. We add an agreed amount to 'Dining Out' each month and it's separate to our weekly food budget. If it wasn't healthy enough to support the meal out, we wouldn't bother.

Really 😔

We probably wouldn’t eat out if it meant we had to scrimp for the rest of the week.

What I do though (and my family take the piss), is if I’ve eaten out at lunchtime, I won’t have dinner. Or if I’m going out for dinner I won’t eat lunch (or breakfast but that’s everyday for me).

Isn't this just basic budgeting?

Three people for £70.00 is fine for a lunch, that is just over £20.00 each. If you can't afford it, you can't, but that is pretty standard nowadays.

Yes, really.

The OP didn't say it was extortionate - but it was a lot for them

I’m going through a period of anxiety/depression and I’m eating a lot less. I’ve noticed that I’m spending less on food (I know that seems obvious but my brain hasn’t been great at noticing anything lately). Literally spending hundreds less each month. Took me by surprise. I don’t recommend it as a money saving tip of course, but it’s a silver lining to an otherwise dreadful situation.

We don’t, as we leave an extra cushion in our joint account for takeaways.

As in cheap or expensive?

It's not expensive in terms of eating out, but if you have a strict budget, it has to be accounted for somewhere.

I'd personally be happy to readjust my budget for a nice meal out.

No - food budget comes under "bills" for us. So it's a constant, similar amount.

Meals out comes under "fun money/discretionary spending" which I have a monthly pot for. If I'd spent all my fun money I wouldn't eat out. If I spent all my fun money on eating out, I might not buy a new top, for example. It wouldn't impact our food budget in that way.

It was actually three people, apparently.

This is a typical week for me, eating cheaper than cheap meals - it’s not ‘cutting back’ and using Olio as much as possible.

Lucky you! Have a celebratory biscuit! 🍪