How Much Is Too Much To Spend On Take Out?

Discussion in Food & Drink started by Miaka_M • Jun 2, 2015.

  1. Miaka_M

    Miaka_MActive Member

    Joined:
    Oct 13, 2013
    Threads:
    100
    Messages:
    467
    Likes Received:
    43
    Whenever I go out with my boyfriend, it seems like we are literally eating the money when we go out for dinner/lunch! The bill is about $50 for the bother of us. Now, that may seem like a lot of money, but I kid you not when I say that some places charge a lot more than that. There are some places in the world that shred gold on their food products to bump up the price! Would someone really spend $1,000 on a meal? I think $50 is pretty decent, and the most that I would ever spend!
     
  2. MyDigitalpoint

    MyDigitalpointActive Member

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2012
    Threads:
    35
    Messages:
    562
    Likes Received:
    96
    Definitely there are dining out places where your bill can go up to thousand dollars, depend much on the chosen place and the area of the city where this is located, more than if food they serve, but yet price might be higher if some dishes in their menu included exotic or imported ingredients.

    Personally I try to avoid dining out like hell but, if needed, I may consider fast food chains or street food-selling stands, mostly for hunger emergency case.

    Otherwise, I prefer carry a take-out meal from my own kitchen, or buy bread and ham from a grocery store for an "on-the-go" sandwich.

    If not, my other option is getting someone inviting me to eat and paying for it. If someone wants to pay a huge dinner bill and don't care about despite I could try to make him/her aware of this, then go ahead, what else can I do?

    There are times you are not given with the chance to opine on the chosen place someone invites you dinner, not being able to opine on the resulting bill either.
     
  3. DrRipley

    DrRipleyExpert

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2012
    Threads:
    740
    Messages:
    4,313
    Likes Received:
    315
    A good measure I use for buying takeout is to calculate if the amount would be equal to or at least come close to what I would spend if I just cook food at home. I do this mostly for takeout on regular days since I buy food a lot more frequently than I cook. If the amount I would pay for buying food instead of cooking it comes close to what I would spend on an individual home cooked meal, I would consider it worth it since I also put into consideration that if I cooked the meal myself I'd be exerting effort and spending my own time as well. For more special occasions like a weekend splurge for a bit of relaxation, I tend to not be as meticulous with the calculation.
     
  4. BrandonScooterman

    BrandonScootermanActive Member

    Joined:
    May 28, 2015
    Threads:
    17
    Messages:
    317
    Likes Received:
    70
    Well it depends what you can afford! $20 per person for food and $10 for drink is my go to rule of thumb.
    but $1000 is a little steep. However some people like to brag about how much money they spend so perhaps those style meals are more for them.
     
  5. LeopardJones

    LeopardJonesActive Member

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2015
    Threads:
    13
    Messages:
    711
    Likes Received:
    135
    Meals that cost $1,000 make me think of Patrick Bateman…

    I agree that it depends on your budget. Most meals out and takeout food cost more than what I could cook at home, so I try to reserve them for special treats. But looking around town, I’ve found some affordable, delicious places that’ll give me a great dinner plus a drink for around $15. Sometimes less. That’s not my upper limit (my favorite place is more along the lines of $20-25 per person or more, depending on what you order), but I’m more likely to visit those places a bit more frequently than others.
     
  6. dyanmarie25

    dyanmarie25Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2015
    Threads:
    10
    Messages:
    472
    Likes Received:
    51
    Honestly, I would never spend over $10 for my dinner. That is a little too much for me. I am actually pretty stringent when it comes to money and why would I buy food for over $10 when I know there are a lot of restaurants that offer cheap but healthy meal?
     
  7. DreekLass

    DreekLassWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 1, 2014
    Threads:
    16
    Messages:
    3,091
    Likes Received:
    552
    I love a good take out, or ordering takeaway, but I don't usually have a lot of money to blow on fast food, so I have to spend small whenever I do purchase. Because of this reason, the highest that I will spend on any one takeaway is £20. Anything else is too much for me. Ideally, I'd like my purchase to be £15 or under. Or £10 or less is possible. But anything over £20 is ridiculous to me. Of course, it depends upon whether or not you have a big family to buy food for.
     
  8. JoanMcWench

    JoanMcWenchActive Member

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2013
    Threads:
    157
    Messages:
    762
    Likes Received:
    76
    Bateman.

    ...I don't know. I tend to overspend when I go out but then I do try to limit how often I go out. Using eating out at a restaurant or getting take out as a rare treat it seems to backfire because I like to get a mix of things to taste. Need more tapas in my neighbourhood. Save some cash.
     
  9. Natalie89

    Natalie89Member

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2015
    Threads:
    2
    Messages:
    38
    Likes Received:
    13
    I don't think I've ever spent more than £15 on a take away, but that's per person. The biggest bill we had was when we ordered pizza for a big party we were having at work and it came to about £300, but there was a lot of us and that included a tip.
     
  10. Jannnnjan

    JannnnjanActive Member

    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2015
    Threads:
    4
    Messages:
    106
    Likes Received:
    16
    We as a family do tend to have a Chinese takeaway about once a month. The cost here in Britain is around £25-£30 for a family of four. As it's a treat I don't mind that. We also go out for Sunday lunch on special occasions such as birthdays and can spend £40-£60 including drinks for the family.
    Also we have fish and chips occasionally which costs £5 per head.
    I wouldn't like to spend more than this and have just realised that we must spend at least £600 a year on these outings! It does mount up when you add it up.
     
  11. Jessi

    Jessi<a href="http://www.quirkycookery.com">QuirkyCooke

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2012
    Threads:
    126
    Messages:
    2,256
    Likes Received:
    78
    I think $50 is reasonable every now and then, but I wouldn't spend that on every meal. I would much prefer to keep it around the $20 mark for eating out...or $30 for delivery at most.

    Anything more than that and I just end up thinking about how many groceries I could've bought for the same price and how many meals that would've been worth instead.
     
  12. Theo

    TheoWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2014
    Threads:
    308
    Messages:
    2,880
    Likes Received:
    727
    Take out is a treat these days, where it used to be a regular habit for convenience. I look at how much it costs versus a ready made meal and if it's the same price then that's fine.

    Generally there are always deals and coupons with take out so it depends what I am having, but usually it's pizza and I spend $15 on a large one to share. There are always coupons fr BOGOF or meal deals though so it can bring the price down considerably.Many places also match each others vouchers now too.
     
  13. Clairelouise84

    Clairelouise84Member

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2015
    Threads:
    13
    Messages:
    97
    Likes Received:
    12
    I would never want to spend that much money on a meal as I know that I would feel so guilty about it afterwards for ages! I would say £50 is good for a restaurant but for actual take out I would say £20 is about my limit, especially as I could make a LOT of meals for £20.
     
  14. Thejamal

    ThejamalActive Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2, 2013
    Threads:
    33
    Messages:
    667
    Likes Received:
    16
    I guess it depends on how you classify take-out. I've never spent close to $50 on fast food, even when out with family and friends and I cover the bill. I don't consider Chinese take-out "fast food" and more of a nicer place to eat, so you can justify spending a little more there.

    I don't eat out very much, so I don't mind spending whatever on something I want. I won't go overboard, but I don't mind spending up a bit.
     
  15. Onionman

    OnionmanActive Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2014
    Threads:
    13
    Messages:
    443
    Likes Received:
    44
    If you've got a couple of million in the bank then spending $1000 on a meal doesn't really touch the sides. It's not to say that people should spend stupid money on meals, because at the end of the day a meal is a meal. But it's really down to affordability. If you can genuinely afford it then you've got the power to choose.
     
  16. sazzydan

    sazzydanMember

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2015
    Threads:
    5
    Messages:
    96
    Likes Received:
    10
    It depends on where you eat I think. I would not spend more than £30 on two of us, which I think is quite high really. Some places tend to be really cheap, but like all things I think their prices are going up and up.
     
  17. katherine25

    katherine25Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2015
    Threads:
    3
    Messages:
    85
    Likes Received:
    10
    Take out these days can be so expensive. I personally don't like to order a meal that costs more than 15 dollars but on a rare special occasion I will. Also if I know I am going out to eat sometimes I will look at their menu online to get an idea of their prices so I know what to expect when I get there, it really helps to budget on the bill.
     
  18. Cash In Hand

    Cash In HandMember

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2015
    Threads:
    4
    Messages:
    36
    Likes Received:
    6
    Even if you only eat out once a week, that adds up to $2,600 a year for 52 meals. Knowing that, you tell us.....is that too much? I don't know what your budget is, but it seems to me that the money you spend on that luxury could be better suited being spent or saved elsewhere.

    Now if you and your boyfriend pull down $250,000 a year, then you're probably not going to feel $2,600 too hard. But still, I could never personally justify spending that much on food.
     
  19. MikeyPaine

    MikeyPaineActive Member

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2013
    Threads:
    14
    Messages:
    163
    Likes Received:
    8
    Depends on what kind of food you're eating, and how many people you're feeding. A pizza could cost around 15 dollars, but if I was offered a 15 dollar steak, I might not take it because it might not be up to my standard. Whenever I got out with my family, it's usually a little more than 10 dollars per person.
     
  20. xTinx

    xTinxWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2014
    Threads:
    8
    Messages:
    1,793
    Likes Received:
    191
    Well, if you're buying on behalf of 20 to 30 people or treating them to lunch or dinner because it's your birthday or something, then it's reasonable to spend $1,000 on take out. However, spending $1,000 on take out all for yourself is never going to be reasonable. I can spend as much as $10 for brunch and gobble up the food alone. Beyond that is just too much.