With a resident's salary...Eating out is NOT an option...

[labmouse]

It has been a while since we last eat out because i cook dinner everyday. Then, last week DH has a 5 day holiday (yippie...) and we went out to the town for lunch and dinner for 4 consecutive days... guess what.. the eating out bill turned out to be $200... for 4 days... ahhhhh... and all we had was local diners, Wendy's and chinese food. Each meal was about $20 for both of us. And i almost fainted... =( Could have bought a new camera with the money...sad...

Note: our weekly grocery is only $60-80 max...

Now who says doctors earn money.....need to save save save... NO MORE eating out

Well at least you had fun. My hubby is a 3yMS and we went out for the first time in a long time yesterday, only because we had a GC somewhere. It was only for 10 bucks we were stressed out over paying 10 bucks from our own pocket. Sheesh what can you do?

Eating out adds up really fast. We took advantage of it when attendings offered to pay! (Or the department, for things like journal club - probably varies by program.) I didn't always get to go along, but DH often brought home good free food. You'll be able to pass along the favor someday.

(ETA: Not that we expect to eat out all the time in attendinghood, either! It is and will always be a money drain.)

[MarissaNicole]

Eating out is painfully expensive, and its hard because other people who eat out regularly don't understand the drain that it is on a resident's budget! I've been asking people to come over to our house for dinner to save money, and then I also use our credit card points to buy restaurant gift certificates to use, which is a nice treat every once and a while and then we don't feel as guilty.

When we go out- we try to only go to places where I have a groupon or restaurant.com coupon (only bought during the 90% off sales). Eating out does add up really fast- but I love doing it! Someday I'd like to be able to just go out to fancy places and not have to worry about it.

[diggitydot]

The nice thing about interview season is we get to hit a few decent local eateries on the hospital's dime. Mmmmm, Bang Bang Shrimp.

But, it all depends on the program and COL in the area. We occasionally go out and it's completely within our budget.

[MrsPotts]

Sometimes it is just so hard to cook too because you are just so tired of it! We usually get pizza once on the weekends but that's about it. I miss Chili's!! lol

[diggitydot]

Heh. Speakig of interview dinners, looks like we have one tonight. Bonefish, here we come.

[houseelf]

I remember reading somewhere that the average difference between a home meal versus restaurant meal was almost 500 calories! Eating in is better for all bottom lines.

[alison]

Not to mention, the saaaaaaalt!
You can really control what goes in your food!

[MissCrabette]

I think it's possible to eat out, even on a resident's salary. You just have to make sure it's part of your budget. That may mean not going out every month or going out with coupons and gift certificates like others have mentioned. If you go over in the dining out category, you may have to reduce spending in another area to break even. I know it's not the dream life most people imagine doctors to have, but a good number of American families live on this amount of money for their entire lives, so it can be done.

[MrsK]

Some suggestions for saving money dining out. . .

Split meals. Resturant portions are ridiculous.

Entertainment Book (good for BOGO dinners), Groupon, Resturants.com (and they run 80-90% sales at times.

Also, most chain resturants have loyalty clubs. If you sign up, you can get coupons, discounts, and sometimes even free food. Many will send you a freebee for signing up. Also, some will send you a coupon for a free meal or dessert the week of your birthday. (I suggest that you use different family member birthdays for each to avoid getting more coupons than you can use in a week.) Sign up on their websites. I know there are clubs for TGI Fridays (tons of coupons), Chilis (birthday dessert, free queso), PF Changs, Outback, Red Robin, Dairy Queen (lots of BOGO blizzard coupons), Olive Garden, Applebees (free dessert on your birthday), Baskin Robins (free ice cream on your birthday), Bennigans (free dessert on your birthday), Burger King, California Pizza Kitchen, Cold Stone Creamery, Fox & Hound (BOGO entrees on your birthday), IHOP, Ruby Tuesdays, etc. There are a million of them.

Lots of chains have "kids eat free" nights too. www.mykidseatfree.com

I think it's possible to eat out too, but for us we try to budget "extra food" money and "itunes" into our monthly budget. I think because we get to order in our go out to eat for work or dinner really helps us from overspending when we do. I make all the dinners, breakfasts, and lunches...so I can understand that it's more cost effective to eat at home. But it's nice to get out every once in a while for a quick lunch or modest dinner. breaks up the dinners and such at the house, and give the cook (you) a break!

Haha Mickey-D's works for our budget!