It’s one of those things we tell ourselves we can dramatically reduce. Unfortunately, the truth is that cutting out all the things you enjoy to save money doesn’t exactly lead to a fulfilling life. It’s important to spend time with the people you care about, it’s important to indulge occasionally in activities that we find satisfying. Saying “I’m never going to eat out” is unrealistic.
You can, however, say: “I will eat out only once or twice a month.” You can also decide to make it worthwhile when you do eat out. Most of all, you can make sure that when you go out, you get the best bang for your buck.
You should have an entertainment budget set aside each month. If you don’t, you’ll still spend money on things like drinks in the pub, the occasional meal in a restaurant or a comedy night with your colleagues, and those events will be guilty pleasures because they’re out of budget. Accept you’ll spend money on luxuries, so that you can control that spending.
When you spend part of your budget on entertainment, you should still be getting value for money. In this article we’ll look specifically at how to spend less on eating out.