My husband and I go out for breakfast every Sunday to a small local place. It costs us $25, and it’s totally worth it. My husband also eats out on Thursdays for trivia at a dive bar where he is a regular and gets $2 rum and cokes and cheap food. That’s another $25. About once a month we will either take ourselves or our adult kids out for a nicer meal, about $150 on average. So that’s roughly $350 a month excluding special occasions and travel.

We would be better off financially if we ate out less, but we both enjoy it tremendously. The value it adds to our life is worth the money. This is why we work.