background

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Eating Out Takes on a Whole New Meaning

Jimmy received a small bonus yesterday and we decided to go wild and take the kids out to dinner. Yipppeeee!! We were so wild we went to Applebee's since it was Wednesday so the kids could eat for only 99cents...oh ya...there's no stopping us now!

Well, I have to tell you...it was not an extremely fun time. The company was great...but I get that every night for free in my own home. The food was okay...I ordered the steak and I think my hubby's steaks taste way better (and they cost half as much!). I think that if we are going to make a big deal of going out then we really need to go somewhere that will make it worth our while. Applebee's is okay but I can cook all of that food at home. I need to go out for seafood or somewhere that I can see a show while I'm eating....really make it a grand night.

The biggest issue we had was the cost. Since we are so money conscious right now with all of my new resolutions, it was hard to enjoy being frivolous. First of all, the bill came to $30 which isn't bad but I got $140 worth of groceries on Sunday and only paid $65...so that $30 is the equivalent of a half week's worth of groceries!

While scanning the bill we realized that Jim's ice tea cost us $2.40. Are you kidding me??!! I just bought 80 teabags for $2.48 this weekend....80 teabags!! for the same price as his one ice tea!! Crazy!

My $9.99 7oz steak dinner was loaded with little costs. I did upgrade to add shrimp and parmesan which cost me $1.99. I asked the waitress for a baked potato for my side and was shocked to find out that I was charged .99cents to get it loaded (I thought that was standard as a side dish). Then I also ordered a side caesar salad which was $2.50. So...my ten dollar dinner really was a fifteen dollar dinner to get it how I wanted it. My choice, I understand, but it adds up so quickly!

The Oreo shake that was offered to the children was $1.99 each. I told the kids no...which is crazy because I ALWAYS let my kids eat dessert at the restaurant. I explained to them that the $6 it would cost me to buy the three shakes could pay for a whole pint of Cookies and Cream ice cream which they could eat for three or four nights.

Maybe this whole money saving thing is going too far...I'm starting to become cynical! Oh well...I'll just go drown my tears in all the money I'm going to save....by never eating out again!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey Krista, you weren't looking at what you were getting for free. You didn't have to cook, you didn't have dishes to do, you had someone waiting on you. They probably brought paper and crayons for the kids. $30.00 is very reasonable for 5 people. When you made the decision to go out, you should have enjoyed the moment and the time spent with your family without the distraction of cooking and cleaning. You should have been celebrating the bonus that Jimmy just made. It's awesome that you are doing such a fabulous job saving your money, so don't fret over a $30.00 meal. Lighten up girlie!