We probably eat dinner out 4 nights a week, I don't feel guilty. Some times my dh will bring a pizza home on his way home from work or we'll go out to a restaurant. Sometimes the day's my dh is off we'll go out for breakfast or lunch if we are out and about.

I don't feel guilty. I make almost every meal at home and pack DH lunch so the infrequent dinner out is such a treat for me- no planning, prepping or clean-up. It's like a day off and we can each get something we really enjoy rather than all eating the same thing.

That said, I am not afraid to use coupons -especially the B1G1 from Entertainment Book and such. And, we are fortunate enough that gift cards to restaurants seem to be a popular gift for birthdays and such from our families.

me too!!!

No, not at all. We've been really good about not going out, but we had a coupon for a bogo Italian buffet at a really nice restaurant. Ds ate free, and it was a nice restaurant with good food and we paid...$14.95 plus tip. But I insisted we pay in Cash, no cc. No guilt here!

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I don't and it seems to me it would be a waste to go out and then feel bad. There are times when we don't go out at for a while and then another week we will go 1 or 2 times.
Before I started Mommysavers I would go out to lunch every day. My 1st job can be really stressful and dh and I wanted to be sure I got a break from it. Then working 2 or 3 nights a week I would usually grab something on the way home at least one of those nights.
Well I have cut that to almost nothing. Unless my schedule is just too hectic or if I have to run errands during lunch I will grab something. But I now take my lunch almost daily and eat a bowl of cereal on my late 2nd job nights.
So no feeling guilty!
We do use coupons though and don't go to really ridiculous priced restaraunts anymore.
One example would be Red Robin the last time we went there I had soup and sandwich and dh had an appetizer and 1 beer (during happy hour) and the bill was close to 40$ before tip?! I won't go there anymore!

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Karen

bamemm, I dont start out feeling guilty, i guess its like buyers remorse. Everytime I see the bill the first thing that flashes in my head is that I could of made the same meal for so much cheaper. I know its silly but I cant help it.

Stormy, Whats the restraraunt? Maybe I wont feel so bad if I found a coupon and fed the whole family for that price!

OH Momof2boys I didn't say that to make anyone feel bad! I guess just cuz I feel that everyone of us really deserve a nice night out and enjoy.
I am older than quite a few posters here and I remember things that would set my guilt alarm off when I was a young mom!
The big one was if I spent money more money on myself than was usual I would always get a blinding headache.
But as I have gotten older I think I finally realize that sometimes you just gotta have some fun. I don't mean to go into debt or anything either but I know when dh and I were younger when we went out to dinner it was get what you want because who knows when we will go out again!

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Karen

Or try this give dh a certain amount for the dinner tell him to make sure we don't go over and don't look at the bill. Have him pay. Then you can enjoy your dinner a little longer!

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Karen

That is how I feel...dh and I do go out to eat...and he wants to do it once a month(just the two of us), but babysitter is 20 bucks and then our meal and if we go out for drinks after, it gets expensvie!

Yes! You said it. Every time we order fast food or pizza I do enjoy the food but feel guilty about spending the money. After all is said and done I have a little voice inside my head saying it was money that could of been spend elsewhere.