Not at all...but we can afford it and we do it often. DH and I go out almost every weekend for a nice dinner. It's something we really love to do, go to nice resturants and have wonderful meals, try new things etc If we couldn't afford it, we wouldn't do it. Period.

The other day my dd (age 6) came home from school and said, "My friends said that you could call a number and someone would bring a pizza right to your house! Is that true?????" We've never done it!

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If it's a planned activity and expense then I don't feel bad about it. This last week I went out to eat a couple of times but they were planned in advance and budgeted for so I had no reason to feel guilty about them. Once was for a coworkers birthday (had to go) and once was for a rare Sat. evening out with a friend.

I think the times to feel guilty about are when you are just suddenly feeling too 'lazy' to fix a meal so you eat out instead of cooking when you have food there in the house. I would definately feel guilty if I did that. Today my DS was begging me to go out for lunch but when I reminded him that he had helped pick out at the store what we were going to eat today - then he was more excited to eat at home!

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Better to give your kids the values you have
than the valuables you can't afford.

I don't feel guilty about the price per se, but I often feel that I didn't get enough "value" for my money. If the meal is extraordinary or the service is outstanding, I don't mind paying, but this is rarely the case. Spending $50 for a mediocre meal for my family (of 5) just ruins my evening.

To be honest, because of this, we rarely go out. However, I do not hesitate to buy first class stuff (wine, beef, seafood, etc.) for our at home celebrations. It seems that no matter how much I splurge on these things at the grocery store, it is still MUCH cheaper than eating out.

No I never feel guilty when we go eat out, however the meal is always budgeted for as we view eating out a treat, so they are reserved for special occasions such as birthdays or aniverserys or a cellabration of something.

Back in the day when I was still working, we ate out probably once a week. ANd there were nights when both of us got home later than we planned and it was just easier to order take-out.
Now that I'm a SAHM, we rarely eat out, so it's a planned treat and I don't feel guilty. I do feel guilt, though, on those occasions when we're out doing errands or something and it looks as though we won't make it home in a reasonable time for dinner so we end up buying dinner -- even fast food. At those times I feel unnecessary guilt for failing to plan appropriately.

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~Jeweled

We eat out once a week and I don't feel guilty because dinner time is always stressful and it is a break for me. My toddler typically screams the entire time I making dinner or my children are in the living room fighting over toys.

Nope because we rarely do it....and if we do take the kids, we always go to CICI's where all four of us eat for $7.00

When dh and I go out, it's for special occassions and they too are few and far between!

I like not having to cook and I like trying somethign new, so it doesn't really bother me.

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Go out to eat? What's that? Bahahahaha. Yes right now I know that if we went out to eat I would feel guilty. I would be thinking "ya this tastes great, but I could have made it for 1/2 the price, no tax, no tip at home"! Hopefully I will get it in my head that sometimes treating ourselves is a good thing!

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Children Learn What They Live, And Live What They Learn.
What have you taught your child today?
When life throws you a curve ball...it's up to you how you catch it!