My Vice: Eating Out

I had three main aspects of my New York life that I let eat away at my hard earned cash:
1. NYC Rent (already addressed with our move)
2. Fancy Foreign Beaches
3. Eating and Drinking Out

But then I had several revelations: the amount of money cooking at home saves, the fact that my partner doesn’t mind cooking and most importantly, that my experience in restaurants and bars are not worth the amount I pay for them. I used to explore new restaurants pretty frequently, but found when I examined the experiences that I actually enjoyed taking pictures of the food I was served and seeing its presentation more than eating in the restaurant in most cases. This revelation hit when I realized the actual worth of the money I was spending and realized the experience and money lost really didn’t add up.

So I’ve changed my ways. My partner and I have been cooking at home more than ever. Instead of inviting friends out for a rushed lunch or stuffy dinner I’ve been inviting them over for an easy baked mac and cheese dish or if necessary delivery (but I’m trying to seriously cut back on that as well). I’ve even learned to cook a few things myself! I can now make an over easy egg and have explored making my own chopped salads, which cost about $1 or less, instead of buying them for $8 at the deli down the street. I’m hoping that I’ll be ballsy enough to make my own salad dressing soon as well.

My current plan is to still enjoy restaurants, but only for special occasions like Mr. Money Mustache suggests – not as an every day event. Since enacting that rule I’ve only visited restaurants for birthday celebrations. I’ve also been below budget on Eating Out for the past several months so I might officially lower it. Another restaurant opportunity I enjoy is what is called Restaurant Week in NYC – where high-end restaurants provide a 3 course menu for a flat, discounted rate. Last year it was $25 for lunch and $35 for dinner. I will be sticking to lunch and allowing myself only restaurants that keep me within my monthly budget. This is a big change compared to last year when I visited about 10 different restaurants. I’ve also discovered that my obsession with making an online reservation for restaurants on OpenTable has paid off – those points they mention when you confirm a reservation actually go towards a free restaurant meal. I currently have $20 of this free restaurant money.

As for bars, I always found them much easier to avoid than restaurants. I dislike loud places full of drunk people so bars that I would frequent (of the cheaper variety) aren’t the most fun places to be. I can also open a beer and a bottle of wine like the best bartender around so that’s not as much of a challenge as eating out. Where I used to have trouble was with specialty cocktails when they’re discounted, such as during Happy Hour or Cocktail Week (the Restaurant Week for Bars). However, recently I’ve also become more interested in being a more serious bartender and have perfected my own version of a dirty martini. But overall, every time I see a $10 glass of wine on a drinks list or a $25 entrée on a menu I think of how $10 could buy me 4 bottles of wine at Trader Joes and how the $25 could buy me a week or two worth of groceries. I’m finding that there is always another way to enjoy the things that bring me joy and I’m actually a lot happier because of it.