I really skimp on it. Especially, I will never eat stuff that makes me feel bad (pizza/chips etc...) This comes to delivery too: if I have to pay a charge of more than $4 without a coupon, I won't do it. My goal is to make enough more before 30 to be free of it forever. Almost every purchase would be a hindrance to my goal. But if there's a rare groupon advertised for healthy food, I'll take if it saves me time while I'm in a high energy state and low on groceries.
How much is eating out really hurting you ask? When I first arrived in Los Angeles, I spent nearly $160/mo (give or take $20) eating out. That may not seem like much, but just the first year's expense of eating out, you'd be out of 18500 in 20 years (assuming a moderate return of 12%, long term, before taxes). In summation, I think eating out is great if you can do it as a rare thing with people you love, but if you take it too far without making a great salary (to me, that's at least 120k in LA) you will quickly wind up playing the credit card game. And I think this is very important for millennials, most of you who won't be settling down with your romantic partner or in the prime of your career: sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice! You will be kicking yourself if you forgo the amazing spending power you could have had in your mid to late 30s and beyond by blowing money on stupid stuff.
***As a side note, I'm currently reading a book, and I'm shocked by the frugalness of two billionaires: the original Davis and Buffet. The former wore the same shoes even when moths had bitten holes into them.
January 16, 2017 at 08:38PM
