TL;DR - Calculate your daily net income after all expenses (This can be depressing, but is an interesting way to look at things). A $10 fast-food lunch compared to this number is eye-opening.
I personally find it a lot more convenient and enjoyable to eat out during lunch and do it a couple times per week. Usually I'll spend $8-12 depending where I go. I don't think much of it because my income per day is a lot more than that. For example, "Oh, my gross income per day is $240, 10 bucks is no big deal."
However, rather than using gross income per day, you should consider comparing it to your daily net income after all taxes and all expenses. You will need to do a little math to find this number and it all starts with a complete budget. Considering ALL expenses such as rent, student loans, taxes, utilities, groceries, TV, phone, car, internet, etc. I figured out my daily net income was about $40. So, if i go out to lunch, I just wasted 20-30% of my income for the day! This motivates me even more to buy food at the grocery store, make a nice meal for dinner, and eat the leftovers for lunch the next day.
Even after considering at this, I will continue to eat out. I like to get away from work during the day and I consider food/restaurants to be one of my main "entertainment" expenses. I am not a big spender, so restaurants are one of the few things I treat myself to. However, I will probably start to watch my spending more closely and hopefully this post helps a few people out!
Submitted December 21, 2017 at 10:40PM by 1hr-username http://ift.tt/2BVGYpw
