Tired of Frugal Living, Let's Go Out For Dinner!

Well I am envious, Country Buffet is great, I used to take my son there, I would eat, he would eat, I would leave, do my grocery shopping, come back an hour or so later, as he continued eating. It was a good deal. He was asked to remove himself from several all you can eat places. You may also want to check out dinner specials at the local diners, we go to a place where 1/2 of a roasted stuffed chicken with an all-you-can-eat salad bar, soup, the main course which includes a veggie and potato of choice, coffee and a huge dessert is 9.99. The Prime Rib goes for 14.99, we usually eat 1/2 the food and bring the rest of it home, along with the dessert. So we have dessert later that night then dinner the next day for that price. Which is not bad.

Very true, we need change sometime. You can't think money every time, it is good to get a treat sometime for ourself. May be not very often, but we need it at some point of time. We use to go to "The Old Country Buffet". I like this buffet. As you said one can get everything from soup to dessert and drinks. You can taste from pizza to pot roast and different kind of fish and chicken. As I and my hubby like nonveg food, "The Old Country Buffet" is a good choice for us.

We too live frugally, as much as possible. We collect cans and when we have enough to trade in we head to that town. We also go to eat at a Ryans/Fire Mountain which is a buffet style restaurant. Then we head to Sam's club for necessities in bulk. I hope you have a really nice time. Pace yourself and you can have alot of good things. We also have an Old Country Buffet. Just not near us, down in the capital.

I hope that you enjoyed your meal! Going out to eat once in a while is not wasting money, as long as you budget for it. You treat going out as a special occasion, so don't feel guilty about it at all. You have given up a lot by living "frugally", and you deserve a break. I have never been to the Old Country Buffet, but we have 2 of them nearby and I have been wanting to try them out. Last night, we ended up winning a good deal of money playing BlackJack at the Casino in Niagara Falls, and we ate at the Buffet there. Now that is an over-priced meal! $30 per person! Of course it's all you can eat and the food is good, but I'm sure that it's no better than it is at the Country Buffet. Let's face it, who can eat that much food in one sitting to make it worth it? If it hadn't been for winning a LOT of money, we would have never wasted the money, either.

Hey good for you and I really hope you enjoyed your meal out. However bad my own financial position I try to have soem kind of treat if only a trip to the bar for a drink. I have to watch every single penny right now, and times are extremely hard for my partner and I, but we try to save up small change and that is often enough for a cheap and simple meal out. You deserve a break once in a while hun

I agree and frugal living can get old .every one needs a treat once in a whil there are many reasanably priced places to eat out if one looks !enjoy!

Have a good dinner, we all need to treat ourselves sometimes. I love the old country buffet, the only problem I have is I always eat too much. But it is so good, its hard to not get stuffed.

Hope you had a lovely time out! Its important to indulge yourself once ina while otherwise you lose sight of why you save so hard for the rest of the time. We are just the same, when we have been away working all weekend we might have a takeway as a treat, ok its far more expensive than cooking, but its good to relax occasionally, doesnt make you a bad saver at all.

It is nice to go out once in a while. Old country Buffet has a great variety. I like to go to the Chinese buffet,we have several good ones around here.

This is so true I say go for it. And have a great time. Have some chocolate cake on me.LOL

That's a very reasonable price and sounds like alot of food. I think buffets are often the best way to dine out, especially if the food is good. Wish we had a country buffet around here.

Yes I agree-- Every family needs a break at times. I have eaten at the Old Country Buffet a few times- It's much better than Ponderosa (buffet).. The prices are great!! The food is good too-- What I like is that they have a HUGE selection- there is almost guaranteed to have something everyone likes- Each time I have been there- the food was great- hot, the place was clean and the service was great too! Our closest Old Country Buffet is about 45 miles away (ROchester) so I don't eat here often.

I agree the same old same old sometime's needs a change once and a while...Weather it is goin out to dinner for a treat or doing something to bright life up in some way or taking up something new to past the time it is all a great way for alil break with spice LOL.....I agree with u that the buffet is a great idea and 11 dallors is a reasonable price for anything u want to eat and drink......Enjoy ur dinner u deserve it.....peace

I go to mcdonalds and order off of the 1 dollar menu we spend 8 dollars so we try to do good but we have to get alot of food see when we buy food step-kids come up just at the right time.

We have a restaurant just like that and the name is almost the same as well. It is great that you pay one price but you can eat as much as you would like and it includes meals, appetizers, salads, drinks and desserts. It is cheaper than many regular restaurants. Eating more and spending less is great but usually one plate fills me up completely. LOL Have a wonderful evening out and enjoy the food.

You are entitled to have a break so go out and enjoy yourself for a change. Do not worry about what you could be spending it on just go and enjoy yourself.

Oh, my goodness...Haven't seen one of those in a long time; we used to have one where we lived, in California and would go at least once, every couple of weeks. You can always eat healthy when you're there; just like you did. I loved the fruit/salad bar and the soups as well. Of course, if you want, you can eat all of the 'fatty' things, but if you follow the moderation rule you can eat just about anything. I wish we had one close to us.

I am with you all the way! I had to go to the Doctor yesterday. It is a 3 hour drive each way. My husband surprised me when he pulled in at Olive Garden. I was in heaven. Olive Garden is my favorite restaurant. I usually get to go once a year, on my birthday. And it wasnt even my birthday! Yippy

You're so right. I think it's important to indulge occasionally, so long as you plan carefully, stick to a budget and don't go overboard. Several years ago my housemate and I found ourselves in straightened circumstances from time to time. He would want to stop off at the pub after work on Friday, payday, and drink and play the pokies, then buy more grog to take home for the weekend. It was his money but he wasn't contributing properly. If he did well on the pokies we would have dinner at the pub and be able to afford to buy chlorine to keep the pool nice. He used the pool, not I. When we would become despondent because there was not much money to do anything we could sometimes scrape together enough to drive to the beach and share a bag of fish and chips. We'd take the dog and she would share our chips and chase seagulls and go for a paddle. It was so idyllic and so preferable to spending hours in the pub. I could never understand the strange choices he would make by spending too much and not meeting his obligations when it was so easy to to do the right thing and be happy.

i think that your sacrifices deserve a price and you need to have break...we make sacrifices in order to have the opportunity of buying good things to people we love or to let us have a beautiful moment from time to time...therefore I wish you and your husband a wonderful night and I hope you enjoy yourselves the most...I do congratulate you on your frugal life and on all the sacrifices you are going through...we deserve respects for sacrifices we do for being what we are.