Expense review - food and drink

This is one of the weaker areas of our financial management. Quite frankly we subject ourselves to a rather lax discpline in the food and drink department.

For eating at home the majority of the food we buy is unexceptional and cannot be viewed as extravagant. The exceptions are wine (one of my many vices) where we (i.e. me) tend to stock the wine fridge with reasonably good wines. chocolates (at the expensive end of the price scale) and a few other odds and ends. On the whole eating at home falls into the "not too bad but could do better" rating (much like my old school reports).

It's the eating out which fails the economy test. As a couple or family, we eat out quite a lot, probably averaging 2-3 evenings a week and lunches most weekends. Most of the places we go to could be described as being in the middle price bracket (not cheap) and some are at the more expensive end of the scale (especially after taking into account the price of a bottle of wine). I have no qualms about eating out quite often (especially with the family) but have some reservations about the cost of the some of the meals.

The other weak area is the food I eat in the office (breakfast, lunch and dinner with snacks in between some days). I do not make much effort to economise here - in fact none at all. Given the rather frenetic pace of work, convenience takes priority over cost. Also, where I work the options if I want to go cheaper are a bit limited unless I opt for more food which is fried, deep fried or otherwise unappealing on taste or health grounds (and I have enough problems in that area as it is) or pay a price in terms of convenience.

In summary, not a lot of restraint is exercised in our expenditure on food and drink. Some discipline is needed.