The four-five reasons we go out to eat

Because are always trying to pay off loans or otherwise save money, we've stopped going out to eat on a regular basis. Around here (metro D.C.), dinner for a family of four at the cheapest restaurant (except fast food) runs at least $40, excluding tip. 

We don't go out to eat except for the following exceptions (which have continued to change over the years):

1. When we're out of town and can't make food for ourselves anyway (this is a justification for saving up all year by not going out around here so we can taste the local cuisine wherever we go).

2. It's someone's birthday--the birthday person gets to choose where we eat (though M. often opts to have D. make dinner for her).

3. D. is out of town, so to fight our sense of isolation without him, we go out to eat once, at a restaurant chosen by PE and TA, which means it's usually McDonalds, Quizznos, or Taco Bell.

4. If we're swamped with projects or work and have no time to cook--though, usually, this most often turns out to be take-out or frozen pizza.

(5. This isn't a family event, but D. will go out for lunch while at work or after work, to socialize with co-workers; and M. will sometimes go out to lunch with friends--both valid reasons, for us, to spend the money on a restaurant. We're only frugal up to the point of not being hermits/socially isolated).

D. and M. going out for dinner and a movie is a rare occasion these days, given that a dinner date with a movie can run around $100 here, if a babysitter is also part of the cost. We sometimes go for a movie with no dinner or go out for dessert and coffee, with TA providing babysitting services.