I know it's kinda expensive, but everything's so top-notch!

我知道有點貴，但每一樣東西都好讚！

Hey folks.

嗨兩位。想好要點什麼了嗎？

You know what you want?

好了！

Yes!

我要一份房子的頭期款加上救急基金。

I'd like to eat the Down Payment on a House, with a side of Flambéed Emergency Fund.

好選擇。

Excellent choice.

先生那你呢？

And for you, sir?

我很餓，所以我要點一份退休金，跟...管他的，再來一瓶女兒的大學學費！

I'm pretty hungry, so I'm gonna have Our Retirement Savings, and... what the heck, a bottle of Our Daughter's College Tuition.

非常好。

Very good.

你會覺得我們花太多錢在餐廳吃飯嗎？

Do you think we spend too much on dining out?

或許吧...但大家都這樣啊。

Maybe… but everyone else is doing it.

而且，不然我們還有其他選擇嗎？

Besides, what's the alternative?

自己煮？

Cooking at home?

至少這個麵包是免費的。

At least the breadsticks are free.

21% 的美國人沒有存退休金，而 10% 的人只有不到 5000 美元。

21% of Americans have no retirement savings, and another 10% have less than $5,000.

千禧年代更慘，近六成的人完全沒有儲蓄。

It's even bleaker for millennials:

這可能有很多原因：房屋費用增加、健保，當然還有學貸。

nearly 6 in 10 have nothing saved at all.

但對很多人而言，那些費用是固定支出。

Now, there are a lot of reasons for this:

如果你在找可以節流的地方，有一個如湯裡的蒼蠅明顯的地方—外食。

the increasing cost of housing, health insurance, and of course, student debt.

在 2015 年，是美國人史上第一次花在酒吧與餐廳的錢多過於雜貨購物。

But for many people, those costs are relatively fixed.

現在一個家庭平均每年花 3,000 美元吃外食，這大概佔年度總支出的 5 到 7 百分比。

If you're looking for practical areas to cut back, one sticks out like a fly in your soup:

即使餐廳價格比通貨膨脹成長還快，而雜貨價格則相對穩定，甚至有時候會跌。

dining out.

美國人一週平均還是會吃五次外食。

In 2015, for the first time in history, Americans spent more money on bars and restaurants than on groceries.

外食究竟花我們多少錢？

With the average household now spending more than $3,000 annually on “food away from home,” representing between 5 and 7 percent of their total spending.

這個嘛，餐廳通常會以成本價 3 倍來定價餐點，意思是菜單上的價格大約是真正食物花費的 3 倍。

Even though restaurant prices are increasing faster than inflation, and grocery prices are holding steady－or even falling!

看起來很多，但記得，你也在幫餐廳付租金、薪水、設備與管理費用。

The average diner is still eating out around 5 times a week.

所以如果你住在一個房地產在升值的地方，這也會反映在當地餐廳的價格。

How much is this costing us?

而且那甚至還不包含飲品！

Well, restaurants typically mark up their food by around 300%, meaning the price on the menu is about 3 times what they actually spent on the food.

餐廳評鑑指南公司 Zagat 調查顯示，每個人每去一次餐廳平均花超過 36 美元。

If that seems like a lot, remember, you're also paying for the restaurant's rent, labor, equipment and overhead.

如果你一週吃三次餐廳，一年就要花超過 5,600 美元！

So if you live in an area where real estate values are increasing, that also applies to the surface area of your local restaurant's tabletops.

相反地，從市場賣材料自己在家煮，一個人只需花約 4 美元。

And that doesn't even include drinks!

現在你懂為什麼許多理財專員會說外食是一個可以省錢的區塊了吧。

A survey by Zagat found that the average restaurant bill per person is over $36.

你到底可以省下多少錢呢？

If you do this just 3 times a week, that's over $5,600 a year!

現在到了...「算術時間」！

By contrast, the average meal cooked at home with groceries from the market is about $4 per person.

假設說傑克一週出去吃三天晚餐，每次花 35 美元。

Now you can see why so many financial advisors focus on dining out as a place to save money.

他每天早上上班都會買一杯拿鐵配可頌，有四天午餐在食物廣場買 (星期五是公司披薩日)。

How much money could you potentially save?

這一年，他已經花了超過 9,000 美元在買外食－這是超過他整年薪水 75,000 美元的 12%!

I think it's time to…Run the Numbers!

那如果傑克一週只出去吃一次呢？

Let's say Jake here goes out for dinner 3 times a week, spending $35 each time.

又如果他在家做咖啡與早餐，再自己做午餐帶去上班？

He starts every workday with a latte and croissant at his local coffee shop and buys lunch at the local food court 4 days a week. (Fridays are pizza day at the office.)

假設在家做的餐點每份成本為 5 美元，那一年下來可以省 4,420 美元。

In one year, he's spent over $9,000 on commercially prepared food and drinks--

已經足夠可以去夏威夷度假了！

over 12% of his yearly salary of $75,000.

但等等，還沒結束！

What if Jake could get those 3 dinners down to just one a week?

如果傑克把這一年省下來的錢放進一個複利 7% 的帳戶裡？

And what if he started making coffee and breakfast at home, and brown-bagged lunches at work?

十年後，他就會有超過 65,000 美元。

Assuming that all those homemade meals would come out to around $5 each, that would mean a yearly savings of $4,420!

已經足夠付一間房的定金了！

That's enough for a Hawaiian vacation!

二十年後，他就會將近 20 萬美金 (約 620 萬台幣)。

But wait, we're not done!

只要常在家吃飯就可。

What if Jake took those yearly savings and put them into an account earning 7% compound interest?

從傑克的例子可以看出，儘管要負擔龐大的健保與學貸，你或許在金錢方面還是能有些空間。

In just 10 years, he'd have over $65,000.

小小減少外食的支出，可以讓你支出龐大的負債或建立救急基金。

Enough for a down payment on a house!

這說得簡單，但很難做到。

In 20 years, he'd have almost $200,000!

許多人吃外食是因為太忙或下班後太累不想自己煮食。

All from just eating at home more often.

也要我們會煮。

Jake's example demonstrates that even in an era of burdensome healthcare and student loan obligations, you might have some wiggle-room in your finances.

而且去餐廳並不只是為了食物本身。

Even a small cutback in dining out could allow you to finally pay off an onerous debt or build an emergency fund.

而是一種社交活動，讓你見見朋友、與同事建立關係，或是在漫長的工作日後放鬆一下。

This might be easy advice to give, but harder to put into practice.

所以我們並不是建議你們「都不要吃外食」。

Many of us dine out because we're too busy or tired to cook after a long day of work.

但如果你想要減少這項支出，首先得分清楚為什麼要花這筆錢。

If we know how to cook at all.

是為了方便還是奢侈？

And going to restaurants isn't just about the food.

如果是為了方便－也就是吃外食的原因是沒有時間在家煮，那問題可能出在於缺乏事前準備。

It's a social event—

畢竟煮一壺咖啡跟烤一個貝果的時間，說不定比在星巴克排隊還要短。

a place to see your friends, to connect with co-workers, to take the edge off a stressful day.

還可以省下許多錢。

So we're not saying "never go out to eat!"

網路上有許多資源會教大家怎麼便宜又間單的購物與煮食，就像我們之前出的一支關於逛超市的影片。

But if you want to cut down on this expense, you first have to know why you're spending the money in the first place.

但如果你仍對這些程序感到麻煩，可以利用像 Blue Apron 或 Instacart 的生鮮雜貨外送服務讓你過得輕鬆。

Is it a convenience or a luxury?

這樣絕對比你自己出去買來得貴，但還是比吃外食便宜。

If it's a convenience－

在超市使用現金是控制預算的好方法，但如果你想激勵自己，也可以選擇有雜貨消費回饋的信用卡。

in other words, if you're eating out because you don't have time to cook at home, well, the problem might just be a lack of preparation.

在冰箱放一些方便的微波食品也是個好點子。

After all, brewing a pot of coffee and toasting a bagel can be less time-consuming than waiting in a Starbucks line.

如此，在真的不想煮的時候，就有替代方案來避免自己外帶食物或叫外送。

And can potentially save you hundreds of dollars.

然而如果是因為奢侈，也就是你吃外食是為了社交或滿足心理需求，還是有辦法花少一點錢。

There are lots of resources on the web for how to make shopping and cooking cheap and simple, including this video we made about navigating the supermarket.

舉例來說，你可以和朋友分享一份餐點。

But if you're still intimidated by the prospect, you could ease yourself into it by utilizing ingredient-or-grocery delivery services like Blue Apron or Instacart.

餐廳餐點的份量通常會比一般食客的食量要大上許多，因為這讓餐廳更好提高餐點價格。

These are definitely more expensive than doing your own shopping, but still cheaper than eating out.

如果你是為了餐廳的服務與氣氛，分食就可以避免吃太飽帶來的不舒服或是浪費食物。

We like to use cash at the supermarket to stay within a budget, but if you're trying to incentivize yourself, you could look into a credit card that gives rewards for grocery purchases.

如果你有常光臨的餐廳，訂閱他們的電子報或去 Groupon 網站看有沒有什麼優惠也許是個不錯的方法。

And it's always a good idea to keep some convenience foods like microwavable dinners in your freezer.

但要注意，這些「優惠」本來就是想讓你更常去。

That way, on days that you really don't feel like cooking, you'll have an alternative to stopping for take-out or ordering in.

「用餐回饋信用卡」也一樣。

On the other hand, if eating out is a luxury－

一不小心，這些策略可能會讓你花更多錢。

that is, if you're doing it for social or psychological needs－there still might be ways to achieve that with less spending.

酒類可說是餐廳最大的暴利來源之一，所以如果你晚餐想要配酒，最好找個可以讓你 BYOB (自己帶酒) 的地方。

For instance, you can share an entree.

同樣地，晚餐後去冰淇淋店，也比在餐廳點甜點要來得便宜許多。

Restaurant portions are typically much larger than the average diner's appetite, because it makes it easier for businesses to justify high prices.

最後，如果你覺得出去買午餐只是一個離開辦公室出去走走的理由，記住，沒人要你在辦公桌前吃飯！

If you're there for the service and the atmosphere, you can get that without overeating to the point of discomfort or leaving uneaten food behind.

希望啦。

If you have favorite restaurants you know you visit often, it might be a good idea to sign up for their email lists or check Groupon for details.

帶著你的午餐到附近的公園或公眾場所吧。

But beware that these "bargains" are intended to make you visit more frequently.

同樣的效果，不一樣的花費。

Same goes for "diner's reward cards".

去餐廳吃飯是我們文化裡的一大部分，也可能是你社交或應酬的一大層面，所以我們並不是想要你突然整個戒掉。

If you're not careful, these strategies might actually increase your monthly dining expenses.

但你在花大錢前一定得問自己三個問題。

Alcohol is one of the biggest markups for restaurants, so if you like to have a drink with dinner, you might want to find places that allow you to BYOB.

我要花多少錢在這個上面？

Similarly, going to an ice cream shop after dinner is usually much cheaper than ordering dessert at the table.

我得到了什麼？

And lastly, if you find yourself buying lunch just as an excuse to get out of the office, no one's forcing you to eat at your desk!

我可以用較少的錢得到一樣的東西嗎？

Hopefully.

而這就是我們的淺見！

Take your brown bag to a nearby park or public space.

你們有去餐廳吃飯又能省錢的秘訣嗎？

It's the same psychological benefit without the cost.

快到留言區跟我們分享吧！

Dining out is a big part of our culture, and it might be an important aspect of your social or professional life, so we're not suggesting you cut it out cold turkey.

But you shouldn't accept any large, regular expense without asking yourself three fundamental questions.

How much am I spending on this?

What do I get out of it?

Can I get the same benefit for less money?

And that's our two cents!

Do you have any tips on how to save money while dining out?

Go ahead and share them with us in the comments!