December has been the most atypical month yet. We travelled to Australia and stayed with various members of our family, so we rarely cooked and infrequently paid for evening meals. Because we were traveling we mostly ate lunch out. I have not included free meals in the averages,
The averages for this month:
- Lunch prepared at home $2.48 ($2.76 in November) but in fairness we only prepared two meals at home that we paid for
- Lunch eaten or purchased outside the home: $8.55 ($7.42)
- Dinner eaten at home: $6.41 ($5.14), largely influenced by our Dec 31 meal and seven meals eaten at home and paid for
- Dinner eaten out: $21.03 ($5.00) but again it was only four meals
Our most expensive meal was at Gordon Biersch early in the month at $25.15 per serve, but The Country Deli was next most expensive at $21.00 per serve.
Had we purchased every lunch and prepared none it would have cost us $265.05 per person in December. We actually spent $4.95 for lunches at home plus $145.27 for lunches purchased or eaten out: $150.22.
Had we purchased every evening meal out and prepared none at home, it would have cost us $651.93. We actually spent $44.84 for dinners at home and $63.10 for dinners out: $107.94, but our evening meals were heavily subsidized by our family hosts.
It’s hardly a typical month to base anything long term on, and there’s nowhere near the variety this month.