Any ballpark dollar figures for a night out with significant other, including a sitter for Dick and Jane?

Whenever the wife and I go out and leave the kids with a sitter, it usually goes like this:

$100.00 Bill from the Keg
$5.00 per hour for the sitter. Normally hits 4 hours and we give a little more as we always have someone within the family watch the kids.

With misc charges and everything all in, we usually hit $150.00 or so..............but then again, my wife loves the casino. So when we make a pit stop there, that $150.00 has doubled and then some!

Ballpark figure for us would also be about $150 or so. With 15 month old twins and a 5 year old we generally try and get a pair of sitters and also pay around $5/hour for each. (Some nights they also get extra combat pay!) We can also go to extremes depending on the occasion and easily spend $150 on a restaraunt.

Usually about 12.00 an hour for 2 kids. 20.00 for two tix to movies and a drink or popcorn. And anywhere from 25.00 to 75.00 for dinner depending on restaurant. We usually do not go fancy highend. So generally speaking we don't get out much. Just order some take out, get the kids to bed early. Open a bottle of wine, light some candles, put on some nice music and see what develops. Be careful this has been known to lead to higher sitter rates.

You people leave your children with others and engage only adults in conversation and activities?!?!

We've got to try that some time.

Priceless!

The Wife and I discussed the costs incured for a night out back in 1980 when we had three kids:

Buck an hour for a sitter.

$4 each for theater tickets.

$35 to $65 for dinner.

The cost to go out now; with four little ones in '05:

No idea


Going to the theater is now "Take-Out" And it Sounds Great! Thanx to Y'all

OK you guys are scaring me!

It is just four months till the first one is born and already I am thinking... gotta do it now. .. such as

Stay out late
Have many adventures
Spend it while I've got it
Get the sleep now while I can (contradiction I know)
Golf, SCUBA, Party, Vacation, Relax, Be spontaneous. . ..

Did I miss something








STOP SCARING ME!!!!!

Also SUPER excited and really looking forward to being a dad.

OK now I am scaring myself. ARGGGG

Tom, I completely hear you, man. I completely hear you.

sssutherland, congrats! Kids are awesome. And no, you don't have to give up ALL that stuff - just most of it! (A minivan now sits where a convertible once did ) Plus, it's amazing the number of bodily fluids that don't even phase you after a while! Friends without kids just run screaming as you wipe it off on your jeans!! HaHa! (Honestly though, a bed full of puke is still pretty tough to deal with at 3:00am.)

Amie, I have no idea as I am in the same boat as Tom. The kids come everywhere with us. Although I did take her overnight to see MamaMia once. $200 for tickets. $160 for the room. $300 on food. $0.00 to my parents for taking the kids. Curious - are you doing research for possible future plans??

Congrats ssutherland! My advice is enjoy eating out now and get as much sleep as you can before the blessed event. You really cannot imagine how tired you will be after only getting two hours sleep at a time. I have a four year old and an eight month old. Amie - we spend anywhere from $30 - $100 depending on how well we eat.

Definitely NOT future plans in that department! Can you imagine having children and two EP600s? "Honey, you're rattling the crib again . . ." {giggles} Actually, just trying to figure out how many 'nights out' it would take to equal the cost of a home theater. Maybe I shouldn't have read Freakonomics? Now I'm looking for odd math combinations everywhere!

Ok,.....I'm gonna get up and give my seat on this forum to my Wife!!

"Naw"... She said Yesterday; "It's a cost study thing"












how do Wives "know" these things?

It all depends on the age of the youngins.

Pre 10 YO and you have the sitter costs. After that until about 15 YO, it’s the cost of a new X-box game. At 15 YO, it’s the cost of damage to the house from all their friends at the party they throw while you are out of the house. After 16 YO, it’s an additional cost related to vehicle damage and increase in insurance policies because the teenager stole the car and wrecked it after the house party while the parents are out. Plus, all the costs to replace all the booze in the booze cabinet that has “mysteriously” disappeared.

Then add on the cost of the dinner, movie, bail, attorney fees, etc.

A typical dinner for the honey and I is $100 - $200 depending on what’s on the wine list. Then the movie tickets and crap that I just can’t seam to not eat while at a theater…..another $35 - $45. movie tickets are now at $8.50.

Oh, then there’s the drinks at the bar after the movie. Last time we went out, martini’s and crown and cokes were running $7.50 a pop. So figure another $60.00 at the bar.

Crap, the cab ride home from the bar……$20.00

Low end cost for night out……$250
High end cost for a night out….$35,000

My number two is now 11 and pretty painless. Number one is 18, not living at home and only costs me around a grand per month. The grand baby is costing me about the same. Oh, the joy of parenthood!!! Good luck to all who take this journey. Love them, protect them, cherish the babies while they young, and prepare for the teen years. You’ve got a hell of a ride coming.

But you gotta have a little one to pass the business on to! Unless of course, you had me in mind....

In reply to:

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My number two is now 11 and pretty painless

---

Was that from the dinner or the Crown and Coke ?

What is it with parents where they think every couple HAS to have kids?

Bloody breeders. *G*

Bren R.

Funny, I'm pretty sure I've said something along those lines...

Pets really ought to be enough, ya know? We're waiting a while because frankly, I'm not done blowing money on my toys!

Amie,
I actually did this study to provide figures for my wife for my debate on home theater purchase. Now if you consider not the addition itself. BTW Canadian figures as I live in Ottawa
Denon 3805 $1500
Epic 80/600 Est $5k(still on layaway addition taking 9 months or so)
Wiring Est $1300
Dvd Player $300
Projector $2k
Total rough cost 11k (you could add a bunch for computers and stuff see my wiring cost )
Now we went out as a family for our first movie with our 2.5 year old.
Eat out $25
Movie $25
Munchies $15
Now take into consideration that there are at LEAST 12 movies you will want to see in a year. That makes it roughly $65/month. Over say 7 years (now hopefully your equipment will last that long or longer ). That equates to 5k. Now add in the Non family outings.
Dinner with wine Nice and quiet $150 easy
Babysitter (If they are certified) $8/hr so say another $50 on top.
Hotel (special occasions or your 1 time a year non headache nights ) $100-$450 depends how moody you feel(or how much sucking up)
Flowers $15-$45 (unless you are married then nm )

I think my wife and I agreed that doing the home theater ONCE would be worth its weight in Gold. We also want a place that our son would like his friends to "hang out" with when he gets older. Call me old fashioned, but that way I can keep an eye on him . We have a swimming pool, so a hot tub is next. Then all I have to worry about is him making the NFL... err playing sports and school. Maybe we look at this differently, but it serves OUR purpose too. Now cant wait for the addition to be finished and the hot tub in the yard. Hopefully I didnt ramble too much. In conclusion I feel that 5 years is a realistic payback for a home theater if not less.

OK...got it figured

My Dad was a projectionist in a theater in 1914, and he used to say that film was heavy, hard to transport, delicate and expensive.

So yeah! it's time for a change!!!

Film in a modern theater is a dinosaur

Soon;...real soon;....film will go away and be replaced by some simple electronic input direct from the production house to the movie house.....Right?

Right!!

So why not have a subscription service direct to our own home theaters? That's right; first run flicks in our own dear little HTs

Why would anyone want to visit their local expensive, smelly cineplex with a normaly poor sounding sound system when popcorn is so much cheaper at home

As of six weeks ago:

Drop six year old off at inlaws for evening: $0 (but must listen to said inlaws chatter for half an hour)

Dinner at favorite Tuscan restaraunt including Pinot (Noir for me, Grigio for bride): $225

After dinner drinks with dear friends: $35

Quiet walk through park: $0

Not having to listen to one word from happy bride when Axiom boxes show up two days later:

say it with me

Priceless

/Jack

Amie,

If the kids are under 10, don't go out at all. I guarantee you will spend the entire evening worrying about them and you won't enjoy yourself at all. You'll spend the whole evening on your cell phone, calling home and making sure the 'kids are alright.'