I don't know what this retirement pundit is smoking

[harm_less]

Before covid, we were out for coffee every day, and saved very little. Covid put a stop to that, and broke the habit. These days, we might have coffee out once a week, and dine out once every 6 weeks or so.

I've never been very keen on going out for coffee, but when we lived in Auckland we went out for dinner every one or two weeks and it cost a lot.   Now that we live in a small provincial town there is nowhere that provides even remotely edible food so we don't eat out at all.   It certainly saves money and I think is better for our health too.

Similar life model for us. We live about 20kms out of New Plymouth so restaurant meals are a couple of times a year and too commonly end up being of a lesser quality than we could have prepared at home and this is exacerbated by the fact we both have dietary requirements that make menu choices a bit of a chore. The quality and price of our homegrown produce and meats is also a contributing factor supporting eating at home.

We also have a good quality espresso machine so paying OTT prices for mediocre coffees is usually only done as part of road trips.