Is eating out cheaper than cooking?

[TheCG]

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Savin...hanCooking.aspx

 

Y'know, I'm fairly certain that the people who think eating out is cheaper than eating in most of the time never learned to cook meals other than traditional "meat-and-potato" meals - y'know, where if you don't have a big hunk of meat, it's just a snack.

 

For some reason, that article makes me sad. I can cook a fairly cheap complete meal for under a dollar (for just me, at least).

[moonstar]

Yeh me too!! People don't take the "time" to cook meals. Then they complain of being broke all the time.

[Safety Lady 2]

I have a grown neice who spends $100 a week buying deli and eating out. She is a manager at a Burger King and doesn't cook. Her kids hate veggies and eat tons of candy and junk. They are always sick with colds, flu, and lots of other things. When her DH wants a quick dinner he calls her at work and says go to the deli. She will buy enough stuff for 10 and they devour it at one setting.

[HSmom]

I see a fatal flaw in this article:

Quote:

"When I add my hourly rate, the time to cook at home, I can instead take my family out to dinner, and it comes out pretty even,"

 

I would have to disagree with this on two points.

 

First, if he's including his time to prepare and eat a meal, he should also include his time to drive to and sit in the restaurant. In my case, it takes about an hour to prepare a 'good' meal, and less than 30 minutes for my family to devour it. OTOH, it takes 10-15 minutes (each way) to drive to a restaurant, and about another hour to be seated, served, eat and pay.

 

Furthermore, if he's counting the gas to go to the market, he should count the gas to the restaurant.

 

Well, and I guess I have a 3rd point: the quality of a home-prepared meal nearly always surpasses a restaurant meal.

 

And CG, I would surmize that they are not just cooking "meat & potatoes" meal, but are using a lot of convenience foods, such as those throw-it-all-in-a-crockpot bags of meat and vegetables, or rice-a-roni, instead of rice and seasonings. In which case, I withdraw my comment about the superior quality of a home-cooked meal.

[Buttercup]

My grandmother is probably rollin over in her grave over this one.. I am just shaking my head in disbelief.. Let's think about it this way.. Frozen pizza at our local store has been on sale 3 for 7.99.. Bag lettuce 1.29, tea bags 1.00, I can get a whole meal for what 10 bucks? This is an easy way out not homemade but takes what? 20 minutes to prepare? Ok go to Pizza Hut.. 3 pizza x's ? $10-$15 bucks each? Drinks $1.75 each salad bar add $1.99 a person.. That's 10 dollars in salad alone and another 10 in drinks for a family of 5... Your probably not getting out of there without spending 30 dollars or more and how about a tip?

[MommyofSeven]

I noticed in the article that they were talking about things like going to the FM and buying organic veggies. Salmon on the grill.

 

I don't know about y'all, but I can't afford organic veggies. We've never seen salmon in this house. We've tried it when a friend got it, but I don't buy it. Every meal I cook has at least a couple of veggies and is home cooked. I, personally, am reducing the amount of transfat we use, although I still have to use margarine for cost reasons. But it's still healthier than fast food. I could get healthy, organic food, but not for less than about $12 per person per meal.

 

Yet I recently fixed a huge pot of chicken and dumplings for any stranded drivers we had when our blizzard came through. The fire department auxiliary offered to reimburse me. I sat down, figured the cost, and sent them a bill...for SEVENTY NINE CENTS. Enough to feed six, easily, and probably more, all from scratch, for pennies.

 

When I want a night off from cooking we pull something out of the freezer, usually something I've prepared extra of and thrown in the freezer. Each month I try (notice that keyword try LOL) to cook a few pounds of hamburger patties and 12 bean and beef burritos, for the freezer. Last year at Tgiving and Christmas I made 4 9x13 pans of stuffing, cause I was going to be making stuffing anyway, and we ended up with 8 extra meals of turkey and stuffing. I think we finished the last one in June. Easy, quick meal, all I had to do was heat up some veggies and make some gravy from turkey or chicken broth.

 

Oh, and that guy who was figuring his time? He manages in a restaurant. So he's probably figuring way more than the rest of us would, anyway. And those chicken wings? What do you want to bet those were brand name "hot wings" already prepared that all she had to do was heat?

 

I'm doing a dinner tonight for 12; friends who are moving away. I have to start almost 3 hours early to get it all done, but it won't take me 3 hours of active labor to get it done. Once stuff is in cooking, I just check on it, kwim? The rest of the time is spent doing other stuff. Cost for that dinner, btw? 12 lbs of chicken (will probably have leftovers), about $8 (I didn't buy it, or I'd use sale stuff LOL), salad, bought on sale $2, 2 cans of cream corn $.70, 2 cans of green beans, $.70, drinks negligible, iced tea, juice and water, corn bread, from scratch, $.50, mashed potatoes, on sale, maybe $1, for a total of $12.90 if my math is correct, to feed TWELVE.

 

I believe this is tied in to that "middle class on the edge" article that was posted earlier. It's amazing what people can convince themselves they NEED.

 

Mo7

[Jamica]

I have to agree with the rest of the lady's here. I know that there is only 4 of us here, and one is only 2yrs old. But every time we go out to eat it always costs us over $20-$25, unless thr place is running a sale on something and we all get whats on sale. And we have noticed that if you get whats on sale you don't get full so you end up getting something else, which disreguards the sale in the first place. I can deffinately feed my family cheaper, and have more food cooking at home. Not to mention that it's always better, and better for us. I like knowing what my family is eating.

[SueC]

I know my costings are different than yours - for a start chicken wings etc are $4-$5 a kilo, fillet meat $8 - $15.

 

Yet I can feed my family for about $50 per person for a week, If I eat at Maccas or some other reasonable take away store cos we are in the next town or on the road going somewhere, I can guarantee $6 -$7 per person, so for 2 meals (lunch and dinner) $14 per person x 7 days = $98 and that is at the cheapest places and they haven't had breakfast, or any other snacks. No I cant say that is cheaper than $50 per person per week.

 

Sue

[Necie]

Ok-I work at a restaurant (small town) and there's NO WAY you can eat cheaper going out than cooking at home. You can buy the same food the restaurants do at probably the same price or cheaper, depending on sales and discount stores (Aldi's and such). Even 'specials'-whether they be breakfast, lunch or dinner are figured at cost plus a percent for cost of operation PLUS PROFIT! So-DUH-you can make the same thing at home CHEAPER!

 

The only way to eat out cheaper than cooking? Work there.

[Darlene]

Maybe it's the mood I'm in but...

 

This article is such a farce, such a lie, it makes me feel sick to my stomach.

 

I'm sick and tired of news medias educating the public with their skewed findings. They're promoting further degeneration of family things and traditions all in the name of money (or suposed savings of money)...

 

You all know, and I know, that's not true. *Mama* needs to get her butt home and take care of her family. I'm not buying all this krap about 2 working people families...the *stuff* is more important and they never really end up getting ahead anyway. Why they bother having children when they don't want to raise them, don't want to cook for them, all they think their duty is, is to buy for them blows my mind.

 

Just the other day, my oldest son came into the kitchen and said to me, "when I walked in the house last night it smelled like nana's house". I thought to myself uh oh, don't tell me I have that *old people* kinda smelling house lol...I asked him why he felt like that and he said, "because when I walked in and smelled all the cooking, it reminded me of nana's house."

 

THAT is a gift I give my children that is not psychologically disectable by all the so called *experts* in the world.

 

Yes, this is a rant, yes, this really does infuriate me and yes, I'm done for now...oh, and yes, I really did try to curb my *enthusiasm*...

 

 

[Cat]

I agree... it's just another way to make people FEEL GOOD about the unhealthy choices they make.

 

On one hand, the tell you we're all too fat from eating out so much.

 

Then they come up with this...

 

Yes, I know they're not talking about fast food eating out *here*, but how many will rationalize THAT into this?

 

 

"FEEL GOOD" is not the truth...

 

Help the parents FEEL GOOD by telling them a child is *fine* in Daycare while they pursue material gain.

 

Help the children FEEL GOOD by telling them a substandard education is fine.

 

Help the people FEEL GOOD by telling them to read the labels and see all the healthy vitimins they've taken out and then replaced in their highly processed foods.

 

 

 

There are so many "FEEL GOOD" things out there that I'm gonna explode...

[Phatkat1956]

I am teaching my STB (soon to be) 13 year old DS to cook. I bought him a Chef Boyardee Spagetti Dinner $2.75 with meatballs in the sauce. Nothing for him to measure and everything is in the box, so it was easy and he wanted to make spagetti. Added a head of lettuce (actually leftovers from another meal) so 65 cents.with home made salad dressing and one lone tomato left over from the garden. We added a slice of garlic bread per person with day old bread, garlic powder and butter. Adding a couple of pennies for those, it comes to about $1.25 a piece (dinner for 4) and we had enough leftovers for two for lunch the next day...no meatballs left though, but we didn't care.

 

I agree that the article was definitely slanted to make it look cheaper to eat out. How many times can you wait for an hour to be seated, wait for 40 minutes to be served and wait for 40 minutes to get your food. Take that times your hourly wage...not a pretty picture either.

 

Oh, by the way, supper was great and my son made it all by himself...I just help with things like, don't worry about measuring the quarts of water, just fill this pan half full and you'll be fine. No, you don't need a second pan to heat the sauce, just wait until you drain the noodles and use this pan...then you only have one pan to wash. We've added the dinner to our Emergency Meals because everything is in the box. This was a test to make sure we liked it before I added it to storage. In that case, I could serve it with cheesy garlic biscuits.

[MommyofSeven]

Maybe it's the mood I'm in but...

 

This article is such a farce, such a lie, it makes me feel sick to my stomach.

 

I'm sick and tired of news medias educating the public with their skewed findings. They're promoting further degeneration of family things and traditions all in the name of money (or suposed savings of money)...

 

You all know, and I know, that's not true. *Mama* needs to get her butt home and take care of her family. I'm not buying all this krap about 2 working people families...the *stuff* is more important and they never really end up getting ahead anyway. Why they bother having children when they don't want to raise them, don't want to cook for them, all they think their duty is, is to buy for them blows my mind.

 

Just the other day, my oldest son came into the kitchen and said to me, "when I walked in the house last night it smelled like nana's house". I thought to myself uh oh, don't tell me I have that *old people* kinda smelling house lol...I asked him why he felt like that and he said, "because when I walked in and smelled all the cooking, it reminded me of nana's house."

 

THAT is a gift I give my children that is not psychologically disectable by all the so called *experts* in the world.

 

Yes, this is a rant, yes, this really does infuriate me and yes, I'm done for now...oh, and yes, I really did try to curb my *enthusiasm*...

 

 

 

OK, answer me this...

 

Why is it WRONG today to say waht you just said? I remember someone saying to my mom, almost 30 years ago, "Oh, that's sad that you have to work and miss out on your daughter." Now the perception, if you CHOOSE to do your duty, to fulfill your God Given purpose, to do what's right, you're the weirdo.

 

I hear discussions all the time by women who say "I have to work." These are the same women who have brand new cars in the driveway, expensive clothes, and a TV in every room. Granted, in some instances, yes, women have to work. Single moms (although I could make the argument there, that if we chose our men better {and I too, am guilty of that in the past} then the situation wouldn't arise so often, and the argument that divorce is far too easy), widows, women who live in depressed economies, etc.

 

It all goes back to sacrifice. I'm raising my girls to do, occupationally, what they want in life, and to wait to have children. Oldest DD wants to be a marine biologist. More power to her! But I'm also teaching her the value and importance of being home with her children, and of choosing a mate FOR LIFE. Yes, go out and make some money, live your life, learn how to be an adult. But also learn to live with one income, learn how to be a mother, and love your children.

 

The biggest myth that was ever perpetrated against women was that "You can have it all." I love being a mother to my (and any others that happen to stray in) children. I also loved working, at least certain jobs. But I cannot be effective at either when I'm attempting to do both. I can work at home, as long as my business does not become so big that I'm sacrificing time with my children for the work. If I can bring in a few extra dollars to help stretch our funds, so be it. But right now, I'm not bringing in a dime, and we're not stressing over it. Sure, we don't have cable, or a dvd player since ours broke. I haven't had "new" clothes in I don't know how long, and most of my kids' stuff was bought off ebay. Our cars are old, and our home certainly isn't what we wanted, but it's still home. I'm there when my kids walk in the door, and seeing those faces every afternoon makes me really really happy. It's worth no cable, and the broken dvd player, and ebay. It's worth the old cars and the apartment instead of a house, and budgeting to the penny. It's worth EVERY SINGLE SACRIFICE we, as a family, have ever had to make.

 

I'm right there with you, DArlene. It infuriates me all the time. And some days, it's really hard to keep my mouth shut!

 

Mo7

[WiccadStargazer]

I agree mo7 and Dar. I hate when people tell me how much money I could make if I could work full time doing massage. Sure, but then I'd have to put DS in daycare. I want to raise my own child! Not pay someone else to do it! Others just don't understand! Sure I babysit the neighbor girl and have for so long DS and her are like brother and sister, and I only make $70 a WEEK and I do massage for 2 hours and get $80, but at least I can be with my children when I need/want to! I can wait until next year when he's in 1st grade to work more hours to make more money (to get more bills! isn't that what happens?!?!?)

 

We are low income too, single income, family of four, no cable (when we have cable I never like anything that on anyway), no expensive clothes (unless they are from my friend who gave them to me), no new cars (my metro is a 2000, poorly taken care of by my brother, the newest we've had before that is an 89!), and I actually like it that way. I get to stay home, and cook for my family, eating out is an extrememly rare treat, and is looked on as such (when we want to splurge for a special occasion, even mcDonalds's is rare!) Sure it looks good to have new shiny things, but I don't care what others think of me,if they want to judge me by my "stuff" and I sure as heck don't want the bills I'd get for the shinies! (Besides that, if people think I have money, I think I'd be more likely to have people trying to take it! So I'd prefer to have the less shiny eye=catching stuff anyhow!)

[HSmom]

Mo7

Quote:

Why is it WRONG today to say what you just said?

Because this is America, and you are entitled to your opinion as long as it doesn't offend anyone else.

 

The MAJORITY want their toys, jobs, prestige, etc.

 

Therefore the minority - women who want to be at home - are considered politically incorrect if they rain on the parade of the majority by daring to suggest that they are placing material goods before their families.

[Sunnyboysx3]

Mo7

Quote:

When I want a night off from cooking we pull something out of the freezer, usually something I've prepared extra of and thrown in the freezer

 

Here, here!

[TheCG]

Quote:

I hear discussions all the time by women who say "I have to work." These are the same women who have brand new cars in the driveway, expensive clothes, and a TV in every room.

My mom worked for a while when we were younger, has gone back to school and gotten her MBA, but has mostly been a stay-at-home mom. During HS (he graduated '97), my brother hung out with the kids who had nice shiny new SUVs, while he was driving the dinky '86 Mazda 626. Apparently my mom and the mom of one of his friends were talking one day, and the other mom said a bit snottily that "It must be so nice not to have to work!" Apparently Mom had to bite her tongue to keep from saying something to the effect of "If I bought my children brand new cars when they've already wrecked two, I'd have to work too!" The other mom's daughter had wrecked two cars and got a brand new one every time. I got a brand new one after driving Mom's old 1992 Crown Victoria (luckily the mazda was pretty much dead) for 6 years with no wrecks and only one ticket (yeah...did you know that it's illegal to park on the wrong side of the street?).

I've had a few people comment on my nice shiny 2003 PT Cruiser, that it must be getting close to time to trade it in. They're amused when I start laughing and ask them how much their car payment is. Some of them are scary. I tell them that oh, darn, mine's paid off (granted, by benefit of being a spoiled brat, but still), so I don't have a car payment. It's entertaining to watch their jaw drop as they imagine what else they could do with their $450/mo. Suckers.

[Pixie]

the first 2 paragraphs of that article contradict each other. first artile sais that he feeds both him and his wife for thirty bux. choosing to eat organic veggies is his own personal preference, i grow my own organic veggies now.

 

point is, the author of that article has a rather skewed view of reality, and needs a good hard smack in the head!

[Buttercup]

Quote:

point is, the author of that article has a rather skewed view of reality, and needs a good hard smack in the head!

[Snowmom]

So right Buttercup.

[KimMC]

Quote:

Maybe it's the mood I'm in but...

*Mama* needs to get her butt home and take care of her family. I'm not buying all this krap about 2 working people families...the *stuff* is more important and they never really end up getting ahead anyway. Why they bother having children when they don't want to raise them, don't want to cook for them, all they think their duty is, is to buy for them blows my mind.

[Phatkat1956]

I took one of my friends (one of the girls that is coming out of the drug world and is gonna have her first date in 4 years next weekend and didn't know how she would make out not drinking or where they could go) out to dinner saturday night. I had the seafood combination and she had a delmonico steak. Now this place is not afraid to give you some food for your money. We each got three sides, mine were a salad, applesauce and fries. Her's were corn chowder, cole slaw and smashed potatoes. Then came the bread, a small sub size roll (a little larger than a hot dog roll) with real butter. My dinner consisted of 4 scallops, 4 shrimp, 1 oyster, 1 large crab cake, and 1 large piece of haddock. I ate the salad, bread, applesauce, shrimp, scallops and fries. Gave my friend the oyster, which I won't eat, but the dog will. Brought home the crab cake, haddock and the leftover fries for lunch on Sunday. She took home half the steak, half the smashed potatoes and gravy and the roll for her lunch on Sunday. We did splurge on dessert...she had a pumpkin cheesecake...to die for, I am working on the recipe for this one girls and I will let you know if I get it up and going before Thanksgiving; I had a slice of coconut cream pie (my toasted coconut cream pie recipe is better). Each meal was about $14.00 without the dessert. But, I subtract $5.00 for lunch the next day leaving the meal costing me $9.00, plus the cost of the dessert...it was the last cheesecake, so we bought the last three slices (and we got the last slice they had for free) of it to work on the recipe too, but they don't count as they are recipe costs.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that eating out is cheaper than making it at home, I'm saying that using it as a "girls night out" can be fun and we should all have fun as long as we can. The fact that I am gonna come up with a great recipe and a lunch after having a great night out...is just gravy for the smashed taters!!!

 

 

[mistylady]

We haven't had dinner in a real restraunt in nearly 3 years (the kids have never been with a sitter). We do the fast food thing about three times a month. Long Johns has those lobster bites right now and I love those things!

 

I make hubbys lunches for work and I do all the cooking here. DH is dangerous in the kitchen. He's a worse cook than me! My mother never taught me anything about cooking - we were far from close so I've learned everything via cookbooks and hubbys grandma. I've made some real stinkers in the kitchen. IF we had a dog it would have run from some of the things I've destroyed! But overall it is cheaper to eat at home even with my goofs. Plus I enjoy cooking even when I have to look at the cookbook to figure out how to cook really simple things. Someday I plan to make a cake from scratch! But for now I can open the box and whip up the batter just fine!

[BiscuitMaker]

Who ever wrote this is an idiot plan and simple. Or should I say a scam artist. Could it be that there is a restaurant lobby behind this. Could be!

I agree with you all about what women are told, big houses fancy cars, and children in day care. I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I do not have children and I know women who are in good income brackets, they give me a hard time about cooking and housework and baking. I haven been known to iron my sheets, Oh that sets them into a real tizzy.

I like to make a nice home for my husband and myself. When he was working he worked no less than 12 hours a day, do you think he wanted to stand in line for dinner. No way he was beat so I cooked for him.I don't understand why women don't get that.

And I like what I cook, and food out is all the same no matter which place you go. I have seen children so tired they could not sit up at the table. And they eat late like 8pm or 9pm. What a life.

Ok I will shut up now.

[westbrook]

is eating out cheaper?

 

perhaps but is it worth the price of your childrens health?