Eating out vs cooking at home prices.

[aquariuscsm]

Yet you go to the gym? Seriously, that's a red flag your probably not getting the nutrition you need either. Again,take some effort and learn to cook,you'll be better off without all the additives restaurants add to the food.

With all the modern conveniences we have today, cooking is easy. No excuse man!

Absolutely!! Actually we have a fully functional weight room/workout room here at our home. Both of our vitals and numbers are impeccable. I think my main issue is, that I don't like to cook, and I'm not good at it. Probably the only thing I'm good at making is grilling/smoking red meats which I love!! I eat red meat almost every night. Throw in some occasional yardbird.

But when I eat out, it's always in moderation. Unless I'm having a 10-plater at the Chinese buffet, I always eat 1/3 to 1/2 of my meal, take the rest home, and eat it the rest of the week. My metabolism is so high that I have to fight to keep weight on, and my gf is the same way. We eat mostly only Mexican and Asian.

I can get a Chinese meal to go for $8.99, and divide it up and eat three meals off of it. Mexican meal is usually $12 and I can eat three meals off of as well. We have our fave spots that really know how to serve huge portions.

 

[vavavroom]

ALWAYS cheaper to cook. If cooking a meal costs more than ordering in, then what you are ordering in is not real food.

Only if you cook simple meals with a limited amount of ingredients.

 

[mightymousetech]

You can prepare a meal in 20-30 minutes, my wife does it all the time. Today, we had fresh home made pasta (previously frozen) with crumbled sausage and rapini (broccoli rabe) sauteed in EVOO for lunch. In a restaurant it's $20 a person minimum plus plus plus. We spent $12 for four.

Yup. Wife and I both like to cook. As you increase your repertoire, you have more ingredients and spices for future recipes, bringing down the cost significantly. The closer you get to cooking from scratch the better. Buy ingredients, not food.

We will only order in if it is better than what we would make ourselves. That’s normally a dinner for two in the $250-300 range. We don’t do that often, that’s our normal weekly food budget.

 

[aquariuscsm]

But groceries use to be cheap!! I honestly think the margin is narrowing.

 

[GSCJR]

We often ask ourselves, how can they sell an XL pizza for just over $10? When the cheese and the pepperoni alone is more than that. As @mightymousetech alluded to, it's not good food.

 

[atikovi]

Then you can invest time into learning how to cook!

I rather spend my time on doing things I enjoy and buying the things I don't particularly enjoy doing.

 

[53' Stude]

It simply depends on the types of food you eat. One could survive cheaply on beans, eggs, and cabbage. Probably should get a gas mask.

I get by quite well using a crock pot. I do eat greens, carrots and eggs and meat and fish. No gas mask needed here.

My real dad has been eating out since him and mom divorced. He can’t get it they his thick skull that cooking for himself is probably somewhat healthier and cheaper.

 

[Chris142]

We were just talking about this. We can buy a burger special,pretty good I must add for $6.99+tax.

A personal lunch pizza made from scratch locally is $7.50... Almost better eating out vs cooking at home and you don't have to clean the table or was dishes.

 

[parshisa]

I’d take home made stuff my wife or myself make over restaurant food any day. It’s not really about how much it costs to buy groceries to cook vs to eat out, but it’s knowing what exactly goes in it and that it is cooked exactly the way I want it. But you’re **** right on the cost of groceries - extremely hard to stay under 1k/month for a family of 4 but still doable.

 

[Dave9]

We often ask ourselves, how can they sell an XL pizza for just over $10? When the cheese and the pepperoni alone is more than that. As @mightymousetech alluded to, it's not good food.

This is not at all true, unless you are not good at grocery shopping and only buy small quantities. Restaurants do have that advantage of buying in bulk to save but I'm not even talking about institutional sized quantities, just enough to make a few pizzas rather than one. Besides, cheese and pepperoni will keep in the refrigerator for weeks ( or months if the cheese is shredded and natamycin in it, which is proven safe to consume, not some chemical-paranoid thing to worry about), so not at all unreasonable to buy 1lb cheese and an entire pepperoni stick instead of a little packet of pre-sliced at a premium price.

Priced by quantity above, there's around 8oz of cheese on a typical $10 pizza, about $2 worth, less if a place that skimps on it like Dominoes. More at some mom 'n pop joints but they typically charge more than $10/XL-pizza unless a thin NY style with less toppings. There might be $1 worth of pepperoni, maybe $1.50 worth at a place that really loads it on. Sauce is cheap, and dough cheaper still. PS - I worked at two different pizza joints, seems like a lifetime ago, but pricing is based on what I'm seeing for ingredients today, not their dollar value decades ago.

There may be less margin (above ingredient cost) on a $10 pizza than some other restaurant food, which is understandable because there's lower overhead to it, but a general rule of thumb is that the restaurant food value usually constitutes about 30% of the total bill before a tip, unless it's a high end restaurant then even less than 30%. Granted this includes profit leaders like drinks.

The main problem I have with (most, a lot) of restaurants is low skill chefs who gravitate towards the lowest common/lazy denominator that more fat and salt is the easy out to tasty food instead of other seasoning to take their place. To be fair it is also about the average customer being used to excessively salty food so their taste buds dull to the excess.

 

[supton]

But groceries use to be cheap!! I honestly think the margin is narrowing.

I’m sure take out prices will eventually rise. They have to pay labor and all.

Plus you’d have to eat said takeout. The cheap stuff tends to loaded with salt and fat. The stuff a step up on the menu is loaded with salt and just not quite calories it seems.

 

[Zee09]

When in Florida
All you can eat snow crab legs with two sides and a salad and free large drink refills..$32 plus tax-tip...

My local Chinese take out.
Seafood combination enough for 3
and 4 shrimp egg rolls and rice.
$21 no tax

Depends where you live and what you order.

 

[Tom NJ]

I like to cook, but still eat out 3-4 times a week. Calories are a bigger issue to me than cost - I tend to eat more when I dine out.

 

[GSCJR]

This is not at all true, unless you are not good at grocery shopping and only buy small quantities. Restaurants do have that advantage of buying in bulk to save but I'm not even talking about institutional sized quantities, just enough to make a few pizzas rather than one. Besides, cheese and pepperoni will keep in the refrigerator for weeks ( or months if the cheese is shredded and natamycin in it, which is proven safe to consume, not some chemical-paranoid thing to worry about), so not at all unreasonable to buy 1lb cheese and an entire pepperoni stick instead of a little packet of pre-sliced at a premium price.

Priced by quantity above, there's around 8oz of cheese on a typical $10 pizza, about $2 worth, less if a place that skimps on it like Dominoes. More at some mom 'n pop joints but they typically charge more than $10/XL-pizza unless a thin NY style with less toppings. There might be $1 worth of pepperoni, maybe $1.50 worth at a place that really loads it on. Sauce is cheap, and dough cheaper still. PS - I worked at two different pizza joints, seems like a lifetime ago, but pricing is based on what I'm seeing for ingredients today, not their dollar value decades ago.

There may be less margin (above ingredient cost) on a $10 pizza than some other restaurant food, which is understandable because there's lower overhead to it, but a general rule of thumb is that the restaurant food value usually constitutes about 30% of the total bill before a tip, unless it's a high end restaurant then even less than 30%. Granted this includes profit leaders like drinks.

The main problem I have with (most, a lot) of restaurants is low skill chefs who gravitate towards the lowest common/lazy denominator that more fat and salt is the easy out to tasty food instead of other seasoning to take their place. To be fair it is also about the average customer being used to excessively salty food so their taste buds dull to the excess.

Around here, a 12oz. piece, we use the whole thing, of good quality mozzarella (25% M.F. and 50% humidity) is about $7. A good quality (cup and char) 10oz. pepperoni stick, we use the whole thing, is over $3 and we haven't even made the dough or sauce yet.

 

[TnT_M]

Wife has been a stay at home mom for the last ~20 years raising a 20 & 19 year old, so we seldom eat out. She has dinner on the go most days when I get home from work, or has something out for me to grill. Last night was loaded backed potatoes, brown beans and steak (T-bones & NY Strips). I even enjoyed a Sam Adams Boston Lager with my steak! We buy our beef and pork in bulk from a farmer so it's ground beef or T-bones for about $2.50/pound. We can't eat out for that, I promise!

Just last weekend I made a chuck roast from our stash cooked in the oven like you would do a Prime Rib. It turned out awesome and was cooked to medium / medium rare. Some cheesy potatoes and mixed veggies and we were set... I even made Au Jus for dipping.

Just my $0.02

 

[Sam_Julier]

I love to cook for us and our friends who often join us. Lots of fish, shellfish, chowders and soups from scratch and roasts. Fresh vegetables from farm stand. When I need a night off or out we go to the shoreline for fish, or New Haven for pizza. Usually once a week, if that.

It is far less expensive to cook at home and in many ways far more satisfying.

Last night was roast chicken with apples, leeks, shallots in apple cider, brown sugar and nutmeg, shown below. Chicken bones will become stock - nothing wasted.

 

[RazorsEdge]

Roast in the crockpot

Baked potato in microwave

Veggies in the air fryer

It's not hard to cook,just stop being lazy and pick out the foods that are the most nutrient dense.

 

[AZjeff]

We both like to cook and never eat out. Too many restaurants think the more seasoning the better, with garlic at the top of the list. I like to taste the food not what was dumped on it. At home we use fresh ground pepper and sea salt and spare amounts of taco and poultry seasoning when called for.

Factor in the cost of gas and time spent driving there and back plus time there.

 

[bbhero]

We both like to cook and never eat out. Too many restaurants think the more seasoning the better, with garlic at the top of the list. I like to taste the food not what was dumped on it. At home we use fresh ground pepper and sea salt and spare amounts of taco and poultry seasoning when called for.

Factor in the cost of gas and time spent driving there and back plus time there.

Rumor has it AZ....

You are the best waffle cooker in the southwestern US...

Unconfirmed report but it's what I have heard...

 

[sk_pete]

Especially if you're not a very good cook or don't particularly enjoy cooking. (like me)

pressure pot, throw stuff in, and wait 30mins.
soups, stews, and other one pot wonders. don´t have to own michelin star to make something worthy.
people buy most expensive cuts for steaks, but you don´t have to.

my issue with restaurants is it will use cheap items (health risk), u dont have anything under control.
honestly, i´ve seen local show similar to ramsay´s , and i had enough to visit any restaurants.