Is it cheaper to eat out than cook?

[t0rrent98]

I say, if you make the big bucks and can afford to eat out everyday than do it. If your some who who's struggling to barely live off what your getting paid than probably not but feel free to do it once or twice a week to spoil yourself.

[Language]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

Is this a serious question? How have you made it anywhere in life without knowing this? A ten year old would be able to figure this out. And eating healthy at home, you know buying fruits and vegetables is very inexpensive! and nothing at the grocery store comes cheaper then pasta.

Yes this is a serious question, and I've made it just fine thank you.

Originally Posted by bubbsy

The only time i think eating out vs cooking comes even close is if you are a bachelor/living on your own.

That being said, it is downright impossible to maintain a truly healthy diet when eating out, unless u have the will power to stick with the salads/healthy section of menus.

Yep I am currently a bachelor and living on my own. From those that I talked to who do live on their own they have told me the same thing, that it might come close in situations like this. Hence wanting some feedback.

Originally Posted by To Be Quite Honest

Language, where do you live? If you're close by I'll give you a tour through the shopping center and how to cook what you've got. We can do 5 basic meals and after that you can take cooking classes.

That would be great. I live in the Beltline but it wouldn't be that difficult for me to drive up and meet you. I'll feel kind of silly getting a tour through a grocery store but I actually feel that it might be beneficial for me. Thanks for the offer!

[TurdFerguson]

If your lifestyle supports and allows you to follow a good routine then groceries and home cooking is generally cheaper and without a doubt healthier (you cannot eat 'well' when eating out, you can only eat 'not as bad'). However, as I've experienced, if you have a somewhat inconsistent schedule then doing the weekly grocery shop can actually cost money in wasted/spoiled food. If you have a) the will power b) the predictable lifestyle c) the time for shopping and meal prep then try to eat at home. If not, then be realistic with how often you go grocery shopping and what you buy. I hate the feeling of tossing spoiled food out.

[Derek Sutton]

Originally Posted by Muta

Wow, way to be a dick. Food is expensive in Calgary, so he's got a legitimate point. There's absolutely nothing wrong with asking the question that he did; sometimes, even at age 29, I ask myself the same thing.

Eating particularly healthy may be marginally less than buying a healthy meal somewhere. It all depends how you perceive quality of meals and where your culinary priorities lay on a day-to-day basis.

Perhaps instead of making fun of the OP, you provide some effective solutions to his questions? We can't all be perfect like you.

I'll be the first to admit, I'm very far from perfect, and a single person may find themselves asking this, but I will try to offer something constructive.

Break it down to coffee for example. My wife insisted that it was not expensive to buy a coffee every moring, which it isn't really, but breaking it down I provoved her to be very incorrect. By using her Coffee Press enearly everyday, buying Kicking Horse or Starbucks coarse ground, or grinding her own beans it was nearly half the cost of going to Tims every morning, and quite a bit less then going to Starbucks.

So for breakfast, Lets say you like Eggs, Bacon and Toast
Eggs- $2.49 dozen
Dempsters whole Grain- $4.00/ loaf
Bacon- $5/lb
Ocean Spray Fruit Juice- $4.00/ 1.89l
Throw in A box of decent Cereal $6.00 and some milk $3.00

This should feed a guy for a week of breakfasts, totaling $24.49 (3.50/day) now if your eating in a restraunt your looking at $10- $15/day = $70-$100/ wk or more, and at Tims I would say $5.50/ day= $38.50, so it is only marginally cheaper then Tims ($14) week to week, but over the course of a year it would be $750/ yr +/-, very roughly estimated.

Skipping ahead to supper, I would say it costs $10 to fill me up at Mc'ds. A nice 8- 10oz strip loin would cost say $6, $4 for ten lbs potaotes and $3 for 5lbs of carrots. Lettuce, Tomaotes, peppers, onoin for Salad $2/ day. You can cook yourself a nice steak dinner for easily $10/ person, the same as Mcdonalds, and much cheaper then buying s steak dinner at a restraunt ($35) It is safe to say that $70/wk, when cooking at home, for dinners is a decent estimate, now compare that to eating out.
The Op said he liked pasta, $2/ lb of pasta and $3.49 for sauce, that will do for three meals totaling $1.83/ meal, add on another $1 for vegetables and you've got three inexpensive meals. Buying fresh pasta (Olivier) would cost more, I would say 2.5x as much so your at $4.58, then throw in 8oz (227g) of chicken for $4 and your a $8.58 for a decent pasta meal.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

I'll be the first to admit, I'm very far from perfect, and a single person may find themselves asking this, but I will try to offer something constructive.

Break it down to coffee for example. My wife insisted that it was not expensive to buy a coffee every moring, which it isn't really, but breaking it down I provoved her to be very incorrect. By using her Coffee Press enearly everyday, buying Kicking Horse or Starbucks coarse ground, or grinding her own beans it was nearly half the cost of going to Tims every morning, and quite a bit less then going to Starbucks.

So for breakfast, Lets say you like Eggs, Bacon and Toast
Eggs- $2.49 dozen
Dempsters whole Grain- $4.00/ loaf
Bacon- $5/lb
Ocean Spray Fruit Juice- $4.00/ 1.89l
Throw in A box of decent Cereal $6.00 and some milk $3.00

This should feed a guy for a week of breakfasts, totaling $24.49 (3.50/day) now if your eating in a restraunt your looking at $10- $15/day = $70-$100/ wk or more, and at Tims I would say $5.50/ day= $38.50, so it is only marginally cheaper then Tims ($14) week to week, but over the course of a year it would be $750/ yr +/-, very roughly estimated.

So your example right here pretty much proves that it's not a stupid question at all. $14 a week may be well worth it depending on your time constraints and desire to eat the same thing every day (which is a factor when your savings is dependent upon buying in multiple serving quantities).

[Igottago]

Buy a foreman grill and you can quite easily cook up some quick, satisfying, inexpensive and healthy meat dishes. Just steam up some veggies on the side and you're good to go.

I try to stock up on meat that I can freeze and then buy produce on a weekly basis is the way to go. I wouldn't buy too much or it will go bad before you use it.

Being in the beltline (like me) you are going to have the nights you want to go out to eat -- there are some fantastic restaurants around. But every day will be costly and unhealthy. I try to eat more at home during the week because I know I'll be eating out on weekends.

[Derek Sutton]

We use to throw out a lot of food, it seemed weelky and I started getting really mad at this so when you get home from grocery shopping do a few things right away
Wash and prep your fruits and veggies, lettuce, carrots, strawberries, pineapple etc.. you will use it if it is ready to go
Portion out and freeze your meat, allowing you to only thaw out as much as you are going to use.
Of course rotate (fifo) all items in your fridge, pantry. I pull out all the produce and try to use it up that night for supper (salad/ stir fry)

I've quit buying the bigger things for only .50 more because we ended up wasting a lot, like 500ml sour cream, 1l yogurt, 4l milk which eneded up costing more money then saving anything.

[Derek Sutton]

Originally Posted by valo403

So your example right here pretty much proves that it's not a stupid question at all. $14 a week may be well worth it depending on your time constraints and desire to eat the same thing every day (which is a factor when your savings is dependent upon buying in multiple serving quantities).

That is only breakfast, the cheapest meal of them all. Factor in supper and then eating the leaftovers for lunch and it isn't even close.

[kermitology]

Learn to cook, impress women, eat at home if you know what I mean.

Seriously though, cooking isn't that hard, get yourself some good resources (Flavour Bible and a few cookbooks) and get cracking. I bought a subscription to http://rouxbe.com/ and that has helped me immensely.

You can also check out some stuff on Jamie Oliver's Food Tube on youtube (Chiappa Sisters and 15 minute meals are awesome). And it seriously impresses the ladies. Sadly I learned to cook in order to feed my now wife because she has a lot of food allergies.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Language

That would be great. I live in the Beltline but it wouldn't be that difficult for me to drive up and meet you. I'll feel kind of silly getting a tour through a grocery store but I actually feel that it might be beneficial for me. Thanks for the offer!

That is the best part of his offer. The cooking part is pretty easy, but the shoping part can be harder.

Cooking is extremely enjoyable, and once you learn you will find you want to do it more and more.

[kermitology]

This might help too.. I've wanted to take some of their courses, but I don't have the time with a baby.

http://culinarycampus.ca/classes.php

Also, I highly recommend getting a good quality, and sharp as heck, chef knife. It'll make your life easier and more fun in the kitchen.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

That is only breakfast, the cheapest meal of them all. Factor in supper and then eating the leaftovers for lunch and it isn't even close.

Well that depends now doesn't it. You're acting as if your situation is applicable to everyone, and that's simply not true. I know for a fact that it doesn't apply to me, I'm probably spending slightly more eating out but simply don't have the time or space to prepare most of my meals. I'm in a different city, but it's not unreasonable to see that being the case for someone in Calgary. The point is that it's not a dumb question in any way.

[Dienasty]

Originally Posted by Language

Thanks for all your input guys. Sounds like I just need to learn to shop better in terms of buying things when they're on sale, etc. I can definitely afford grocery shopping, it wasn't about a budgetary constraint, but more just wanted to see if it was roughly equivalent. Sounds like grocery shopping is definitely more reasonable if done right.

I don't think you can do it wrong. Grocery shopping for myself is between 50-80 bucks a week.

Eating out 2 times a day (ten bucks each meal, but usually more) comes to $140, thus I am saving between $60-90 bucks a week. If you can get things on sale even better.

As for salads you can get shredded cheese ($7 lasts 2-3 weeks), bags of Lettuce $1.5-2.5 (go through two per week), cherry tomatoes ($5) last full week, Cucumber $1 (lasts one week), Onion $1 (Lasts one week) etc. total cost $3/meal?

[Minnie]

Do you have a library card, by chance? There's an older book by author Susan Scace, called Take Me With You.....Please. Some of it's not going to be of use to you, because you've likely covered those areas but she has a cooking section in the book that tells you the things you need for a basic pantry, and the most typical cookware you'll need to cook on the most basic level. She also includes a number of simple and easy recipes that you can try and shouldn't cost the earth. Maybe see if you can find it at CPL? Just a suggestion.

Also, another worthwhile investment for you might be to purchase a small crockpot. They're great for set it and forget it. When I was working full time, I used the crockpot all the time. It will require a little prep and planning on your part. If I found the recipe I was using was going to require a little chopping (veg for example), I did the work the night before and just put the veg in a bowl of water in the fridge overnight. Also premeasured all the other ingredients and had them sat out next to the crockpot so it was a 5 minute process in the morning, set the timer, walked away and came home to a fully cooked meal. It should provide you with some leftovers as well, for lunches or supper another night.

ETA: The Company's Coming cookbooks by Jean Pare are pretty decent and she has a crockpot cookbook in the lineup that would be helpful if you had a crockpot.

[Jbo]

I eat out a ton, and actually did your diet for quite a long time. (Timmys/Subway/Pizza) for way to long. The best route is probably somewhere in the middle. Buy Breakfast stuff, eat out for lunch and then buy dinner.

I was probably the last person ever to expect to start cooking, but the best thing to do is buy a BBQ. So easy to make steaks, burger, hotdogs for dinner etc. There is very little clean up and take no time to cook. You will eat better and it will be cheaper.

BBQ is the gateway for all men to start cooking.

[Weiser Wonder]

I think when talking about eating out, it's important to realize why you are eating out.

It should be obvious to most anyone that you can eat for cheaper if you eat from home purely for nourishment. However, people eat out for both nourishment and as a treat. So if you just try to save money purely by never going out to eat, it's not going to work unless you provide yourself with other satisfying treats.

I've found that trying to cook from a recipe and making it well can provide as much pleasure as eating out. Especially if you have a friend/family to enjoy the meal with.

But I would not beat yourself up about eating out. Everyone needs a break and you have to good to yourself.

[Milt Schmidt]

Originally Posted by Minnie

Also, another worthwhile investment for you might be to purchase a small crockpot. They're great for set it and forget it. When I was working full time, I used the crockpot all the time. It will require a little prep and planning on your part. If I found the recipe I was using was going to require a little chopping (veg for example), I did the work the night before and just put the veg in a bowl of water in the fridge overnight. Also premeasured all the other ingredients and had them sat out next to the crockpot so it was a 5 minute process in the morning, set the timer, walked away and came home to a fully cooked meal. It should provide you with some leftovers as well, for lunches or supper another night.

+1 on getting a crockpot. I often combine all the ingredients for a recipe way ahead of time and freeze them in tupperware, that way all I have to do is drop the frozen ingredients into the crockpot and turn it on on my way out the door in the morning. It's amazing how many things can be made in a crockpot, and it takes very little time to fill a few containers with ingredients for several meals.

Milt

[Russic]

I'm making pizza for dinner and this thread got me thinking. After adding up everything, it appears as though the rough equivalent to a medium pizza is about $3.90 depending on how you top it. You could basically have pizza 5x/week for the cost of having a single one delivered.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by valo403

So your example right here pretty much proves that it's not a stupid question at all. $14 a week may be well worth it depending on your time constraints and desire to eat the same thing every day (which is a factor when your savings is dependent upon buying in multiple serving quantities).

The thing with this comparison is that you are eating well at home vs eating crap from tim horton's The dollar value difference gets higher if you expect the same food quality from your restaurant as you do from the grocery store.

So really we are making a false comparison in a lot of these threads. If you want to eat mcdonalds quality foods you can get 4kg of fries for $5-$8 and a pack of hotdogs for $2 and buns for $2 and eat supper all week for $15. Its crap but about the same as the McD's every night.

The blanket statement that is true is that buying groceries is cheaper than eating out for equivalent food.

The value judgement that needs to be made is whether or not it is worth the extra money that eating out costs for the convenience it offers.

[Frequitude]

Its actually pretty close if you drink water.