<p>I eat out at least 3 times a week, sometimes more. For my family, and our friends it’s social. I can’t cook a lot of the things I order too. I have been trying to make good Vietnamese and Thai food for years, and I haven’t managed a really good meal yet.
If I invite people to my house to eat, which I do sometimes, then I have to cook and clean which makes it much less fun. I also feel like I am in the kitchen for a lot of the meal, and so I miss some socialness.
When I eat out, I usually spend between 5-7 dollars. We usually try to share dishes, most places the portions are huge. I agree wuith other posters that have written that there are places worth much more than that for a meal. Everything about some restaurants is just worth 30-50 dollars. These meals don’t happen very often, but they do happen.</p>
<p>robert lee, i’ve honestly never met anyone as close minded about food and how people spend their money as you… so congratulations, because i’ve met a lot of people throughout my life :)</p>
<p>but seriously, you should be eating ramen 3 meals a day… you are really wasting wayyy to much money on 79 cent spaghetti and 3 dollar frozen pizzas. that money could be put towards something else much more important.</p>
<p>(just wanted to point out how rediculous this whole thread is)</p>
<p>I absolutely love to cook. It’s a running joke that I can get any man I want into my kitchen. Like the OP, I dislike the idea of spending $10 on pasta & sauce that I can easily make at home for $2.00. </p>
<p>Yet, I eat out a fair amount. It’s done with certain rules: usually I eat out for lunch, because it’s cheaper than dinners out; I eat things that are either extremely difficult and expensive for me to make (such as Indian) - the cost of the ingredients can be astonishing, once you factor in the spices; and I eat things that, as a vegetarian, I need to eat (i.e. tofu & black beans for protein) that just taste a lot better when professionals make them. I also avoid the fatty/salty foods - as a low-sodium vegetarian, it all tastes bad to me. </p>
<p>I also eat out nearly all the time during law school finals. Again, a lot of those are big lunches out and dinner is pasta or stuffing; I simply lack the time to make three meals a day and can’t survive for two weeks without good, nutritious food.</p>
<p>As a mom of five, 3 being HUGE football players we cook alot at home, and sometimes eat out.</p>
<p>Since I have been a bargain shopper (had to!), use coupons, shop at Walmart with price matches to other grocery stores and use coupons to eat out, we as a family have a good grasp on what everything costs and the quality of what we are buying.</p>
<p>As far as the sub, pizza, soda discussion that can vary. Our local subway runs a daily special after 4pm, any 3 foot-long subs for $9.99. Not each, $9.99 for 3, any 3. So a meatball sub, heavy on the provolone, chicken mesquite and a chicken club, foot-longs $9.99.</p>
<p>Now at our SuperWalmart a bag of 6 6-inches is $2.00. Chicken breast $3.49 a lb, not cooked or marinated yet. Need mayo, mustard, olive oil, hamburger meat (cooked for meatballs, breadcrumbs, eggs, milk), spag sauce, onions, chopped/grated lettuce, 3 other cheeses besides provolone, bacon for the club, mesquite marinade, turkey AND ham for the club… Not to mention all the cooking time to prepare these 3 sandwiches. </p>
<p>So no it isn’t cheaper or easier or a time-saver to make it at home. Now a 2-liter of Sam’s choice soda is $.50 so that would be cheaper at home. And frozen pizza isn’t necessarily the same as a good-ole-fashioned hand-tossed NY pizza. But we reserve that for other night’s when it is buy-one-get-one-free nights!</p>
<p>For the sub sandwiches we bring them home and have salad and some assortment of potatoes. But for just deli sandwiches we keep some of the ingredients in the house, usually the ones that were on sale that week.</p>
<p>As with all things moderation works well for our family. Since our family when all together is large we are really careful about eating out or groceries. We end up using our grill and most of the time it tastes better than what we would get out. Note: most of the time!</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>Quote: “Well, I agree with the OP about pasta.”</p>
<p>Quote: “Well, it is nice to know that someone cares about saving money. Golly, gee, I thought everyone here liked to eat out.”</p>
<p>Actually, I do like to eat out. I just do not like to waste my money on a pasta dish, unless it is something spectacular that I cannot make at home. I resent some restaurants charging $15 and then pouring on sauce, and putting a couple of pces. of chicken on top of some noodles. I want to eat things that are difficult for me to prepare at home, are delicious, and perhaps something that I consider out of the ordinary. Occasionally I order dishes that I could make at home too (ie: some type of steak). I live near an urban area, and I could find just about any type of dish. I find that eating out for lunch is often much more reasonable than eating out for dinner. There are some special places for the bargain hunter too. One just needs to discover these places. When I eat out with my kids, sans H, I will skip the appetizers, alcohol, soft drinks, and desserts. This is more cost effective, and will keep one thinner too.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.bsos.umd.edu/socy/faculty/jrobinson.html[/url]”>http://www.bsos.umd.edu/socy/faculty/jrobinson.html</a></p>
<p>This guy’s study…Americans have gained almost 1 hr/day since '65! Think about the time spent watching TV, working out, eating out, fewer hours, better tools…</p>
<p>Look up “Its Getting Better All The Time”</p>
<p>Just think about it!</p>
<p>My thoughts:</p>
<p>I can not believe that people will actually hang around waiting for a table at a crappy restaurant like Pizzaria Uno, Applebees, or Ruby Tuesday, when they could go to the mom and pop place down the street for the same or less money and eat real food.</p>
<hr>
<p>Anyone who disses eating out probably doesn’t have to do all the cooking at
home.</p>
<hr>
<p>We have some of our best family times at restaurants. Teenagers love to eat out. </p>
<hr>
<p>Weight control tip - Ask for a take out container at the beginning of your meal and put half your dinner in it. Why do restaurants serve such HUGE portions???</p>
<hr>
<p>Why do people do $50,000 kitchen renovations and then never eat at home???</p>
<p>I agree with Weenie. I’ve eaten at TGI Friday’s once, and Friendlies two or three times, other than that every place I eat at is a mom and pop place down the street and honestly their food is half the price and costs twice as good. You can go to the resteraunt right up the street and get the best breakfast for 2 bucks… or you can go to Denny’s and get the same exact thing for 8 bucks. Hmmm… I wonder where i’m going to go for breakfast.</p>
<p>Our local subway runs a daily special after 4pm, any 3 foot-long subs for $9.99. Not each, $9.99 for 3, any 3.</p>
<p>I do agree there. Our subway does the exact same special, except for $10.99 for 3 foot long subs of your choice. Unfortunately, this is the only place that doesn’t exactly rip you off and drain the purse strings.</p>
<p>Teenagers love to eat out.</p>
<p>My hypothesis proven, weenie. In the next twenty years, kitchens will be archaic and unused. Thanks to parents who never cooked at home or never taught their kids how cook will now be packing up the car to devour a $15.00 chicken marsala at Olive Garden. In twenty years, stoves and ovens will be rusted and dust collected from non use. Yes, teen agers love to eat out!</p>
<p>“robert lee, i’ve honestly never met anyone as close minded about food and how people spend their money as you… so congratulations, because i’ve met a lot of people throughout my life”</p>
<p>fendergirl, i’ve honestly never seen someone who wants to waste money at fancy restaurants as much as you, and i’ve met a lot of people in my life.</p>
<p>“Chicken Marsala! mmmm”</p>
<p>mmmmmmm…can be prepared at home for less than $2.00!</p>
<p>Why do people do $50,000 kitchen renovations and then never eat at home???</p>
<p>I agree with you. It seems as if the most expensive kitchens are used the least. Golly! Eat at home, y’all.</p>
<p>I see people spend money every day in ways that I would consider wasteful or even foolish, but it doesn’t upset me. It’s their money - let 'em spend it however they wish. I’m sure some of those same people disapprove of how I spend my money. Life is just too short to spend time worry about other people’s eating/spending habits.</p>
<p>Justin:
Actually my eldest (19 yrs old) loves to eat and cook. He will actually get up early on Saturdays to go to the Public Market to get food to cook all weekend. I believe his inspiration to learn how to cook did not come from my cooking 
- but from restaurants he’s eaten at. He’s also an avid fisherman and first learned to love great food on fishing trips with “shoreside dining.”</p>
<p>I love to eat out,
everyone can have what they want, its a chance to support local small businesses and communities, a chance to sit down and talk with out having to spend hours preparing and cleaning up the meal ( guess who does that?), a chance to see your neighbors,and to try out new tastes without investing a lot of time and energy into them.
Without a big kitchen, and investment into vareity of pans and tools, many dishes are just too time consuming and difficult to make, eating out gives you a chance to have special dishes, without having to purchase a special pan to store for something that you might only make every five years.</p>
<p>THree of our favorite types of food, Thai, Vietnamese and Indian, are very inexpensive, and wonderfully delicious. I can’t make dinner as cheap as I can get a nice bowl of Pho.
I also like the delis at some of the local groceries. Our local natural foods coop makes great soups, and I can buy just what I need, instead of over anticipating what the family will eat and having to throw most of it out.</p>
<p>If somebody doesn’t like eating out/buying books/going to a gym etc, I think that they are missing out, but hey! Its a free country :D</p>
<p>I just went here last week and prices haven’t gone up from the review [Saigon</a> deli](<a href=“http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=18451]Saigon”>http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=18451)</p>
<p>I think there’s hope for future cooks. Our son’s apartment complex sponsors weekly cooking classes taught by the area’s top chefs. Each class prepares 10 amazing meals that the students cook with the chef’s supervision and take home to freeze for later meals. It’s fun (our son especially likes the boy/girl ratio, since his apartment complex has more girls than boys) and they learn cooking techniques from professional chefs. I’ve also noticed a resurgence of male and female interest in cooking programs and cookbooks. </p>
<p>So when it comes to the future of home-cooking, don’t discount American ingenuity and everyone’s love of good food.</p>
<p>I have a decidedly unfancy kitchen. No double ovens, no stainless appliances, no granite center island with the veggie washing sink. My kitchen is functional, and very well laid out, with good counter space, but definitely no designer beauty.</p>
<p>And yet I am a better cook than most people I know with gorgeous kitchens, because yes…lots of them have terrific kitchens and mostly eat out.</p>
<p>So when it comes to the future of home-cooking, don’t discount American ingenuity and everyone’s love of good food.</p>
<p>WHen I started cooking when I was in junior high, it was the early 70s, Diet for a Small Planet-was my bible- when I made christmas treats for a favorite teacher- not frosted sugar cookies for me! I made something that was sweetened with dates and rolled in toasted sesame seeds- they tasted better than they looked ;)</p>
<p>Now my older daughter is going through a “hippie” phase in cooking. She made some sort of spelt cookies that weighed a ton- I asked her if she wanted my copy of Laurels Kitchen! lol</p>
<p>I like cooking, and I grow vegetables and herbs and usually buy the best ingredients I can, but I like to cook when I want & only when I want- and my H doesn’t cook at all, my D, can cook, but she doesn’t have time with homework, and sports, and for some reason they both like to eat every day!</p>
<p>I do love summer though, cause I can grill all kinds of stuff outside that we can eat on for a while. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.slowfoodusa.org/[/url]”>http://www.slowfoodusa.org/</a>
I think this movement is going pretty strong, not only worldwide, but in our area. We have “heirloom” tomatoes, grass fed buffalo and locally made pestos and about 6 different local bakeries that are represented just at our local grocery store.
Our local natural grocery also helps to preserve local farmland.
<a href=“http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/issues/farmland.html[/url]”>http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/issues/farmland.html</a></p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The kitchen does not make the chef.</p>
<p>We rarely ate out when the children were young and we were on a tight budget. Now with less baggage to haul with us, and fewer kids at home, we do eat out a lot more. I find that when I cook a meal with all the bells and whistles, it does cost quite a bit of money, whereas my usual family regular menus are cheap, mainly because I have most of the base ingredients. Whether we are eating or cooking in it, our kitchen is the center of our home. It is where you put things down when you come in from the garage, the big table is useful, and if you want to munch, it is the only room I permit food except for rare occaisions. I am glad we have a new kitchen because it takes me far less time to make the meals, particularly special ones. </p>
<p>I know that college kids eat out a lot these days. When I went to college, there were not many choices on campus, and few within easy walking distance off campus. These days things are different. My kids’ schools have many eating choices including national chains, and the neighborhoods surrounding the campus have set up shop to get some student money. They do cater to the kids preferences because the college kids are often their main revenue source. Some of those place are set up to take campus dollars. MY old college is no exception. Also it seems to me that kids have more money these days. When we ordered out Chinese or scraped up money for pizza, most of us did not have much cash. I see kids ordering single portions these days, and the food is delivered to them. I see Starbucks full of kids, as I am curbing my own latte habit because of the expense. Colleges have revamped their meal plans to allow more choice in where to eat. Some schools have done away with a 3 meal a day cafeteria, and have a mall food court situation. All of this does add up to more $$$.</p>
<p>We eat out often because we can and we enjoy it. You can’t take it with you.</p>
<p>We rarely ate out when the kids were young. As they hit high school, did a little more (much more quick things) as schedules got tight. Now with all in college or out of house, H. and I eat out much more–I hate cooking for 2, all that prep and clean up for 2 people.</p>
<p>Just sent him out for Chinese now. I worked in yard from 9am till 6pm and the last thing I wanted to do was cook, then have to clean up kitchen.</p>
<p>to whoever said i like to waste money at fancy resteraunts… i have no clue what you’re talking about. i’ve eaten at olive garden once in my life, tgi fridays once in my life, and friendlies about three times in my life… and of all of those five times i’ve never spent more than 10 dollars on a meal (including dessert if applicable - friendlies). That’s about it. Never been to a red lobster, never been to an applebees, never been to an outback steakhouse, etc… i think fancy resteraunts are a huge waste of money… i’m one who agreed about going to the mom and pop shop next door and eating for 2 bucks. maybe you should be talking to the people that go out for 100 dollar dinners at red lobster, those are the people that spend way too much money at fancy resteraunts (in my mind) :)</p>
<p>i eat out pretty much every friday for dinner - 99% of the time at cheap pizza resteraunts. other than that i cook every dinner by myself - and i pack my lunch every day for work… and i find 99% of fast food disgusting.</p>
<p>if i needed to give up something to cut back expenses, i still wouldn’t give up my friday night dinners. if i actually paid for cable tv, that would be the first thing i’d give up, because to me there isn’t a bigger waste of money than cable tv. i have no intention of purchasing it when i have a place of my own. my roommate freshman year wanted me to split the cost of getting cable with her and i refused to. i told her i would never watch it and that it would be a huge waste of money for me and that if she wanted to waste her money on that kind of junk then she’s more than welcome to. she signed up for cable and paid for it each month (roughly 40 dollars). i didn’t watch a second of it the whole year, and she lived in front of it so it was a great investment for her… however i’m not throwing 20 bucks each month in the garbage can… i used all of the money that i saved on cable towards a vacation that summer.</p>