Is it More Expensive to Cook at Home than to Eat Out?
sf_chic, writing at Common Sense Financial Wisdom from MY Wife, looks at the hidden costs that cooking entails. The list is detailed and, quite frankly, exhausting just to think about. An excerpt:
The process of cooking generates a lot of things to wash. To be efficient in the cooking process, most people try to utilize the entire stove instead of just using one burner. If the cook does that and uses four pans instead of one pan, then there’s four things to wash. In addition, there are bowls that I use to hold the chopped vegetables, the cutting board, and the knives that I used to cook with to wash.
While some of it is highly exaggerated (like having to disinfect the entire kitchen whenever you cook chicken), the post made me wonder.
Is cooking at home really more expensive in the end than eating out? What do you think?
Image: EMU
Tags: home cooking, eating out, housekeeping, homemaking
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POSTED IN: Cooking
4 opinions for Is it More Expensive to Cook at Home than to Eat Out?
Jill
Feb 27, 2007 at 3:02 pm
For us, a family of six, it is more expensive to eat out. Especially if you eat out several times a week.
For us, it just makes so much more sense to eat home cooked meals, and is so much more economical-and healthy!
Toni
Feb 27, 2007 at 8:04 pm
There are only two of us in the household: my husband and I. It is cheaper for us to eat out. We find that there are a lot of leftovers when we cook. The serving portions sold in groceries are very family-friendly, and while we portion these ingredients into sizes that are just right for the two of us, there always is extra. While we don’t mind extra, I don’t want a ref filled with leftover this and that.
Eating out is a friendlier option for us. And it’s not like we dine in five-star hotels everyday!
We also take into consideration that we both work outside the home, so it’s cheaper and more time-efficient to grab a meal after work and then relax at home.
Maricar
Feb 27, 2007 at 10:05 pm
Hi Jill and Toni,
That’s really interesting. There is a sort of idea around that cooking at home is always cheaper. I guess, from your examples, it might depend on the size of the family.
Jill
Feb 27, 2007 at 10:51 pm
I agree, I think it does depend a whole lot on how many people you are feeding.
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