Yeah, no doubt.
I think the belief that eating-in is across-the-board less expansive than eating out is oftentimes a self-fulfilling prophecy in that the people who think eating-in is cheaper are often those who enjoy the prep and cooking process.
There’s nothing wrong with that, but that inclination should not cloud one’s judgment about which type of eating behavior is, indeed, more cost-effective for everyone across-the-board.
I find that eating out has no control over your food . The way it is cooked , seasoned. And served . Wait time . Plus the markup on wine and cocktails is astronomical. Then you have to tip or get that 20 percent bs surcharge. Once every fifty days is ok .
In the Before Times, I met friends a couple of times a week for drinks/an early dinner. It was the camaraderie as much as the food. I absolutely dread, and will go to great lengths to avoid, eating in a proper restaurant alone. I just realize that it’s been more than 3 yrears since I’ve eaten in a restaurant. It’s not the food I miss.
Assuming no pandemic, I get weary of days on end of restaurant eating. I want what I want (which can be pretty modest) when I want it. And that’s probably not a whole meal.
Well, also docketing meal prep in 6 minute increments adds up.
Depends where you eat out at. Most restaurants, save the upper end (read: Michelin type places), will cook things to order. Heck, even your local McDonald’s will make your burger to order, e.g. more sauce, less pickles, etc.
Reservations?
And what about the “time” it takes to buy, prep, cook and then clean up the mess afterwards?
This, my friend, is a red herring.
Do you have a drink with every meal? Sure dinner. But breakfast? Lunch?
And even if you did have a cocktail or a glass of wine, or a shot of whiskey, with dinner, do you have it every single dinner you eat at home? I’m guessing not.
We drink when we eat out in part because it is oftentimes a special occasion or a treat, or a way to socialize with friends (esp. those friends who we really don’t care for and a bit of inebriation makes the conversation go that much smoother).
So if one were to eat every single meal out, I would doubt that person would be having a drink at every single meal.
So, is your time free?
What about the gas/electricity it took to cook the meal at home? Was that free?
The water to clean the dishes? Was that free? Perhaps you have a well in your property and can tap underground water, but it still takes labor and time to transport said free water into your home.
Those hidden costs are simply underscored by the “surcharge” and “tip” when eating out.
TL;DR the “cost” of eating out are often embedded in what we often consider de rigueur when eating in.
We don’t make our decisions about whether to eat out or not based on cost. We enjoy cooking at home so do that most evenings. But we also enjoy going to restaurants.
But, for us, it’s a different matter when we travel - say, our three week winter holiday in Spain. We have occasionally cooked but generally find it easier and generally as cheap to eat out. And more fun.
I feel like this comes up whenever there’s a cost comparison discussion, and if one does not equate eating out with high end (or even mid level), in large cities especially, takeout can definitely be cheaper.
When I was in the early days of work (not underpaid by any means, but much more cost conscious about everything), we could figure out how to get one takeout meal to last 2 or 3 meals, which places had the best quantity/quality/cost ratios, and so on.
Often you could order 2 lunch specials to last 1 lunch and 2 or 3 dinners, or order dinner at work (when one stayed late and it was included) to last 2 more lunches.
So cooking at home isn’t just about it being cheaper, at least not always. And unless one is very organized about how one plans meals and groceries, the eventual wastage has to be counted in the equation.
I found eating out cheaper than cooking in Manhattan the year I lived there.
I’m a better cook and shopper now, and food costs have changed. You still can’t beat the value of some lower end take-out meals in Manhattan. Thinking of the egg on a roll right now, as my cappuccino or iced latte, and a breakfast sandwich in Toronto usually costs me $12 -$20 Cdn these days.
In Toronto, there are a few deals, here and there, especially in some neighborhoods such as a Little India and Chinatown, as well as suburban Scarborough, but the average take-out shawarma downtown is running $12 Cdn before tax. The averages food court combo also starts at $12 before tax. The lower end Indian and Thai restaurants in my Italian neighborhood have curries starting at $17 Cdn. So- I can still cook for cheaper than take-out in Toronto, unless I get myself to an enclave with $4.99 shawarmas. The other thing I’m finding, as I get older, is that I can’t tolerate salt and I have a sensitivity to sulfites. A lot of cheaper take-out doesn’t work for me anymore.
I had a friend from college who lived on the UWS for years. Take-out from the neighborhood shops/restaurants was always cheaper. Particularly the rotisserie chickens (and this was before they became ubiquitous in all chain groceries). I remember going with him to a Chinese takeout with a couple of tables. I had the best soft-shell crabs ever, plus we had a carafe of box wine (yeah, I know, not authentic lol) that came with the meal. The whole dinner was not much more than McDonald’s would have been.
You can def eat out for dirt cheap in Manhattan vs. buying produce/groceries in the supermarkets, which are ridiculously expensive. Unless you want to live on ramen, as my bestie did when she went to NYU. I think she’s still paying off student loans.
Chinatown, bodegas. taquerias, etc. - so many cheap & delish options when most studio apts have jokes for a kitchen space.
Seemingly similar prices here in the UK. Last time we were at our usual place (takeaway but with a few tables and chairs), we had a lamb shawarma (with salad, flatbread & chilli sauce), a mixed mezze plate and a couple of canned drinks. Cost £14 (tax included as always) which is around $24 CDN.
Yeah, his “kitchen” was basically a place to store take-out, overflow from the bar cart, and snacks. I had a similar set up in my first apartment - a studio with the kitchen behind double closet doors, literally.
I remember some Chinese restaurants in the East Village having All You Could Drink Beer with their meals. I was always more of a foodie than a drinker, so they never tempted me! 
I remember cheap meals from Mee Noodle, and from some Mexican taco places.
Usually I accept that what I can buy in Canada for $10 Cdn will cost £10 in the UK, in that food and coffee costs 1 1/2 to 2 times more in the UK, any time I visit. The numbers on the menus usually look the same, regardless of the current exchange rate. Keep in mind, my last visit was in Sept 2018.
The only foods that don’t seem to fit this equation are your Caffs / Cafes (meaning where greasy breakfasts are sold), the pre-made sandwiches to go at M&S/Boots/EAT/Sainsbury’s/UpperCrust and some cheap Indian restaurants, where the buying power is closer to equal. I’m guessing the shawarma falls into this category , with the cheaper Indian restaurants.
I have gotten to the point, where I buy what I want when I travel, rather than focusing on how much it costs in Canadian dollars.
I recently saw some photos posted by friends in Iceland. They travel a lot. More than 5 big trips involving airplanes each year. They’ve also taken long leaves of absence, to travel through SE Asia, or work in Africa, so they are not novice travellers.
They were posting on FB about eating instant ramen to save money, because food was so expensive in Iceland. I can understand saving money by buying readymade food at an Icelandic grocery store or department store, or eating vegetarian , or focusing on Icelandic hot dogs or Icelandic fast food. I’m way too interested in Icelandic culture to think of travelling all the way there to eat instant noodles I could eat at home in Toronto.
But, YMMV.
I understand your point. I think there was a NY times article that was shared on here a while back that discussed those points. I don’t disagree that time and labor is a relevant calculation when deciding how to eat. We will also need to factor the cost of medical care. I do not trust restaurants to provide healthy meals. Even vegetarian dishes, salads and soups at most places are loaded with much more fat, cheese and sugar than I use at home. Moving around the kitchen cooking and cleaning and the energy used to shop sounds better for my body than sitting in a chair being served. That is a long-term benefit.
I don’t imagine many people living in developed nations other than those living in extreme poverty are going to forgo have a refrigerator so I’m not going to consider that a cost of cooking. Where do you store leftovers? I lived without one for a short while and that is not a nice nor economical way to live.
Until recently, this is not something I even considered. And rarely do now. But, since it became a legal requirement for chain restaurants to include a dish’s calories in the menu description, I have occasionally been a bit surprised just how many there are in some dishes and, even more occasionally, have made a different choice
I eat out so rarely now that when I do eat out I don’t give it a second thought but if I ate out frequently it would be a concern.
It really depends on where you live, and which restaurants you visit, in terms of whether restaurants use more sugar, more fat, etc. than a home cook.
I have been a big restaurant goer for most of my life.
I’ve finally gotten to the point where I’m ordering as healthy if not healthier at restaurants than I cook at home, most of the time.
I wish I lived on a Greek island during the summer.
Toronto started the calorie count at chain restaurants around 5 years ago. I find it helpful. The typical chain pub cheeseburger with fries is around 1200-1600 calories. Fish & Chips are usually around 1200-1600 calories. A club sandwich with fries, also around 1200-1500 calories.
The small chicken curry with rice at 2 different chain pubs is around 800 calories. The Shepherd’s Pie (which is really Cottage Pie ) is usually 800-1000 calories.
The calories posted on menus have changed my ordering behaviour at chain restaurants. I usually get the chicken curry, or occasionally a burger with a salad.
I’ve been seeing a dietician since 2017, and the daily caloric goal is around 1500-1800, although I typically consume 2000-2200. I have been counting calories while out, so I appreciate the places that post their calories. The menus help me estimate the calories everywhere else.
I think this is the crux of the issue. People don’t necessarily have a good sense of how to value their time. If you have a 9-5 job you have a tremendous amount of time to use for things like cooking and the opportunity cost of time is low. If on the other hand you essentially work 7 days a week for most of the waking hours, then your not working time is sparse and more costly. I enjoy cooking when I have time and energy. But much of the time I have neither so I either pull out the phone and scroll through the apps to see what’s for dinner or we get dressed and head out to a restaurant. An often used economic approach for valuing leisure time takes your compensation divided by hours to come up with a rate. I don’t necessarily agree with that approach but if I were to use that methodology, I should always eat out. Almost every meal would be cheaper than what the cost of my time would be to prepare and clean up after a meal.
