Eating out or cooking

I heard on TV yesterday that with the utility prices going up many people would be eating more prepared foods, like lunch meats, etc. I have wondered the same thing, Sherry. If it is just you and your husband and you have good coupons you probably can get by cheaper eating out more. Then there again you can cook a bit more at the one time you're cooking and have leftovers more often. We are doing that more around here. Any way to cut back on expenses. Have a blessed day!

me I prefare cooking for my self, I'm simple as in i'm happy with fish and vegs.especially kangkong and sweet potato leaves,before I eat more pork rib i'm trying to lower my cholesterol,besides i'm diabetic so i whatch my food in take. my husband like eating takeaway like kentuky freid ,chinese chowmein,pies.

It would seem that if there is just the two of you, that eating out might actually be less expensive, but it's a tough question to answer without knowing what kind of foods you generally have for your dinners. If you eat big meals like steak dinners most of the time, then eating out at a restaurant that offers reasonable prices might be better for you. However, if you eat smaller meals such as salads then I would say stay at home and save the gas money. Plus, to answer your question about whether the salads are healthy, that again depends on what you put in them. Most of the time, it's the dressings that are what add the calories and fat. Stay clear of any bacon, crispy chicken (grilled chicken is ok), cheese, and croutons and pick a low fat dressing (use only a small amount) or a balsalmic vinegar and load the salad up with lots of veggies, and you should be fine.

If you have really good coupons, it might be cheaper to eat out long as you don't have to drive 4ever to get to the restaraunt. I do most of the cooking at home now being we had to tighten our belts even more with the prices going up.

i think if you had to add up everything it takes and cost you to make a meal at home, the cost would be way more than what it cost you to eat out. You are right with the coupons out now buy one get one free, a meal would cost you about $7.00 you can not go to the store and buy all it takes to cook a meal for $7.00. I can buy a hamburger and coke for $2. at McDonalds, can't make lunch or dinner for that at home. The price of groceries here ahs risen to the point of what can we afford to eat, chicken is now $7.95 for a chicken, I be dang if I pay $8.00 for a chicken. I can buy steak for that. And remember eating out you have no dishes to wash, to use water and soap.

in my case, i would always trust economies of scale. i live alone, so, i would rather eat out that cook. it is more expensive for me to cook for myself due to the prices in the market. However, for a family of say, 4, it would be best of they cook. they add a bit more to the materials for the food and the cost person is lower than making it for only one or two persons. we just need to make sure we still get all the necessary vitamins and minerals that we need. we can always get that from food supplements. happy eating!

I like cooking but i like eating food outsides because stall food are more tasty then home but home food are healthy and hygiene so its better to eat home food and it save lot of money.

I think for me it is much cheaper eat at home. last year, I'd shared a house with my friend, and we ate at home. But when she back to home, I started to eat out, and I found I spent more money on dinner. Sometimes, restaurant put more oil to cook in order to make dish more dilicious.

For me it is cheaper to eat in as we tend not to have many vouchers circulating around here, my boyfriend took me out for dinner a couple of weeks ago and it came to £36 so about $72. That is like a third of my family shopping bill, we tend to spend £100 on shopping for the week for me, my sister, my mam and dad. So it is definitely cheaper eating in.

I'm living in Malaysia and the food here is really cheap and very good. Eating out could cost us as little as US$5 for me and my husband. We are very lucky because I don't like to cook and after that, you have to clean averything and wash the dishes. Is not worth it if we can find good chinese food (one of the healthiest of all) very cheap and very tasteful. The funny thing is that here, junk food is much more expensive than chinese or local food so I'm not interested in burgers or pizzas any more. Maybe one in a while but prefere chinese or other types of food first.

We used to eat out a lot, but realized very quickly how fast it adds up. We now prepare our meals, but since that in itself is still very expensive these days, we try and pick easy meals that do not need many ingredients to make. And getting salads at restaurants is healthy as long as you pick low fat dressings. But salads at fast-food restaurants and even sit-down restaurants are still expensive for just being a bunch of lettuce.

I think cooking is cheaper,but eating out is convenient and comfortable.During working day,my boyfriend and i eating out as a rule.But when the weekend,we usually do cooking in the home.We like that,he likes my cooking.I think the cooking can bring happiness to me,i am interested in cooking.

I'm sure eat at home is cheaper, and this has been proven by my mother. And also, I can eat what I want to eat at home, especially my favourite taste. Unfortunately, I cannot many meals, and I've been learning,so that I won't be troubled by cookin after I leave my parents and living by myself.

A lot depends on what you eat. For my family of three, 2 adults and a 18 month old it is cheaper to cook. We don't but already prepared meals and often chose store brands to save even more. You mentioned coupons for eating out, remember there are even more coupons for grocery items. I would have to say that the best way to decide is to keep a log of what you are spending on both and see which is cheaper for your situation. Don't forget to factor in other issues such as less clean up, choice, time savings and health!

Yep, I am of the same opinion. Now that there is just hubby and me, if we watch where we eat out at and use coupons, or take advantage of specials, it sometimes can be cheaper than the two of us eating at home. I cook lot's when the family is home to visit and sometimes freeze any left overs for hubby and I to eat at a later date too. The cost of food, cooking it/warming and running the dishwasher after all add up...eating 'sensibly' at restaurants can be a cheaper, healthy alternative....

We have always wondered this ourslves. If we go to the grocery store, it usually costs our family about $275 a month. If we ate out everyday it would cost us about $600 a month. But there are some things that are cheaper - for example we wanted to have tacos for dinner. For meat, cheese, taco shells, and lettuce, tomatoe, salsa, etc. it would have been $25. We got a 12 pack of tacos from taco bell for $7. I don't really know what to say except dang is everything expensive now! We are going on vacation and we have no idea what we'll do for food yet since it will likely be very pricey!

That is a tough question so, I will do my best to weigh the pros and the cons for you of each. When you eat out, you pay pretty exorbitant prices for that food and, you use gas to travel by car wherever you are going to eat out and, if you eat three meals a day out, then that adds up. When you cook and eat in, you are using gas and electricity to make the food but, it is a bit cheaper than the gas you use in your car...I think. And, if you think that buying food to prepare is more expensive, keep a log of how much you spend, including on gas, to go and eat out and compare it to what your grocery bill is, including the gas you use to get to the grocery store and, try, if possible, to factor in how much you spend on the gas and electricity to make the food. In the end, one way to save on gas is if you get some neighbors together and carpool to the grocery store together once a week. You can all pitch in for gas money and, you can all chose someone who has the biggest car and can fit the most amount of groceries in it. That will save of the gas it takes to get to the grocery store.

Usually it is cheaper to cook. But if you have a good two for one coupon, it might end up costing less, or about the same. If it costs the same why not eat out?

When you stop to think about it, if it is just a husband and wife, eating out may be cheaper. I'm sure you can get some healthy meals by eating out. Taking in consideration the cost of groceries and utilities, it may be more cost effective to eat out from time to time. Just my 2 cents.