# Do you eat out more than you cook in? (poll) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 24, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444 "2005-08-24T16:52:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/1 "2005-08-24T16:52:27Z")
So do you usually eat out or do you usually cook in w/ friends and/or family? I usually do the cooking at casa de Phlosphr and we usually make something very scrumptous…trying to stick to a heart healthy diet is sometimes difficult but usually managable. How about you? If you eat out more than in, why do you do so? ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/2 "2005-08-24T17:07:47Z")
We cook in more than we eat out. My parents probably eat out more than they eat in- neither of them particularly likes to cook. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/3 "2005-08-24T17:09:45Z")
Yeah, we probably do restaurants more than cook. Nyeh. It’s convenient, though expensive. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/4 "2005-08-24T17:18:36Z")
We usually cook at home, taking turns. If it’s been a long day and neither of us feels like cooking, we’ll stop somewhere on the way home, or order a pizza. ---
**Author:** ![DVsickgirlDV](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@DVsickgirlDV](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DVsickgirlDV)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/5 "2005-08-24T17:23:34Z")
I eat out a lot, but I wish I could cook at home. I live by myself, so whenever I buy groceries, they usually end up going bad before I have a chance to finish them and my place is too small to have people over for dinner. ---
**Author:** ![wasson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4da419/32.png) [@wasson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wasson)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/6 "2005-08-24T17:26:49Z")
I’m a single 25 year old man. I eat Lean Cuisines about 3 meals per week. The rest, I eat out. Ah, bachelorhood. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/7 "2005-08-24T17:38:26Z")
You know, I’d always just assumed that we ate in more often than out but, after thinking about it, since we both work there’s 5 lunches a week that are out, plus another 1 or 2 out on the weekends. I rarely eat breakfast and we have 5 dinners at home during the week so, in actuality, we’re about 50/50. We do split duty on those dinners at home. Wifey does the veggies and I’m grillin’ the meat. ---
**Author:** ![jawdirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df705f/32.png) [@jawdirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jawdirk)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/8 "2005-08-24T18:09:15Z")
I eat out more than I eat in. I eat out every work day for lunch, and usually at least a couple of times a week for dinner. During the weekend, its almost a sure thing to eat out a couple times. And I dispute the claim that eating in is significantly cheaper. Maybe cheaper if you eat crap like top ramen and canned beans, but if you’re going to eat a meal comparable to what you’d get eating out, it’s going to be about the same price. If you figure in the additional time (cooking, cleaning) at your salary rate, it’s not even close. That is, unless you enjoy cooking and cleaning. ---
**Author:** ![MrFantsyPants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MrFantsyPants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFantsyPants)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/9 "2005-08-24T18:16:15Z")
We eat out maybe once a week. And yeah, it is definitely cheaper. If I tried to reproduce a restaurant meal every time, maybe it would be comparable. But a head of broccoli, some bulgar wheat, a bit of teriyaki sauce, some tofu or chicken maybe, you’ve spent $7 to feed a family of three. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/10 "2005-08-24T18:18:01Z")
> [@jawdirk](#): > > And I dispute the claim that eating in is significantly cheaper. Maybe cheaper if you eat crap like top ramen and canned beans, but if you’re going to eat a meal comparable to what you’d get eating out, it’s going to be about the same price. If you figure in the additional time (cooking, cleaning) at your salary rate, it’s not even close. That is, unless you enjoy cooking and cleaning. This _may_ be true if you’re only feeding one or two people, but when you’re talking about a family of five, cooking is _significantly_ cheaper. I serve seven nutritious dinners a week to my family, and spend about $100.00/week on groceries; it would cost that much for us all to eat at McDonald’s every night, and our health would be the worse for it. As for the poll: as I said, it’s _very_ rare for me not to cook dinner (if I’m sick, hubby cooks). Hubby buys lunch about three times a week during the work week (packs a lunch the other two days). We eat lunch out as a family about once a month; so, by far, we cook at home more than we eat out. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/11 "2005-08-24T18:27:11Z")
I order in more than anything else. The pizza and Chinese places know my voice. I’m single and I don’t grocery shop often, because like **DVsickgirlDV** , anything I buy goes bad pretty fast. It’s not that I don’t like to cook, because I do. It’s more a combination of a crappy galley kitchen and having to hand-wash the dishes. There is nothing in the world I hate more than washing dishes. I will pay $20 for a pizza that will feed me for at least three days rather than wash a frying pan. When I _do_ cook, it’s usually those entire-meal-in-a-box things. I’m the only one eating it, what do I care? When I go all out, though, I go _all out_. That’s usually on a holiday, however, when I can sucker one of my friends into doing the dishes because, hey, I just made Thanksgiving dinner! ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/12 "2005-08-24T18:31:31Z")
I eat out for lunch every weekday, and usually on Saturday, and eat out or order in for supper a couple of days each each, so it’s split - though my cooking tends to be ‘spaghetti’ or ‘hamburgers’ - easy to do things. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/13 "2005-08-24T18:35:31Z")
We rarely eat out. Both my wife and I are good cooks and enjoy doing so. We also pack our lunches during the week. When we do go out to eat, we do it right (no McDonald’s or other fast food). ---
**Author:** ![Walkabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walkabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walkabout)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/14 "2005-08-24T18:35:51Z")
I don’t eat out much more than once a week, but I don’t cook much either; I don’t consider cheese sandwiches and frozen food cooking. We used to eat together as a family most evenings, but these days it’s really hard to get everyone together at the same time for dinner. Most nights are “fend for yourself” nights around our house. ---
**Author:** ![krisolov](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/krisolov/32/3724_2.png) [@krisolov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/krisolov)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/15 "2005-08-24T19:13:37Z")
we very rarely eat out as a family. We do however buy lunches during the work week, based on our inability to pack lunches for ourselves in the mornings. I like to cook, and don’t terribly mind doing dishes, so we can usually count on having healthy tasty meals at least 4-5 nites a week. Leftovers usually cover the other nites. We might do take out on Fridays, as I’m usually too wiped out to cook, but that’s about it normally. ---
**Author:** ![sleeepy2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@sleeepy2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeepy2)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/16 "2005-08-24T19:35:59Z")
We eat in almost all the time, excluding special occasions. If out of town, I’ll hit a grocery store salad bar before a restuarant. Even preparing high-end meals, eating in is definitely cheaper than eating out. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/17 "2005-08-24T20:14:36Z")
The only time we eat out is (a) we’re out doing a full day of errands on the weekends, or (b) I’m seeing a couple of movies after work and need a bite. This averages to once every other week or so. Given that I have high blood pressure and we’re both trying to lose weight, it’s much healthier to simply cook in (I do 80% of the cooking on a weekly basis). ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/18 "2005-08-24T20:24:32Z")
We eat in 7 breakfasts a week, 5-6 packed or homemade lunches, and 6 suppers. Lunches during the work week and the weekend are a little more flexible, and we usually eat out Friday for the aforementioned reason - I’m tired of cooking by that point, and it’s sort of a standing date with my husband. I’m a good cook - the restaurants we go to have to work to be as good as my homecooking, and by the time we’ve paid for drinks and possibly dessert, the bill is never under $30 for the two of us. I can make a lot of tasty goulash for $30. ---
**Author:** ![misstee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@misstee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misstee)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/19 "2005-08-24T20:25:25Z")
We all eat lunch away from home - at work or at school. Dinner is made at home the majority of the time. We may eat dinner out once a month. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444/20 "2005-08-24T20:32:54Z")
We mostly eat in. (And how does take-n-bake pizza count?) When we go on a visit, or I’m really tired, or we go on a date, we might eat out. I do most of the cooking. DangerDad buys his own sandwich-makings and fixes himself lunch at work. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-eat-out-more-than-you-cook-in-poll/318444.md?page=2)