Eating out is cheaper than buying groceries.

Great Debates
1

“You’d save so much money if you buy groceries instead of eating out so much.” - This is one of those truisms that I’ve come to disbelieve over the past few years - in fact, I think that the opposite is true, with some caveats.

I just made a basic dinner for my wife and I; we had chicken tacos. Here’s the breakdown:

$6 - Chicken - I got the smallest package of white meat chicken that I could, store brand (not Purdue or Tyson or whatever).
$1.50 - one large tomato, big enough for two people. Cheapest and most plain tomato available.
$3.50 - “taco kit” that included tortillas, seasoning, and a pouch of salsa. On sale from $5.
$3.50 - “mexican” cheese. Store band. Block that I shredded myself.
$2 - tiniest store brand sour cream.

total = $16.50, or $8.25 per person, which is about twice what an equivalent meal would have cost from the local mexican place, or even three times what taco bell would cost per-person.

What’s the deal? I’ve analyzed my last few meals like this, and they always seem to come out to more than what an equivalent would cost from a local restaurant, and multiple times what a fast food place would charge. The salads I made for dinner last night came out to almost $12 per person, whereas a significantly better salad can be had from a local place for $8.

2

You have to buy food for a few meals at a time if you want to save money over cheap restaurant food.

3

Was there nothing left over?

4

If I had a mexican restaurant nearby that would serve a passable meal for $4.12, I’d certainly patronize it.

5

You ate all the chicken and the whole block of cheese? For the price you paid for the chicken I imagine you got at least three breasts. Unless of course you bought already cooked chicken, in which case the price goes way up. Also you’d have gotten a 20 count pack of tortillas, a whole jar of salsa, and a few seasoning packets for a lot less than the “taco kit”. Then you would have had a dozen or more leftover tortillas and a whole jar of salsa for use another time.

For the price you paid for the ingredients I would expect to get about three meals worth of chicken tacos with some tortillas and salsa left over for future use.

You may need to learn how to cook. And I don’t mean that as an insult or anything. But the more you are able to buy ingredients closer to scratch the more you can save on the bottom line. Part of learning to cook is learning how to stretch ingredients for future meals and such. Often, the amount of time saved by convenience packaging is nil next to the increased cost and smaller food volumes they come with.

As for your meal, I expect you had a lot leftover. You certainly couldn’t have gotten the equivalent of three chicken breasts, a whole block of cheese, etc. for that price at a mexican restaurant. I don’t eat at taco bell, but I expect they stretch out a single chicken breast over a dozen or so tacos.

Now if you are cooking gourmet style meals you may very well spend more than going out, especially considering specialised ingredients that you may not use again before they go bad.

6

The initial investment for cooking at home can be daunting. Assuming you’ve got the proper cookware, silverware, place settings, and appliances you’ve got to purchase things like spices which can be quite expensive.

I’m with some of the other posters. You ate a whole block of cheese and a whole thing of sour cream between the two of you in one meal? Generally when I purchase ingredients I plan on using them in more than one meal. It might be more fair if you measured how much of the ingredients you used and how much it cost. For example if you bought 8 ounces of cheese and you only used 3 then measure how much 3 oz. of cheese cost.

I don’t doubt that you can eat someplace like Taco Bell, McDonalds, or Wendy’s for less than what it might cost me to prepare a good meal at home. What about the restuarants that are priced in the mid-range like Chili’s, On the Border, or Fridays?

When I go to On the Border with my wife we get two entrees, one soda, no appitizers, and the bill will come out to roughly $23.00 not including the tip. She gets the fajitas and I generally get the fish taco. I could make fajitas at home for less that $23.00. If I were to go to Outback Steakhouse a steak would probably cost me between $15-$18 dollars. With a non-alcoholic beverage and another diner the bill is probably going to be close to $37 without a tip. I can buy two decent steaks from the grocery store for less than $20 and even when you add in the price of a potato product or greens it’ll still come out less that $37.

Marc

7

Do they not teach home ec anymore? I am probably functioning from the advantage of being a foodie who was taken under the wing of a very frugal member of the Greatest Generation (that would be my Grandma, my personal Lord and Savior) and my Mom, who taught me a damn lot about running a kitchen, too.

I think your biggest mistake (besides the “bag of white chicken meat”) was buying a tomato in Chicago in January (A buck fifty?! Faith and begorrah!). I live in SoCal and am lucky enough to have great produce all year round (and great Mexican food for, yes, under $5), but it still pays to buy in season. The big tipoff: the cheaper the produce, the better. Also, ethnic markets tend to be cheaper. Also groceries that cater to the working class. If you’re going to a pretty grocery store, filled with the augmented and chemically processed upper crusties, that prettiness will be reflected in the price of the food. Shy away from places filled with idle housewives during the week and go to places that are packed on Saturday with families.

Also beware that prepackaged food is going to translate into you paying for that preparation and packaging. You will pay for convenience. I buy whole things as often as possible and prepare them myself. If I’m making a stir fry during the week for example, I will use some of my chore time on the weekend slicing onion, bok choy, deboning and skinning a few chicken breasts, or whatever, and storing it in the fridge so I can throw it in the wok at the end of a busy day. (Gladware is a savior for keeping prepared veggies and such in the fridge). I typically plan meals 1-2 weeks ahead. I spent part of Saturday taking apart four chickens, dicing a bunch of vegetables, and preparing a few marinades.

A chart of what is in season for Illinois is here [PDF]. Even better is if you can buy into a co-op, where a local farmer will box up a week-months worth of seasonal veggies on the cheap. Learning how to use them is a challenge, but I bet a guy like you could figure it out with a little practice and some help from culinary websites such as www.recipezaar.com or order a copy of The Joy of Cooking, or the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Not to mention CS, where you can ask one food question and get 100 food answers, and most of them right to some degree.

You have to have staples on hand and have a certain knack for putting them together to make it all work. A bit of what I have on hand at all times:

A case each of:
Tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce

Russet potatoes
Onions
Garlic
Rice (I’m a foodie so about 5 types)
A big bag of pinto beans
Lentils
Barley
Corn meal
Corn starch
Flour
Sugar
Concentrated lemon juice
Shortening
Butter
Olive oil (on the cheap from Trader Joe’s)
Bouillon cubes for chicken and beef

etc.

When I buy chicken I buy whole chickens and section them myself. Much like a cow, I find that different parts of the chicken lend themselves to different cooking techniques. I prefer thighs stewed, while I adore grilled legs and wings and baked breasts. Backs and necks get saved for stock. For a small amount of money (stock is mostly made from what would in an American diet be wasted) and time (12 hours of low low cooking) you can transform the lowliest meal into something entirely grand.

Some of this you either have to be raised knowing or you have to get a brain about it. Example: Beef “stew meat”. The biggest joke in the meat section. Go to the butcher and buy “top round”, or what some people mistakenly refer to as “London broil”. About a quarter of one will braise up nicely for two people and a whole one will cost 6-7 bux. I buy two whole top rounds at a time and section them for storage in the freezer. This cut also has the advantage of being quite lean (hence the need to braise), especially if it has been trimmed down.

Ground beef is also frozen into varying portions, from .5-2lbs. Invest in some freezer bags and an institutional size roll of plastic wrap. If you have the freezer space, also invest in a scale and form .25lb patties individually wrapped in plastic wrap for quick and easy burgers.

Ass broke and don’t know what to eat? Hit the meat section and look for: smoked ham hocks, salt pork, smoked pork neck bones, a smoked turkey leg or even bacon. Sort through some pintos and simmer all day in a pot with your smokey meat product of choice. Salt generously when tender. Serve with rice, cornbread, or corn tortillas to complete your protein. You can eat it for days, and even re-fry them the next day and have burritos or bean tostadas or whatever. I keep hearing that Chicago has a burgeoning Mexican and Latino population - if so you should be able to find a tortilleria serving up fresh and awesome corn tortillas made daily on the cheap. Way cheaper than that “taco kit” and the tortillas will keep quite a while in the fridge, to boot.

I blow a lot of money on my herbs and spices (because this is also my hobby), but say you had to buy some bay leaves, at minimum: $2 in the Mexican section of the grocery. It’s like setting up house: you have to go out and get a couch and some dishes and shit like that, but once it’s done it’s done (well, you have to go out and get new staples periodically, but a well-stocked pantry is your friend.)

Seriously, I feed four adults for $500 a month, and we eat really well. Of course if you don’t want to put the effort into learning how to cook, and investing in gear and whatnot, then continue to eat out. But I find that dining out thins out my wallet and thickens my waist. Not to mention very few places prepare food better than I can at the price I can. Plus I have the advantage of knowing exactly what I put into what I eat, which is important in these high-fructose corn syrup, peanut allergy, and trans-fat times.

I know this is sounds like a lot - and it is. It takes effort. Like any practical aspect of life, it takes practice and elbow grease and time. But, like learning how to balance your checkbook and play the FICO/credit reporting game, the payoff is worth it.

8

Brilliantly put, Queen Bruin.

9

I disagree.

I don’t want to spent all of my free time acting as an amateur butcher - I’m not going to buy whole chickens and spend hours turning them into usable meat. This isn’t 1612.

I think that unless you know how to cook really well and know how to stretch every last piece of everything you buy, you’re getting boned if you go grocery shopping.

10

How hard can it be to cut up a chicken? Do you have any knives?

P.S. What does your name mean?

11

It’s a string of Internet acronyms…

Too Long Didn’t Read
I Don’t Know
Just Kidding
Laughing Out Loud
For The Win

although as to what it means, the reader can decide for himself. :dubious:

Meanwhile, the OP has made the remarkable discovery that if you want grocery shopping and home cooking to make economic sense, you have to pay attention to what you’re buying and avoid waste. Whodathunk?

12

and those of us that know how to cook at least the basics laugh at people that don’t. It’s kinda like knowing how to swim. That’s okay though, the US economy needs consumers, so you’re doing the patriotic thing by eating out.

BTW, Just do a search on your thread title and educate yourself.

13

I’m pretty sure people used to do that until much more recently that 1612.

Is your problem the time? Or the handling/cutting raw meat?

Either way, I’d just cook the whole chicken and then pull it apart. You don’t get to cook different bits different ways but it’s easy and gives roast chicken one night and then mounds of meat for a few days, and soup.

If you don’t mind getting your hands dirty you can pull apart a raw chicken fairly easily with a minimum of knife work.

Don’t decide what you’re going to make a shop for the ingredients, buy what’s cheap and nice looking and then decide what to make.

You don’t need to know how to cook that well, just a few basic ideas and a knowledge of what substitutes well for what will see you through. There are plenty of books that cover exactly this.

Even then you might be able to save money by eating out, but I’m willing to bet it’ll be significantly less healthy.

14

Nice. An apparent expert on a subject about which you are quite ignorant takes the time to share a lot of knowledge, and you dismiss it in four sentences.

It only takes about 10 or 15 minutes to turn a whole chicken into ready-to-cook parts. Compare the price of whole chicken to that $6 purchase you made. What is your time worth?

And like Queen Bruin, for me it is a rare event when I get a meal in a restaurant that is better than what my wife and I prepare at home.

15

If you really don’t want to cut up chickens (I don’t blame you), you can always find good deals on parts. I only buy chicken parts when I see them on sale, and then I buy a bunch and freeze them. A family pack of chicken thighs gets us 4-6 individual meals - usually for less than $5. Can’t beat that at a restaurant.

16

My wife and I spend about $100 a week on groceries.

That works out to about $2.38 a meal.

We eat good healthy food.

You can’t eat out with as much food or as healthily for less than about $10 a person.

17

Y’know, I’ve often had the same thought, actually. If you buy what you need for a single meal, it’s often the same as a restaurant meal (which also provides leftovers). It’s only in the long run - those nights when he eats the leftover tacos and she eats the leftover soup and the kid only wants peanut butter toast - that you get ahead of the game and save in the long run.

But here’s the real rub:

TACO MEAL KITS ARE NOT “GROCERIES”!

Groceries are raw ingredients that you make into meals. Taco meal kits are fast(ish) food you buy at the grocery store.

Shop the perimeter of the store, ducking into the main aisles only for rice and flour and the like, and shop seasonally, and over time, yes it’s cheaper than eating out all the time. But yeah, it takes more work. What exactly did you think you were paying the restaurant for? You’re paying them for the labor, silly!

18

I can buy whole chickens for $.99 a lb, cut up parts start at $1.99 and go up from there, depending on the cut and whether it’s skinned or not. I can cut up two chickens in 15 minutes, easy, including repackaging, freezing and cleanup. Everything gets used, except maybe the skin.
Cooking isn’t difficult and buying prepared foods not only costs much more, but puts a lot of substances into your body that you aren’t aware of, if you were you probably wouldn’t choose to consume them. Most are preservatives.

19

Following the OP’s assertion to it’s logical conclusion his nearby Mexican place, since they can’t buy the ingredients cheaper than eating out, must be buying their $4.12 meals from an even cheaper Mexican place, who must be in turn be getting theirs from an even cheaper Mexican place and on and on. Does anyone live near the Mexican restaurant that is the ground zero of this chain? Could you get me a couple of mixed plates of chicken, beef and bean chimichangas. I’ll send the 1c by Paypal.

20

I worked as a cook, and at home I made even baked beans from scratch. I buy a lot of my ingredients on sale and freeze them. I can make a cake and decorate it for under $1.00,the same size in a store would run between $8.00 to $15.00. I buy hamburger on sale and can make several for the cost of one of McDonalds. I can make a meal in 15 to 20 minuets. I buy several roasts at one time and cook them all in the oven on a low temperature, than when cool, I freeze them in the size for my family. I re-heat in the Microwave.

I boil potatoes in the microwave to use as potato salad, home fries or creamed. I use the baked potato button and if I have 3 med. size potatoes I use the time for 2 baked. Before the Microwave came out I cooked them in a pressure cooker. They were done to mash in 7 minuets. The pressure cooker can make stew,chicken etc. in 15 minuets. I can make a Pizza (18") for a fourth of what it costs in the restaurants.That is with 2 cheeses, sausage,green pepper, and onions.

Monavis