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Lol. The thing is, I can't imagine anyone who eat it without any meat. Pasta and plain sauce is just not a full meal for me that is. I need meat! Even the Italians have spaghetti with meatballs! Lol
As for cherry picking. Let's talk about pot roast. We did this the other day as well.
I agree about the tip and what not but we only drink water when we go out. If I add dessert, then I have to add desert for the home meal too.
Yikes where do you grocery shop?
A decent sized chuck roast is $6 at Winco. You can get 10 lb of potatoes for $2. And 2 lb of carrots for $1. Mushrooms are quite expensive now, that sounds about right.
I'm sorry but how can you copy a chipotle burrito for $1.50? The tortilla will run you $1.00 already.
not quite..a package of 8 tortillas the same size and very similar in flavor to those used at Chipotle is around $3.00. Not sure where you shop but if you need some tips let me know
Lol. The thing is, I can't imagine anyone who eat it without any meat. Pasta and plain sauce is just not a full meal for me that is. I need meat! Even the Italians have spaghetti with meatballs! Lol
As for cherry picking. Let's talk about pot roast. We did this the other day as well.
I agree about the tip and what not but we only drink water when we go out. If I add dessert, then I have to add desert for the home meal too.
ouch, that's too much! I am not criticizing because I don't know where you live or what stores are near you, but I can get chuck roast for $6-$7, potatoes I just got a 10 pound bag for $4, carrots 99 cents a pound (bulk in grocery produce section) Onions- Winco or any Mexican grocery around 25 cents each. Mushrooms, I leave them out unless I can get a good deal on them.
not quite..a package of 8 tortillas the same size and very similar in flavor to those used at Chipotle is around $3.00. Not sure where you shop but if you need some tips let me know
I can get 8 burrito-sized tortillas at the dollar store (Dollar Tree) for $1. That's also where I buy my bread. They get the day-old stuff delivered each day. Oroweat and other brand name bread products that cost 3 or 4 dollars at the store goes for ... you guessed it ... $1.
1. Do a takeout instead, even at the same restaurant you frequent. The drinks and tips add up - save 30-40% right there, maybe more if you drink alcohol with your meal. You also waste less time waiting and eating, and there's less temptation to get apps, coffee, desert, etc., which also add up quickly and increase the tax and tips by the same proportion.
2. We cook good meals quite often, but I have found that eating good home cooked meal costs a lot nowadays. You can easily blow $80-100 per visit at the super market, even if you are buying mostly unprepared foods. Ultimately, you may not save as much as you might expect by cooking at home, unless you are eating mac & cheese, pasta, hot dogs, etc. (I love those, too).
3. Restaurant (and groceries) have been increasing their prices due to inflation over the last few decades, as have in the past. The wages have not grown anywhere close. As a result, we all are spending a lot more of our wages (percentage wise) on food. Also, when the hell did the standard tip go from 15% to 20%? We always give 20% (except twice when the service was horrendous), but it's annoying when the chalk line is moved for no apparent reason.
4. People are spending a lot more on retirement contributions (they should), mortgage/rent, taxes, insurance, education, vacations, gas, as a percentage of income which has been very stagnant. As a result, there's a lot less discretionary spending money on food but people are much busier today (especially with needlessly excessive kid activities!), so they eat out any way.
It's hard to make meals at home everyday. It's not really the money - it is indeed a lot cheaper to eat in - I mean a lot. But where it costs is time. Running a household really is at least equivalent to a significant part-time job. I find the biggest challenge to eating in for me is not the actual cooking but the planning to cook.
You can make stuff cheap with the crock-pot pretty easily as others have said but did you prioritize the time to get the stuff ready for it?
One of my go-to meals is grilled chicken breast, rice, and sauteed vegetables. It takes about 1 hour to fix the whole thing start to finish - get the rice started and do everything else while the rice is cooking. It costs me about $20 for enough to feed myself 4 chicken dinners and half of that are the breasts themselves which is splurging a bit. That would buy only buy me 1&1/2 meals at applebees for the same thing, or one meal + a beer.
But did I remember to buy everything I needed? Do I actually have that hour to prep? Do I then have the 20-30 minutes to clean up afterwards? Am I exhausted when I get home? Often that hour is not just one actual hour - it represents about 3 hours cumulative work when you add in the shopping, cleaning, etc...
In some neighborhoods the McDonalds is way closer than the grocery store. It's diabolical.
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That's also where I buy my bread. They get the day-old stuff delivered each day. Oroweat and other brand name bread products that cost 3 or 4 dollars at the store goes for ... you guessed it ... $1.
