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We are home eaters...I really don't enjoy spending that type of money for someone else to cook for me...the cleaning maybe...but over a $1 for a cup of coffee!!! I end up sitting there figuring how much more I could make at home for the same price.
Now having said that...I did go out and meet some people on the Maine forum for lunch, and that was fun. And before my son left home we went out to dinner, a big treat for him..0
Since we "had" to eat out for 7 months while we remodeled our kitchen (yes, we did it ourselves and we aren't 20 anymore-ugh) my hubby can't stand the idea of going to a restaurant. I do enjoy a "night off" and yes, he does cook dinners sometimes but I still get the clean up. I like going to a nice restaurant for a good dinner once in awhile.
I usually eat 1 to 2 meals a week out, the rest I eat at home, or make and take with me. I usually end up eating out when I get up too late to pack a lunch, or am just too exhausted to cook. I started cooking in order to make nutritious food for my fitness goals, and saving money has been a nice bonus. Plus, its fun and a great new hobby. I still like eating out, I just don't do it as often.
I enjoy being able to cook good food at home, and I am fortunate that my husband remodeled our kitchen this year and I have energy efficient appliances, which is a plus. Like Lacey, we too go to our local pub once a week, but more to catch up with friends. There are just so many nights that I want a steak or ribs, and fast food is not for us, so for the most part we eat at home. We are going on vacation in a couple of weeks and I will do breakfast and lunch at the place we are staying at and go out for dinner. It comes down to dollars and cents and we save a lot of money by eating at home.
I picked "Cook at home only," but we do eat out once in a great while. I use to eat lunch out more often, but I have pretty much stopped because of money. When my husband and I were first together and childless, we ate out all the time. Sometimes I wonder how much money we would have saved if we ate at home more! I can't even remember cooking in our first apartment.
We do our Saturday morning breakfasts at our favorite local diner, and once in a while we have supper at one of the many excellent local restaurants (hate-hate-hate chain restaurants, would rather go hungry than eat at most of them), but the vast majority of our meals are prepared, eaten and cleaned up at home.
I find myself amazed at the grocery store at how much ready-made food is being sold these days. I assume that there wouldn't be so much of it if it weren't popular, but it just baffles me why people don't make their own. I mean, come on now, pre-made MASHED POTATOES??? What is so hard about making that? And all the ready-made pot roast, barbeque pork, chicken and all the rest... it just astounds me that people would voluntarily ingest that much salt and preservatives when they could get a far tastier, healthier and less expensive meal by spending just a bit of time in the kitchen.
I'm a good cook, I'm not afraid to tackle anything new, it's so much cheaper and I have control over the ingredients.
I love steak, but I can't tolerate how the vast majority of beef and chicken in this country is raised and processed, and I won't support it. There are almost no restaurants that will tell you where their meats come from, and it's a big deal to me, so we don't go out much.
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