Eating in Vs. Dining Out: Which is Cheaper?

Posted on Nov 12, 2007 | 2 comments

By Jeff Gorman

I just read a story online called “Is eating out cheaper than eating in?” While the article tried to make the point that dining at restaurants can actually save you money, it certainly didn’t convince me.
The story begins with a man buying organic vegetables and cooking them for dinner. Including the cost of his time, he figures he has spent $30. He goes on to say he could have had a good restaurant meal for $17 plus tip.
It stated that a lady was outraged because a package of chicken cost her $8! Eight dollars made you outraged? Well how many pieces of chicken did you receive for that $8, was it 4, 6, 8 or even 10? Funny how it failed to mention the quantity. Go to your favorite sit down resturant and order a chicken meal. How many pieces of chicken will you receive for that meal? Perhaps 2 or 3 at the very best of my guess.
How much will that meal cost you then? So you pay $12 for a chicken meal at a resturant and maybe you get a left over meal out of it. Ok so now you’ve gotten 2 meals for $12 not including tip. Well that $8 chicken package could at least given you 4 meals. I’ll leave the math up to you, the experts. My checkbook; however, states that buying that $8 chicken doesn’t look so outrageous.
This argument has a few flaws. First of all, if you’re worried about saving money, then you probably can’t afford organic food. Also, the diner doesn’t factor in the time to wait for a table and for the food to arrive then waiting again to get your check.
The article says “time-strapped workers are abandoning the kitchen in droves.” I still don’t see how eating at a restaurant saves time, unless you’re talking about McDonald’s and that’s walking in and not sitting through the drive thru wait.
My family and I have found that we really save money when we avoid eating at restaurants whenever we can. It’s no fun to plan ahead and pack a bunch of sandwiches and fruit, but it has been very cost-effective.
That way, when it is time to eat at a restaurant for a birthday or anniversary, the food and atmosphere are always fantastic. That’s because eating out is a special treat, just like when we were kids.
High grocery store prices are also mentioned in the article as a reason to eat at restaurants. While the cost of food has gone up a lot, it is still possible to save money at the grocery store by looking for specials, cutting coupons and shopping at off-price stores. Here in Ohio, Save-A-Lot and Aldi stores are popping up all over as an alternative to the more expensive (but very impressive) Giant Eagle.
While most of this article reads like a puff piece for the restaurant industry, the author then turns around and blames large portions for the expanding waistlines of Americans. There is no law that says you have to eat everything at the restaurant. That is one way a restaurant can save money: leftovers can stretch for one or even two extra meals.
Dear Author, please keep your eyes peeled for a future article where I will show you a few tricks on how the cost of eating in pales by comparison to the cost of eating out.