Cooking vs. Eating Out

You simply can’t beat the convenience of eating out. Having professionals cook and serve your meal is relaxing and removes the inconvenience of grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning up. But there are benefits of cooking your own meals too. It provides an opportunity to connect with the food you cook and prepare it exactly to your taste. But which one is better? With so many options available for buying cheap food, the cost of eating out is relatively low these days.

Eating out as opposed to cooking at home may seem like a confusing choice for some individuals. Cooking meals yourself requires time, which people simply don’t have these days. Prices of supermarket food are increasing at a rate of 6% a year, which is about twice as fast as the cost of restaurant meals, and it is becoming relatively cheaper to eat out.

On the other hand, eating out can be quite expensive if you do it too often. Any salary bonus you receive can be easily eaten up. It might be more enjoyable, but there are limits to how frequently you should eat out. Cooking at home is always going to be the cheaper option.

Following are times when cooking at home is not worth it:

When you need to save time

Many individuals choose to eat out because they simply don’t have time to cook. Although eating out just because you are too tired to cook at home won’t save you money, sometimes it is worth enjoying a meal out and taking a break.

When eating out is cheaper

While many people believe that eating out is expensive, this isn’t always true. Especially if you can take advantage of special deals or use coupons, sometimes eating out can be cost effective as compared to cooking.

When you can’t duplicate a restaurant’s food

Event for skilled cooks, some meals simply taste better at a restaurant. If you have tried cooking a dish you liked at a particular restaurant and failed, then it’s worth spending money to eat that dish at a restaurant.

When you want to celebrate

No doubt you can arrange a small celebration or a huge party at your house. But, you will likely have to clean, set out dishes and decorations, not to mention time spent cleaning dishes afterwards. While many individuals enjoy entertaining, it also adds extra stress and isn’t always worth it. While eating out with a large group of people will most likely cost you more money, it might save your sanity. Also, many individuals simply enjoy eating out with friends and family at a restaurant.

What do you think? In your experience is cooking in cheaper than eating out? Or is eating out more convenient and saves you money in the long run?