We have computed the cost between cooking and buying when there are only 2 people to eat at home. Vis-a-vis money, effort and time, it is economical to just buy food and eat at home instead of buying ingredients, cooking, and cleaning up the mess afterwards. Especially the rice toppings that are in a box, eat and throw means nothing to clean up so your reward is the relaxed eating before and after.
Well, there are two problems with your thinking and one involves the fact that "ready made" foods are often less healthy than what you cook - and the other one involves the fact that restaurant food is much the same. In that case, is what you buy really economical considering your health suffers?
You are right Alexandoy, buying prepared food and eat it at home is much cheaper than cooking, washing, etc. But this is available only when there are two people when there are over fours people is much cheaper to buy ingredients and cooking home!
I totally agree with @Jason76 , it's the same reason why we just cook our own meals at home. Aside from learning to make my own recipes, I know that what I'm putting in what we would eat is healthy, unlike when you buy cooked food somewhere.I think it depends on where you live. From where I come from, a small quarter leg barbecued chicken plus unlimited rice costs around $2.2 cents. That's $4.4 for two persons. That's the cheapest food you can get around here if you want to get full. while a kilo of quarter leg chicken can be bought here for $2.6 which are 3 big quarter legs. It would just take effort and of course dishes to clean but I think it won't be a big problem if there are only two of you that will eat. But I guess the prices there when you eat out are quite lower than what we have around here.
I personally feel eating food outside every day is not a healthy option. More over apart from cleaning, I think cooking at home is a healthy and also an economical option. Cooking at home is always cheaper if you manage to have the groceries delivered at home. Most of the companies online do deliver groceries at your door step which saves your money on travelling for groceries. I have lived in the Philippines for over 2 years and I lived alone. It always turned out to be cheaper to cook than to buy food everyday. According to me, more than the cost, health and well being should be given utmost priority.
True, it is cheaper to buy food when there are only two of you at home. But when there is more than two then it starts to get costly. But my dad, when we were 4 here at home still chose to buy food everyday rather than cook, he said buying food saves him the effort of cooking.
That system wont work for me because I don't trust commercial food. I rather cook food my own food because I know the chef is clean and I enjoy cooking. Also this advise won't work if you already have a house hold.
Well it doesn't matter to me how many people are there at home before deciding to cook. Apart from the economic gains or considerations I believe home made food always have the better nutrients and prepared in better conditions. I always cook my food even if I am the only person at home. This provides larger quantity and more economical.
When you buy a packet of, let's say fries, you pay for the labour, ingredients used in the cooking, the premises and even the profit of the seller. When you cook your own, you only account for the ingredients. So, which is more economical when compared quantity for quantity? The surest way to a person's heart, is through their stomach. They will forever appreciate the time and effort you take to prepare that food. Therefore buying food may be at times economical, but when we look at the results of cooking your own food which include but not limited to, better understanding, more solid relationship whether between relatives, friends or spouses, then I believe this is the way to go. Cooking for yourselves also enables one to mix ingredients according to a quantity that suits you. This, first eliminates the danger that would come as a result of having too much of a particular ingredient. It also allows one to enjoy the food. You are also able to cook a quantity that will ensure you are satisfied.
I believe so. It's good if you order the food for home delivery but if you're going out to dine at your favorite restaurant or at some popular fastfood, I think it's not at all economical. Considering the heavy traffic these days and the gas price, it is otherwise stressful than relaxing. But preparing the foods at home is much better I think, cause you'll have a good time bonding with your partner especially if both of you loves to cook.
Since you are taking it from the angle of saving cost, I think you made a good point since by buying food from restaurants will save the two persons involved the stress of having to buy the food ingredients, and still take time to prepare the food not to talk of the time to wash the food utensils and plates after eating. However, if the two persons involved are couples, maybe they just married newly, then I do not think it is okay for them to start a family life with buying already- food from outside. I do not want to talk also about the quality of meals one can buy from outside to that which is homemade, because if we bring that into consideration, then it is right to prepare food at home considering the health benefits of taking good care of what we eat. Anyway, some may prefer to eating out to cooking meals at home no matter what.
