I think there are a lot of hidden costs with this sort of thing that people have a habit of overlooking. Sure, there’s a Costco several miles away from me that I could go to, but then do we factor in the petrol costs for that, the cost of the actual vehicle… Likewise the cost of gas/electricity to cook with (plus again, is it fair to assign some portion of value of the cooker here since I would need it in a manner I would not if I was to subsist on McDonalds cheeseburgers).
Plus its pointless saying you can buy 40 buns at 5p each if you end up throwing most away as there’s no way I’m going to eat all of 'em before they turn stale.
Furthermore I’m sure I could dedicate a day traversing the land finding the cheapest meat, buns and cheese I can… but that’s a day of my time and as a contractor let me tell you; that works out as one really expensive burger, made with likely the crappiest of ingredients. :)
That said, the McCheeseburger is something of an exception - I’d overall agree that eating out is more expensive than eating in.
LockerK
3497
Indeed. A quick glance at the weekly ads here puts a pound of ground beef at $5, an 8 pack of buns at $1.25, and 24 slices of American cheese at $4. I can buy two double cheeseburgers for $3, so it’s about even (assuming condiments are basically free).
If you’re only cooking for one there’s also the issue of being able to buy small enough quantities that you aren’t throwing some of it away - and you’re usually paying a premium per unit for smaller quantities to boot. You could then get into the argument that you should cook extra, store/freeze the rest… but that all is an extra cost the restaurant has assumed already (and if you haven’t tried to shop for a deep freeze during the pandemic they were impossible to find for the longest time with inflated prices on top).
Generally speaking no, it isn’t going to be cheaper to eat out - but it can be and the difference can also be minimal thanks to scale.
And that’s just raw cost. Factor in time if you start from zero in both options, and the clear winner is McDonalds. Making my own burger means going to the store, buying the ingredients, bring them back to the house, prepping the ingredients, cooking them, then cleaning up. Buying a burger at McDonalds takes about a tenth of the time.
Of course, we don’t always opt for McDonalds and that’s because I’m going to buy better ingredients (paying more by choice) to make a better burger the way I want it. Additionally, cooking and sharing those burgers is part of the experience at times.
But for pure calories vs cost? Tough to beat McDonalds.
So it’s all agreed: super size me!
I cannot recall the last time I was inside a McDonalds.
I go to McD’s a couple of times of a week for a quick work lunch. Ironically I usually get a McDouble and a diet soda. It’s a cheap fast lunch. Not horribly nutritious, but that’s almost universally true of all the restaurant lunch options I could choose from.
KevinC
3501
That was my experience. After I was divorced I watched the finances and between eating out and groceries, it was pretty much a wash when I just cooking for myself.
Buying Costco quantities often doesn’t make sense when it’s just you.
I guess you walk to McDonalds? If not, driving there every day isn’t going to be cheaper than driving to a supermarket (you wouldn’t have to go to Costco to save money) every week.
Well, two things: buns freeze perfectly well, and nobody was suggesting buying 40 at a go. I just mentioned the Costco price as justification that it wasn’t unreasonable to assume that supermarket prices 20 years ago weren’t more than Costco prices now.
You don’t need a deep freeze to freeze a pound of ground beef patties and a half dozen buns. The freezer that comes with your fridge is more than adequate.
This is kind of a crazy discussion to me. It isn’t cheaper to eat in restaurants than to cook the same things for yourself. No way. Though it certainly is more convenient. That’s the business model!
Look, just admit fealty to the McCheez and corporate will let me go free. :(
I, for one, welcome our fast food overlords.
(Hope that works for you!)
I am just barely willing to entertain the argument that total garbage, bottom-of-the-barrel fast food may cost about as much to subsist on as primarily self-cooked food in purely out-of-pocket dollar terms.
There are an awful, awful lot of additional costs you’re paying there, though.
Americans have the worst relationships with food.
For a single person, it can be cheaper. Mind you, in practice it won’t be because most people aren’t just hitting up the dollar menus at fast food joints and those are the data points we are discussing. Even a few indulgences a week in ‘nicer’ restaurant food will tilt the analysis back to cooking being cheaper. But that math does work that a single person who hits the value menus can eat cheaper than they could by cooking.
I surrender. Bring me all the cheezburger.
Does this mean we have officially finished the Internet, having circled all the way back around to “I Can Haz Cheezeburger?”
Yes I do believe our work here is done.
In the future, all restaurants are Taco Bell.
And here I was led to believe it was going to be Carl’s Jr:
In Europe, they are all Pizza Hut, I believe.
Certainly buying at Costco and preparing your own food is cheaper than eating out However, that’s not always true for your regular grocery stores. Especially in Hawaii, where are local grocery stores and Safeway are ridiculously expensive. I don’t eat that many burgers so the one month I have is a generally at fast food.
But I find it really hard to make chicken and stir fry vegetables for less money than Panda express or local chinese restaurant using fresh vegetables. I remember a decade or so ok, I was making homemade pizza with my ex-girlfriend When you are paying $5/lb for tomato for marinara, and $10+ for Parmesan and mozzarella cheese, plus mushrooms etc. the homemade pizza were running close to $20 for a large. Helluva a lot cheaper just to get $10 for Pizza hut.
On the other hand, I can make steak and fresh fish a lot cheaper at home.
CraigM
3515
Dude, Winco!
We don’t have Aldi, but Winco>>>>>>> Aldi anyhow. The bulk bins, especially for spices, are incredible.
Fred Meyer is decent too, better than Safeway by a mile, although Safeway/Albertsons weekly ad specials are pretty good.
And let me assure everyone here, it is far cheaper to eat at home. I have a family of 5, with a monthly food budget under $300, and we eat well on that. Lots of fresh produce, healthy foods, etc. But I don’t buy items for the sake of it, I shop sales effectively. Yesterday I had drumsticks for dinner, with roasted delcata squash. Why chicken drumsticks? Because that’s what was on sale, for $.88/lb at Winco.
We also can turn one of those $6 rotissere chickens from Winco or Costco into about 6 meals. a meal eating the meat, another 2-3 each from making chicken and black bean tacos, then boiling the bones and using the remainder meat to make chicken and wild rice soup. Sure I’m tossing another few bucks worth of ingredients but dried beans are cheap, carrots, celery and onion are cheap. Rice is cheap. About the most expensive add on is the can of cream of chicken soup.
Ain’t no way you turn ~$10 worth of fast food into 6 meals for a family of 5 like you could with that $10 of groceries.
