Dining at Home Vs. Eating Out: What's Really Cheaper?

With economic times being slow, more and more people are trying to find additional ways to save money in all areas of life. A much debated issue, it seems, focuses on dining. Is it cheaper to eat at home or dine out? Many more people eat out today than they did fifty, even twenty years ago. How much money can you really save by staying at home and preparing your own meals? You might be surprised at the comparisons.

Many people like to simply state, "It's cheaper to eat in," or "It's cheaper to eat out." However, it is not so cut and dry as a simple statement. Many factors play into whether it is actually cheaper to eat at home or at a restaurant. In other words, this is not an objective fact, but rather a subjective issue.

For instance, it all depends on how much you spend when you go out to eat compared to what you spend on cooking your own meal at home. You could eat out at a fast food restaurant and order from the dollar menu. However, with that same dollar and some sound economical thinking, you could have bought a large bag or rice that would have lasted you several meals. In this case, it would have been cheaper for you to eat at home. On the other hand, if you would have bought expensive ingredients and made your own meal out of those, then it quite possibly could have cost more to eat at home. However, though, if we suppose that you eat out at an expensive restaurant or even at Red Lobster or similar ones that charge an average of ten dollars a plate, then we can safely assume that you most likely would have fared much cheaper eating at home, even if you did buy high dollar ingredients.

So you see, it is not necessarily always cheaper to eat at home due to your shopping habits. If you purchase expensive items from the grocery store, then you may have fared better by eating out. However, I think it is safe to say that if you shop economically and buy smart foods, that you will find that it is always cheaper to eat at home. Yet, the matter is subjective because factors such as your shopping habits, your restaurant preferences, and your food preferences all must be considered and calculated into the cost as well.