My boyfriend (20) and I (18) have been living together for 2 years in an urban apartment. For us, it usually goes like this:
- Delivery
- Eating out
- Cooking at home
We visit our parents (and they visit us) often, and they give us lots of home-cooked food. We mostly cook at home just for fun.
I’m curious what it’s like for other people, especially in different age groups or family setups!
Always cook at home, eating out as a treat once in a while and never use delivery.
Same here. Except pizza. I’ll get that delivered, because it doesn’t involve a third party.
Id like to go out more often, but nowadays, I can’t take my family out to eat for under $100.
I have a different point of view. Pizza is one of those things that’s easy and cheap to make myself, so I make that myself.
On the rare occasion I do order or go out to eat, I prefer food I can’t cook myself very well, like persian or asian food.
On the rare occasion I do order or go out to eat, I prefer food I can’t cook myself very well, like persian or asian food.
This is the way. I don’t have the means or qualifications to handle a rotating shawarma spit. Some things are best left to the experts.
For me, that’s sushi. I do not have the fine dexterity and patience required to put that together myself.
Neither do I but we still do it with my partner and friends. We don’t do normal sushi and instead make sushi burritos. The sushi burritos are faster and easier.
You don’t have a shawarma spit in your kitchen?
It’s just for show
Just like my sex dungeon.
Yeah, pizza is more cheap shit with insane profit margins.
True, and we do this as well, but pizza is the answer to not wanting to cook or put on pants.
because it doesn’t involve a third party.
Man, the rationales some people have for why they let some people rip them off but not others is mind-boggling.
Really reinforces my opinion of the average person.
I can’t take my family out to eat for under $100.
Are you in fucking Belize? Do you have a family of at least 8? Are you horrible with money?
Or maybe this is just hyperbole.
It’s about $75, plus tip for two people to eat anywhere that’s not “fast casual” where I am- California Bay Area. A “nice” restaurant it would be considerably more.
So it’s hyperbole.
You’re literally ignoring the restaurants that don’t help you support your argument.
Shit is insanely overpriced, especially in the entitled and privileged area that you live. You don’t need to lie about costs.
I live in iowa and its the same here. Sit down mexican restaurant is at least 75 bucks after tipping (for two peope). I’m actually shocked that the price is so close in cali, i would expect it to be higher than here.
There are cheaper restaurants than the one you mention.
If you choose not to acknowledge them, that’s on you. But claiming that you can’t eat out for significantly lower than the prices you people mention is objectively wrong.
I’m not really sure what your point is, but we are a blended family, so yeah, there’s a lot of us.
Sure, I could get $5 Biggie Bags at Wendy’s for everyone for under $100, but if we’re going out it’s because we WANT to, not because we need to shovel the cheapest food we can find into our mouths. We got Chinese on Friday. After tip it was a little over $100, and we didn’t even have all the kids with us. Which is why we only go out once or twice a month. The rest of the time, were cooking at home, or in case of emergencies, order $40 worth of pizza.
Ok well, the point was that you can eat at a restaurant as a family for under $100.
Exactly, eating out is crazy expensive compared to making your own food. I like to have a few bigger dishes with easy meals to fill in the gaps, and rarely eat out so I can save that money.
I almost exclusively cook at home because it is much cheaper for a warm meal. Same when i am with my girlfriend.
I envy your financial situation that you can afford to do that.
My weekly grocery budget (single person household) is £25 (~US$34), which is about the price of a decent meal for one person in a low-end restaurant here. Seven days food and other household supplies for the price of one meal. Stop and think on that for a bit, maybe.
Family do help me out from time to time, but they’re not exactly rolling in money either, so what they provide would otherwise be covered by that budget. They just help me stretch things a bit further.
Could I afford to spend a bit more? Possibly. But I like to keep a little extra put by for that inevitable disaster where I have to hire someone to fix what neither I nor my family can handle.
Perhaps importantly here, I like to know that I could get by without family help, and I’m pretty sure I could. Can you say the same?
Would you be willing to discuss your grocery list on that budget? I recently allotted myself $175 per 2 week pay period for groceries for me, a single man living alone. I find myself going over. I think my biggest weakness is snacks, which are extremely difficult for me to not have on hand.
Some thoughts:
- Buy in bulk - if you compare unit prices, you’ll see the bulk version is usually cheaper
- Make your own snacks - e.g., granola is pretty quick and easy to make at home
- Try Aldi or Lidl
- Give generic versions of things a try - a lot of the time they’re pretty close to the ‘real’ thing
- Things that are convenient are usually more expensive. Just looking online quickly, I see the big tub of old-fashioned oats is $6.39 for 30 servings (=21¢/serving), vs a box of instant oatmeal at $3 for 8 servings (=38¢/serving). So to save money, choose the less convenient version.
- Plan your meals before you shop, and pick up only what you need - this helps avoid impulse purchases
I am so used to Aldi that I almost forget branded things exist. Those oats sound really expensive, I get them under £1/kg
Yeah, both prices I gave were for name brand (Quaker). The generic Aldi oats are just as good!
And on buying in bulk - if funds are limited you can ease into this by budgeting for ONE bulk item each weekly shopping trip. It will build your pantry, you don’t have to make a big immediate outlay.
👑
Cans of soup, microwaved, for the occasional hot meal. Cold meals most of the time. For various reasons, that I won’t get into, I don’t cook.
Breakfast is toast (2 slices) or cereal (1 small bowl). Soy milk. Cow’s milk would be way cheaper, but I’m intolerant. Tea. What can I say, I’m British. I do like a cup of tea.
Lunch is mixed nuts (~30g) - technically a luxury, but I figure they have minerals I need - mixed dried fruit (~50g) and a slice of multi-seed bread. Another luxury, but again, this is mostly about nutrition. Apple juice half and half with hot water (~450ml total). Dilution makes it go further and the heat raises the flavour profile a bit from cold diluted.
Yes, I know apple juice isn’t very nutritious.
Evening meal is usually a sandwich. Plain white bread. A slice of some pre-packaged meat or another. Sometimes processed meat, sometimes an actual slice. Those are more expensive. Salad also in the sandwich. Sometimes I have the aforementioned soup instead. Tea, of course.
An extra cup of tea here and there. I do have biscuits (cookies) in the house and I get through a handful of those a day. I should do without tbh, but they’re pretty much my only food vice. If things get really tight, those would be the first to go. (I’ve already had to stop buying the “budget” chocolate bar I liked because it’s three times the price it was three years ago.)
I have a few other canned goods (beans, meats, fruit) that I buy when I can and then break into occasionally. Sometimes I buy noodles when they’re on offer for a treat.
Most of the above comes in two or three levels of quality versus price, and I get the highest quality I can of each while remaining in budget. If I have to buy toothpaste or toilet paper or whatever, I drop the quality of something else in order to fit it in.
If there’s any general advice I can give here, it’s substitute your snacks with a drink you really like instead. Preferably a cheap, low calorie one that’s mostly water. Yes, it means you pee more, but you’re full for a while, and you’re hydrated.
I should probably also note that my BMI is, and has been, fairly steady around 25, which is the heavy end of healthy on the above diet for a good while now. If I became less sedentary, I’d probably lose weight at first and then level out around 20 or so.
No one should have to do without tea. That would be inhuman. The cooking thing is the serious rub for you I think. Beans and rice would be a terrific addition to this diet. You have your reasons though, as you said, which I’m sure are very valid.
Snacks are an incredible waste of money and they have some of the largest profit margins of all grocery items. $5 for a bag of chips that isn’t even a pound is disgusting, but they charge it because people pay it. It only makes sense to buy snacks if you’re wealthy from screwing other people over, or you’re on welfare.
If you want to eat cheap, you need to swallow your pride. Probably one of the best meals that just about anyone can make is a microwave meatball sub with raw broccoli and carrots on the side. Extremely easy, very cheap, filling, and it’s always going to be delicious if you’re actually hungry.
Get used to eating the same things over and over again, and stop treating food like entertainment.
It only makes sense to buy snacks if you’re wealthy from screwing other people over, or you’re on welfare.
Hmm… It is easy to hate the rich, but are you brave enough to despise the poor
What are you talking about?
or you’re on welfare.
If you are asking in earnest. You should really give some thought where the conditioning to repeat this trope is coming from.
I am not even going to dispute that some poors have bad spending habits but that ain’t what this comment is about.
Have you ever been on welfare? They give you enough money to get snacks, too.
You can eat cheap and still enjoy it, without so much repetition.
I agree with cutting out mindless snacking though, that’s not good for you.
You can eat real food cheaply rather than living from a microwave.
It’ll take a lot more effort, but yeah of course you can.
A lot of people don’t understand is that food out is a luxury.
The entire premise of the OP assumes that people have this choice lol
£15 each for 2 of us here. I just don’t really see much need to spend more than that.
£25 (~US$34), which is about the price of a decent meal for one person in a low-end restaurant here.
Bullshit.
Why are you being so unpleasant?
I’m curious where you live that dining out is so cheap and welfare pays so much.
This guy lives at Golden Corral in the middle of Oklahoma or something
You don’t have to be curious. Just about everywhere there is civilization, you can eat at a restaurant for under THIRTY-FOUR FUCKING DOLLARS. The fact this needs to be spelled out to you should be a wake up call to anyone who isn’t living in your privileged bubble.
A better question would be, where are you living where you can’t find a meal for under that price? I’d love to know so we can do some internet searching and see if you’re telling the truth.
Dude
Original comment was a bit hyperbolic.
More realistic number for anything that requires 20% tipping, 20usd in any tier 1 and tier 2 us cities. That’s like very basic one dish, nothing else.
Again, you’re wrong.
What cities are you talking about? I’ll show you restaurants that are cheaper than what you say.
Also, tipping is a scam and every time you do it you keep it going on for longer.
Maybe I could have been clearer about the number of courses I was talking about.
The last meal I went out for was a family outing paid for by a relative. There were five of us (one a child) and we all had a two course meal and drinks. The bill was well in excess of £100. This was not an upscale restaurant.
Yes there were cheaper options on the menu. The starters, and maybe a couple of the mains were under £10, but that’s just one course.
There are also cheaper restaurants to go to. Much cheaper.
Your argument made it seem like there are no cheaper restaurants, which is false.
You’re choosing to pay that price.
Checks out actually if you have a main and pudding or a drink. Not many places will be cheaper than that.
Where are you talking about that this is the case?
We can do internet searches to see if you’re correct.
They gave prices in GBP (almost certainly, almost no one else uses £), I also l live in the UK and can confirm it’s a pretty reasonable statement to make.
A few fast food options might be a bit less but can you seriously count that as a restaurant?
but can you seriously count that as a restaurant?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman
I think we’ve figured out the issue. You people don’t know what a restaurant is.
Try telling someone you are taking them to a restaurant and then turn up at McDonalds.
Cook at home is the default; even the lunches our kids eat at school are packed from home.
We never get delivery; we get takeout sometimes when it’s getting late and we’re tired, but usually that’s just the mains and one of us still makes the starch and the veg sides at home while the other goes to get the takeout.
Eating out is pretty much only special occasions and when company is visiting town.
Couple with kids, very small SFH in Chicago but it was the same when we lived in an apartment. If anything we are at home more, because taking young kids to a restaurant is risky at best.
So nobody’s going to bite on the “moved out with your partner at 16 with your parents’ blessing” thing? You guys have way more self-control than I do.
I mean that’s how they afford to get food delivered every day. Too much money, spoilt.
It can’t be solely income from work though, right? At that age?
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Who can realistically life off eating out or delivery in 2025?
The math don’t math for 80% of population unless you can get every meal under 10… Which is nearly impossible
My boyfriend’s parents bought him the apartment we’re currently living in together as an 18th birthday present; money isn’t exactly an issue for his family. My family, on the other hand, could never afford to live like this.
you do you, but make sure you’re saving for the future now. you seem to be in a good position, don’t waste it all on delivery lol
Even a little bit now makes a huge difference 10 years down the road
Especially since boyfriends at age 16 don’t necessarily last forever.
This is the second or third comment I’ve seen saying that the boyfriend is 16 when everyone’s ages are listed in the OP, odd
Edit: they’ve been living there for two years, I’m a dumb ass
Edit 2: he’s 18 now, they’ve been living there for 2 years, but the apartment was bought for his 18th birthday. Odd again.
I would argue 18 year old boyfriends might be even more fickle than 16 year old ones. On average anyway
So are girlfriends but less so if the boyfriend owns a house 🤭
The math works out and they can do it, they just end up having no savings.
I guess I can see your point…
I work to eat, literally 🤡
Sorry you’re in that position.
Is there a welfare program that you can get on to help?
Keep track of your spending. Don’t just eyeball it. Dining out and delivery are very expensive.
Like a couple weeks ago I ordered dinner to eat with a friend realized the bill was like a whole week’s food budget all at once.
Rice, beans, vegetables, cheese, wraps? Like $5. Ordering two similar burritos? $30. That savings adds up.
Anyway, to answer your question and stop giving unsolicited advice: I almost always cook at home. I don’t have the income to do otherwise. When I had a high paying job I would order more food delivered.
While I agree with you, I will say this: if you are not living paycheck to paycheck, it is important to realize that your time has value.
People on the internet can be judgy as fuck, but it’s your time and if you want to reclaim time to play with your kids and pay for expensive carry out? Do it. You can’t take your money with you, time and experience is all you get. If you like cooking do that. If you don’t, you do you.
You will never please the crowd on Lemmy doing that though unless you are not cooking your own food because you’re too busy doing some vegan lawn rewilding in your furry costume with decorative toe socks while watching trans anime supporting Palestine on your used Linux Thinkpad and the food comes from a local source using a barter system instead of capitalism delivered by bicycle and you chat up the delivery person about deploring landlords. /s sort of. You can count like 4 of those in this thread already.
Otherwise, sure, rice and beans plus some protein is quality cheap eating, though I’ve never made beans that way myself.
There’s some merit in what you’re saying. I’ve found that cooking with family can be quality time. A friend of mine has a toddler and they involve her in the kitchen (even when she was younger and her involvement was mostly “do you want to hold this potato?” tier)
So yes, time has value as well. 20 minutes cooking together can be pretty valuable.
We also do that. Some meals are better for it than others.
Sometimes the kids just want to play hide and seek or do sidewalk chalk. On those days, especially if they ask, I intend to play!
So you’re saying you’re constantly broke. Getting delivery all the time is hella expensive
Or that they’re very wealthy
Delivery: never, too expensive when we can just take the car and get what we want.
Eating out: mostly me on her, oh you mean food, nah, only ever on date nights, which with two kids is maybe once a month if we’re lucky.
Cooking at home: probably 345 days of the year. Cheaper, tastes better, more healthy, setting a good example for the kids.
Eating at a restaurant easily costs 4x+ what I can make at home, even fast food.
I’ve done the math many times. My average plate at home costs no more than $2 (and I eat pretty much whatever I want).
Let that sink in. Calculate the difference over a week, a month, a year.
A lot of the younger generation has been convinced to live above their means, or at least in such a way that they are not preparing at all financially for their future.
Since most of them can’t cook and are afraid to try new things, they just eat fast food for most of their meals because it’s embarrassing for them to prepare their own meals.
Pride has much do with it, although it’s undeserved.
At what point is that just intentional self harm if it makes up most of your meals?
I often see posts online that sound like people look down on rice as if eating it is beneath them. Like, ok spend 20 times as much on food I guess?
Way below what you can get from welfare in the US.
It’s not all-or-nothing. Most people don’t even attempt to eat cheaply because they believe it’s beneath them.
Haha I wish I could afford that! I live alone and I’m in my mid twenties. Instead it’s more like:
-
Quick meal (requires little prep and little cooking time, maybe some garlic spaghetti)
-
Big meal (a big stew I made a few days ago and put in the fridge)
-
Porridge (super reliable, very cheap, incredibly fast to prepare, add frozen blueberries)
And then:
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Eating out (a good treat for a special occasion)
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Delivery (it always ends badly)
Pad with rice if ever possible. Eat some beans. Frozen vegetables with seasoning salt.
-
Living alone, I have cooked at home since I was 18. Delivery only on very rare special occasions, same as eating out.
The two big reasons are all the money I save (I spend around 200€ on food each month), and I like cooking food my own way.
Sure, many times I don’t have the energy to cook, but I usually make food for 2-4 days, so I only have to microwave it. Maybe I’ll make some veggies with an onion and garlic sauté, save it on the fridge, and cook some chicken breast on the day, so I don’t have to do all the cooking at once, and it’s still fresh and good.
I couldn’t afford ordering delivery or eating out every day, but I work part-time so I have more time than money.
3 kid family. Food is expensive. Wife learned to cook very well by her mother when growing up. She cooks most nights. We only go out to eat or have it delivered/takeout for 3 reasons: 1) she’s exhausted, 2) we’re traveling, 3) special occasions. Unfortunately, she’s such a good cook that we rarely eat at a place that made the dish better and it leaves the kids wishing she just made it at home which is awesome for me since it’s a hell of a lot cheaper.
So:
- Cooking at Home
- Eating Out
- Delivery/Takeout
51 and 46 here. We eat at home by default. I go out for lunch once a week, and we might eat out or order in for dinner or brunch once or twice a week.
I usualluly cook a bunch of protein for the week and pair that with frozen veggies and/or fruit and pasta, oats, or rice. I’ll eat that and/or dinner leftovers.
Exclusively homecooking. I’m not that good at it and a lot of it is deepfrozen pizza, fish sticks, baked fries etc., but even convenience food like that is just so much cheaper than restaurants. If you live with a partner, cooking is even more time-efficient than for one person alone! Meal preparation in advance goes a long way, too, though for me that kinda falls flat because my fridge doesn’t have enough space.
Back when I was in university, I often went to the uni cafeteria, which was a lot cheaper than a restaurant. If your city has one, look into whether it’s open for outsiders - ours had higher prices for non-students, but it was still cheaper than restaurants.
