Cheaper to eat out than to DIY?

[ManaMinori 4,145]

I love Chipotle's sofitas burritos. However, they aren't really chap, and so I decided to look on YT for copycat recipes befoe going out to gather the ingredients to DIY.  However, I spent $75 (spices were not cheap, either) 

I feel like it would've been cheaper to get more at Chipotle for a few weeks. 

 

Has anyone ever found it cheaper to eat out rather than trying to imitate the food, yourself? 

[GeekySonic 1,150]

Nope. If ya got a buck on ya, that'll get ya 3 packs of ramen. That's pretty cheap for a day's worth of food.

[BlueBrony 388]

I don't try to imitate food I get when I eat out (usually). I try to make food I can't find anywhere in a way that nobody else does it. That being said, If I want a burger and fries, or a hot dog, 95% of the time I eat out, because they have it down pat!

[joshyang908 85]

Nope but eating out allows you to not have to cook, do the dishes, and buy groceries, so you're saving some inconvenience.

However, I love cooking. I make a badass scallop risotto and lobster spaghetti.

[Ganondorf8 11,259]

Eating out can be expensive sometimes depending on where you go and what you plan on ordering, but the one benefit is not having to cook something and allow someone else to do it for you. However, for the most part, I do prefer a home-cooked meal as a lot of love was put into making it--provided that it was made catered to my tastes.

[Vulcan 3,254]

 

It would depend on the meal and where you source your ingredients, If it's a generic dish, most fast food joints are capable of buying ingredients in bulk making it much cheaper on their end, 

In terms of Burritos, generally the first meal is always the priciest as there's all kinds of bulk ingredients and tools that one has to buy on the first round, 

Spices for instance are bought once but can be used for multiple dishes , often lasting for months before requiring it to be replaced. 

so more often than not , It's always pricier the first time around...but tend to get much cheaper in the long run. 

 

Edited June 30, 2017 by Coffee

[ManaMinori 4,145]

1 hour ago, GeekySonic said:

Nope. If ya got a buck on ya, that'll get ya 3 packs of ramen. That's pretty cheap for a day's worth of food.

That's not healthy, just starch and salt.

[Guest]

Nah, I never do that, mostly because I'm lazy:D

[Dreambiscuit 9,575]

I'm not much of a cook so it's always better for me to just go out to eat or order delivery. On occasion when I want to just play around with the stuff I find in the kitchen it can be fun to improvise and see what happens. The dishes and the mess though make it the exception rather than the rule. And I just like fast food (or slow food when someone else does the work). The price is comparable between eating out and having something of similar quality at home, so I'd rather enjoy the experience of going out.  

[Nerdy Luigi 2,065]

Nope. Just get a 6-pack of ramen for a dollar or two and dinner's set for the next week. It's not the greatest, but you could ramen for a month and still not spend enough for one meal of eating out.  That's the greatness of it. SO FREAKING CHEAP!

 

If you're concerned a bit much about health, then maybe you might have an easier time finding food cheaper. But if you're really concerned about how much you're spending, sometimes you should just make do. That's what I do, because I have almost nothing.

Edited July 1, 2017 by Barik the Luigineer

[Starshine 16,333]

As long as you bought the ingredients in large bulk, eating at home can be a lot cheaper in the long run. I'm pretty sure you can get a lot of delicious goodies out of any farmer's market, provided there's actually one near you. Doing dishes shouldn't be that hard as long as you don't let it sit for an extended amount of time.

If one is just starting to live by themself, cooking at home may seem to be a dauntless task, but it gets easier once it becomes a second habit.

Also, a lot of the stuff in those online recipes you can find a much cheaper alternative to work on. You don't have to buy ze best canned meat ever from a supermarket when you can get three times the amount from a local butcher shop. Again, assuming you have one around your place. If not, well, that sucks

[EpicEnergy 23,139]

I prefer to use microwaveable foods, time savers since eating out and cooking it yourself take too long. I'm too lazy for that much effort.

[Fluttershutter 2,388]

No way. Relying on restaurant food, as well as coffee and beer, is one reason people are so poor.

Of course buying a lot of spices, meat, a big pack of tortillas, etc. is more expensive than buying one burrito but in the long run it's cheaper. You should also buy food in bulk when it's on sale.

On 2017-06-30 at 12:50 AM, GeekySonic said:

Nope. If ya got a buck on ya, that'll get ya 3 packs of ramen. That's pretty cheap for a day's worth of food.

I don't see how anybody could consider three pack of ramen sustenance for a day let alone nutrition. But it is about a week's worth of salt.

 

[Usual Crypty 4,678]

Once I bought a bag of buckwheat and dozen eggs for 3 bucks. And eat it 3 days lol. Nothing can be cheaper and stay healthy ^•^

It's not like I do it all the time, just was interested how cheap I can made it.