To ask if you view food such as takeaways as a waste of money

[Blameitonme7000]

I personally don’t but I know many do

If it becomes every Saturday night and you start to feel cheated if you don’t have it, that’s not a treat anymore but a sense of entitlement. Fine if that’s how you feel and is easily affordable, but it’s no longer a treat.

Sounds very sanctimonious tbh. You have decided fairly arbitrarily that once something is done once a week it doesn't count as a treat. And that once you expect and anticipate something it also doesn't count as a treat. I don't think either of those things is actually true. Would you apply them to something you maybe consider a more worthy treat?

For example, if someone works in a really tough, physical job all week and their weekly treat is a long bubble bath with candles, or going for a massage, or going to a café with a friend, and they look forward to it every week, are they not allowed to regard it as their weekly treat? Is that just 'entitlement' too?

I must say this thread has inspired me to have another go at pizza dough making.

Yes, I do think it’s a waste of money.

No, especially during lockdown when life and housework has been so monotonous.

We often eke two meals out of ours so it's good value too.

I do think it’s a waste because we only eat half and I don’t think it’s safe to reheat takeaway.

@CandyLeBonBon

You'll still be hungry again in a few hours.

Isn't that the normal digestive process??

No, not on MN. Here we eat one grape on a Monday and it keeps us stuffed full until Wednesday. Eating anything more than that is called "gorging" and is one of the most disgusting things that any human can do.

Takeaway pizza is a complete waste. I was used to the US versions that are massive. Our badly put together and poorly cooked versions are an embarrassment and so expensive.

Indian and Chinese less so because as lots have pointed out you can get a few meals out if them and generally I never have all the ingredients needed at home.

I also like a bit of deep fried deliciousness and I don’t do this in my kitchen so a takeaway works well.

Ah yes @PeggyHill silly me!!! Thanks for putting me straight!

I don't, unless I end up not enjoying it and that's what's happened the last few takeaways we have had. So going to have less as it's very expensive for something I didn't like. We have gone from 3/4 takeaways a year to 3/4 a month since lockdown so definitely need to cut back anyway.

@Pasithea

I do think it’s a waste because we only eat half and I don’t think it’s safe to reheat takeaway.

You can reheat takeaways. You just have to do it properly

Definitely not a waste here, although I do sometimes do a double take when I think about how much money we spend on food each month generally . We live in the city centre in the North East and through lockdown have ordered a weekly takeaway from local restaurants which are delivered to the house. At least once a week each Friday. We work full time, cook from scratch the vast majority of the time and juggle family life so definitely enjoy the treat. Our takeaway last night was for the two of us from a local Indian restaurant. It cost £35. We'd normally spend at least £80 if eating out at a restaurant so I consider it good value. I'm still not well after my covid jab and didn't eat as much. Hasn't put me off though and didn't consider it a waste of money.

I mean if you’re having deliveroo a few times a week because you can’t be arsed then yes, it’s a waste
If you’re enjoying a takeaway as part of a treat or family meal then of course it’s not

I love takeaway food but we don't eat it much. I make good curries and we've found excellent premade Naans. We bought a deep fat fryer which scratches the fish and chips/ McDonald's cravings, we have salt and chilli seasoning which makes fantastic chips. Cheap pizzas can be nice and sometimes I'll make my own.

Yes I do tbh. A few years ago DH and I had just bought our house and we were squeaky skint. I had a very well off baby group friend at the time who used to get takeaways several times a week and I remember feeling so panicked about the waste of money even though it wasn’t my money!

Now we are in a much better position and have takeaways now and again, but it still feels like a huge extravagance.I’d rather go out to dinner, at least then you have the whole experience and there’s no washing up or clearing up afterwards.

Yeah i do.
I got all 5 of us dominoes the other day. It was nearly £50 even with a discount.
If it wasnt a birthday treat its not something I could afford often.

Nope, we have one takeaway/ meal out (in the good old days) a week. It's my chance to relax and not have to worry about cooking x

We have a take away once and sometimes twice a week, it's buying me time and energy from not having to cook.

We are also using small businesses such as the wood fired pizza company that have set up at a local pub because the food is delicious and good value for money.

This week we had burgers from a local cafe doing a pop up night and tomorrow we have Sunday lunch from another local pub, all together we will have spent about £80 on 8 meals but we can afford it.

If it’s nice and you enjoy it then no it’s not a waste.

We hardly ever have them though but are getting one next week for a family birthday as we’d usually go out for a meal. I expect it’ll be 20 odd quid, will feed the 4 of us, 2 adults, a 15 year old and a 12 year old. I usually get a set meal so pakora/poppadoms, rice, naan, 2 curries and then order an extra rice.

Also some of the replies on this are absolutely hilarious!!

The takeaway pizza we get is good value and it’s sourdough, so I couldn’t make it the same. It’s v nice and the one takeaway I really like. But I think things like dominoes or chip shop pizza are a waste of money and not as nice as a shop bought or home made one.

@Potpourriandpennysweets

Last time my family got a takeaway it was £23 Today I did a Fakeaway it was £19

It was a lot more work, so honestly I think it is worth it sometimes to just get a takeaway. That said the Fakeaway was lower fat, higher protein, much more veg, and really tasty. We get them occasionally as a treat now, used to get McDonalds/Greggs/Meal Deal somewhere about once a week when we used to do trips to the mall or day trips though. And we never eat out in the evening or go on a weekend anymore either. We spend more on treats at home now, and I cook more so takeaway is more for the night off from cooking than eating something interesting these days!

Yes this re a fakeaway, I made us chicken tikka masala and onion bhajis recently, it was absolutely beautiful but it took me bloody hours!

I prefer buying French stick and naice cheeses if I cant be fucked to cook. We do have takeaways - but would get wagammas or similar as we've been veggie since January and mushroom friend rice and mushroom chow mein isn't as nice as getting 3/4 main meat dishes and sharing it between us all.

We get takeaways as an occasional treat (maybe 4 or 5 a year) - but we then tend to spend a bit more because it is a treat, so it does seem pretty expensive. I wouldn't get them on a weekly basis as I do think that is a waste of money, but then we don't eat out on a weekly basis either.

I do think it’s a waste because we only eat half and I don’t think it’s safe to reheat takeaway.

Maybe try ordering less! We have a takeaway about once a month, maybe occasionally twice. We only order stuff we actually like, and we order the right amount for the four of us. If we order from somewhere and it turns out to be disappointing, we don't order from there again. It's really not that hard to make it not be a waste of money tbh!

I'd never order takeaway pizza, because homemade is so much better. I prefer to get takeaway that would be hard to replicate quite the same at home, or at least hard to recreate so as to allow everyone to pick different dishes they wanted - Chinese, Thai or Indian.

Yes, a waste of money generally. We might have one twice a year.