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

[Blameitonme7000]

I personally don’t but I know many do

Our chicken and cashew nuts main is £4.80 and I thought that was expensive . Egg fried Rice is £2.30 and vegetable chow mein is £4.20!

I wouldn't call a takeaway a waste of money, but I would call it a luxury. Even ready meals and other convenience food at home is a lot cheaper.

(I appreciate there are families stuck living with no cooking facilities who won't regard takeaways as optional.)

I think it's a waste of money, and can make a lot more food myself for the same amount. Unfortunately DH don't, and loves takeaways. He would prioritise takeaways as an essential part of the budget if he could.

We have a Lebanese takeaway tonight, it is good quality but £60 for the 2 of us and that was only 3 dishes. It is worth it for us as we enjoy it. Thay said, my teenager and 10 year old wanted fish and chips, this is quite expensive but we can afford it so it's not a problem. I think the issue I have is that I should be cooking for health reasons. I cook and I am a fairly good cook but my children find my concoctions bizarre and will leave the food, my teenager is very thin and can't afford to lose any more weight so it is always this dilemma.

Bloody love a takeaway and definitely don't consider them a waste of money

Some of the prices on here are shocking though

We tend to have Chinese takeaway every 6 weeks or so

Beef chow mein
Crispy shredded beef
Sweet and sour pork Cantonese style
Chicken balls
Beef curry
2 x egg fried rice
2 x chips

Is around £31. There's plenty for all of us and usually lunch for DH the next day.

Pizza is even cheaper. We rarely order an Indian takeaway, but midweek it's a bargain. £10 for poppadums, starter, main, rice and naan on the set menu.

Also partial to a McDonald's!

I rarely eat take away because the quality of the food isn’t that great and it’s unhealthy do occasionally have it though.

Ish. I don't do it that often, so I don't generally fret about the cost, but it would certainly add up if I did what our neighbours do and have it 3-4 times a week.

The last time we had an Indian takeaway it was £60 for 4. Very nice food but I object to the washing up and would prefer to go out even if the bill is higher.

On the whole I think they are a complete waste of money. Hence the last one was last July.

We used to have the odd takeaway but don't now. They are expensive and often the calibre of cooking/ingredients is poor, we just try to cook more creatively. Our only takeaway is really cinnamon buns from the local bakery at the weekend.

Also we always end up thirsty if we have one as the food is generally more salty then home-cooked (and fattier)

It depends.

Buying in ready made stuff that I could easily make myself, on a weekly/daily basis? Yes. Like an ex colleague who spent £££ on subway every day because she couldnt be arsed to make her own lunch, and then complained that she couldnt save and couldnt lose weight (yes love, a foot long with extra cheese every day will do that).

Every so often for a change? No.

I always get a takeaway for the kids on pay day, its a tradition now. They choose what it is and I get it as a treat. So once a month. Often enough for it to be looked forward to but not so often that they turn their noses up at our normal diet.

Definitely not if it involves anything deep fried! It's worth it to me to pay someone else to do it, plus if I do it at home I've had to buy and dispose of all that oil.

We have done more since Covid as a change of pace from homemade and sometimes it just gave us something to look forward to.

Lots of things are a waste of money, in that they're non-essential expenditure. Takeaways probably fall into that category.

I think it's fine if you can afford it though, and no more wasteful than so many of the things that people spend their money on.

We tend not to do takeaways because we just aren't in the habit, but we did quite often go out to eat pre-covid.

If you have money, spend it as you wish (as long as it's legal!)

Yeah, it's a waste of money. But only like going to a restaurant is. It's cheaper to make the majority of food from scratch, but sometimes you just wanna have a break from the cooking and washing up. We have a takeaway once a week in our house, my husband's a chef and makes the most delicious food, but even he loves a takeaway on a Sunday!
Personally I think if you do it constantly like some do it can be a huge waste of money, but each to their own. People can spend money on what they want.

Myself and DP get 1-2 per week usually. Both dislike cooking so it feels like a chore and so take away does not feel like a waste of money! We tend to get something like Wagamamas or Zizzi so it feels slightly more healthy than other options but it is not cheap. However we didn't do this in the past when we couldn't afford it.

We normally have takeout once a week and eat out 3/4 x a week
As we can’t eat out we are having more takeout,including the more expensive restaurant at home types
Would be the first thing to go if we needed to economise but very enjoyable

All through the last year DP and I have talked about getting a takeaway as though it would be a treat. In reality, we've had fish and chips maybe twice - ok but not wonderful - and a Chinese once, which was pretty expensive, and I only really liked one dish. If I didn't want to cook, I'd rather spend money on a good ready meal.

I don't live in the UK anymore and it is normal to have takeaway food 3-4 days a week here because it is often less than food shopping. Even the expensive takeaways like pizza from well know brands costs about 1/4 of what it does in the UK. We never used to get take outs when we lived in the UK because of the high costs and quite often poor quality food.

I don't eat takeaways, I don't like the type of food, it's too expensive for what it is and I'm always dubious about other people's food hygiene anyway.

Fine for an occasional treat, but too many takeaways is definitely a waste of money if you ask me.

A friend "couldn't understand" how we afforded the deposit for our house. Two takeaways a week he and his partner bought, over 7 years, excluding a fortnight's summer holiday, makes say £30 x 50 weeks x 7 = £10920. Certainly enough as a 10% deposit to make a big difference to your house buying budget!

It depends what you're having really!

Local greasy Chinese/ chippy? They can be very disappointing and it makes you feel rubbish after.

We have some really good quality places near us though which are just as good as quality restaurant food. During lockdown, having something like that has been a lovely treat when we can't eat out.

Also love a pizza :)

So no I don't think it's a waste, anymore than eating out at a restaurant, but I wouldn't prioritise it if I was struggling with money.

We have so many takeaways these days, used to go out to eat at the weekends now it’s mostly takeaways from nicer restaurants like our local Italian or pizza when we’re hungover

I do I really resent the cost, though I didn't when I was younger.

But I also resent the cost of eating in restaurants. I generally don't enjoy eating out any more and I used to love it.

I tend to order something much cheaper for myself, even though I would never ask DH or DC to restrict what they order.

Lockdown has taught me I like to eat in snack size/types of food. So I am really resentful of having to go and eat 'mixed up' food when we start eating out again (rather than say - chicken breast and some bread, or a basic salad with some cheese, or a slice of toast with hummus) No idea why this has happened!!

I think it is entirely personal and if you can afford takeaway then go for it. I enjoy chocolate so spend £10 a week on that!

** I rarely get take away.
My cooking is nicer and you generally feel a bit greasy and ‘meh’ after eating them.**

I agree. It never tastes as nice as I think it will. Take out pizza is the worst.

It's very expensive round here. Usually 7-8 for a meal. Anything with seafood is upwards of 9. I'm in London. We spend probably 200 pm on takeaways. It's very expensive