To ask do you deem takeaways or meal outs as a waste of money

[Canwe666]

Ditto coffees out etc

No I don’t think it’s a waste of money, it’s the experience of it and the good times socialising with friends

No, you pays your money you takes your choice. I enjoy a meal I haven't had to prepare, or do any washing up/ tidying away after. It helps work life balance. It's also an experience for the kids.

If money is tight, then I think it's a luxury rather than a necessity.

@MareofBeasttown

I find the quality of takeaways in the UK very poor and the price very expensive. I won't say they are a waste of money bcos who wants to cook daily, but I can cook most things better myself and do during the week.

I always find I’m disappointed with a takeaway, especially chinese. They are definitely convenient but that’s all I find.

Technically I do,strictly speaking
But sometimes (0ften) the aim is making the best decisions fingers forward

Yes mostly feels like a waste of money because the food we make at home is nicer. I do go to some places regardless of price because they offer something I can't do myself, or a lovely experience.

I have very rarely bought takeaway tea/coffee in my life, I just never got why anyone would pay that much for a 1p teabag or 20p worth of coffee beans & milk. Have done on a train, but just in town? No.

Takeaways are usually rank.

I will spend a fortune on good food I can't make myself though.

Most takeaways I'm unimpressed with, except for a Lebanese one near me. I'd much rather pay a quarter of the price for the supermarket version or make my own while chatting to dp and drinking wine. Can't afford coffee out just for the hell of it but as others have said, if it's to meet up with someone then absolutely and I love restaurants for the atmosphere and variety.

Meals out and coffees out are an indulgence, but not a waste if you have the money ... although they need to be a ‘treat’ for me, a coffee every day would soon get routine and no longer be worth the time and money.

Takeaways are a waste IMO and I’ve only really used them on holidays and house moves. Rather buy some good bread, salad and smoked salmon/cold meat/pate, or an M&S ready meal.

Nope.
1.Saves me time and effort,especially at the end of a long week.
2.it's bloody delicious.
3.everyone can get something they want, including whatever kids might come over.
4.I'm such a loyal customer I always get free stuff.

I didnt used to think it was a waste of money but since lock down and seeing how much money I saved, some of it did seem a big waste.

We (family of 3) used to eat out 3 - 4 times a week (one of those being a fry up on a Sunday morning). Mostly mid range resturants.

Now I cook more and will buy a good ready meal over a take away. When we do have a take away I also now go for the cheaper option. For example Thai cost £70 where as fish and chips or a curry cost about £40.

However, I love going out for food with friends and family and that is never a waste of money.

No. I hate cooking. I value being able to skip the chore.

Generally yes, we don't eat takeaways or go to restaurants as there's not many places locally that cater for the food intolerances in our family. I think it's a waste of money and prefer to cook myself.

I do go out for a cuppa to meet up with friends occasionally but we usually just socialise at each others houses when permitted.

I only think they are a waste of money if they are purchased by someone younger than me who I know isn't a home owner. Then I just tell them if they stopped wasting their money on things like coffees and food and avocados and the latest iPhones and city breaks and Ubers then they'd already have the deposit for and own a big house in the middle of London even if they are on a zero hours contract and pay rates in their professions have stagnated for 14 years. Sometimes they say I don't know what I'm talking about which everyone would agree just goes to show they know they're in the wrong and don't like home truths. I'm always astonished how many people don't like being told home truths about everything they are doing wrong or differently to me.

I used to freely and happily spend money on takeaways & coffees out. I don’t these days, takeaways tend to be disappointing (and were done to death during lockdowns) and coffees out are never as nice as the coffees I make at home. It’s not that I can’t afford to, I just don’t want to.

I do, however, bitterly resent paying money for taxis and see them as an enormous waste of money (as I have a car). I walked 3.5 miles home from my friend’s house a couple of weeks ago after I’d had a few drinks - far too cheap to pay for a taxi!!

Dining out or going out for coffee or a drink is a social activity, much missed during lockdown. Normally have a takeaway at least once a every week or two . One thing that I don’t understand is going out just to get a takeaway coffee and bringing it back to the office or buying one to drink at home

Also if you use small businesses that's a good thing imo

Yes I do.....takeaways generally poor quality. .hate sitting in restaurants. much rather eat at home.

Yes, I do.

Unless the surroundings are worth paying to sit in, like tea at the Ritz or a cafe with a truly breathtaking view.

I regularly walk past a street cafe where people pay £4 for a coffee in a paper cup which they drink sitting on uncomfortable rough-wood benches with hundreds of people like me walking past, and loads of traffic passing, polluting the air they breathe. I think the people using it are idiots with more money than sense, to be honest.

I never waste money on takeaways any more. I used to pay £15 to have a Chinese meal delivered. One day I was chewing on a piece of battered gristle in my sweet and sour pork (eventually spitting it out) when I stopped and focussed on what I was eating and what it was costing me. Six lumps of battered, chewy, tasteless pork, a few chunks of green pepper and onion in a syrup of sugar. I sort of "woke up", and saw how disgusting and unhealthy it was, and realised that that one small tray of sugary, fatty rubbish had cost me £6. I could have bought a steak for that! For £15 I could have bought three roast chicken, potatoes and veg and fed myself for a week, AND on much healthier food.

I've never had a takeaway since.

Not so much a waste buy definitely an expense that is not always needed. I'm on maternity leave so coffees out is a big part of my life these days haha.
I realised through most of last year how much I saved by not going out for coffee though, it's crazy how quick it can add up. So now I try and limit to 1 a week and then just do homemade coffee in garden meet ups or take my own on a walk.

Me and my partner aren't a huge fan of going out for dinner and prefer take away and a movie, but we got into a bad habit of doing this sometimes 2/3 times a week which totals at a weekly food shop! So now just do it once every week or 2.

So no not a waste of money but does add up really quickly so good to monitor

Depends.
Takeaways like Chinese, pizza etc yes because they’re rarely nice and they’re quite expensive but so salty and I feel crap afterwards, not like I’ve had a treat.
Takeaways like getting lunch delivered by Deliveroo because I have back to back meetings 10am-3.30pm like today and no time to make lunch no because I need to eat and I can pick something relatively healthy and it’ll cost about £10 (today - itsu).
Restaurants no because it’s nice to enjoy the ambiance and not have to do the washing up.

hmmm...usually no because like others have said, there's the social element, not having to clean, etc. Also I'm an ok but not amazing cook so lots of food (particularly from different world cuisines) often genuinely is nicer than if I'd made it myself. Also for some things, e.g. a frappuccino, I'd have to have the coffee, milk, flavourings, a blender, ice available etc. so while I could technically do it myself I'd rather pay £3 once a month instead. If I was talking about a coffee a day I'd probably think it's worth the investment to get the stuff at home.

The only thing I do resent paying for is tea because that is a ridiculous mark up - costs literally 2/3p for a bulk buy teabag, hot water and bit of milk, no specialist equipment, yet charge more than £2 in most places! If my steak or whatever cost nearly 100xthe raw ingredients I might think eating out was a rip off too!

Occasionally.

If I'm getting a curry from our favourite takeaway - although it's the most expensive of the takeaways (it feeds us for 2 days though so more reasonable when considered that way) It's never ever a waste because it is THAT good. It's utterly beautiful.

I've had several takeaways over the years where I've considered it a waste because the food just wasn't worth the price.

Dominos is something we have rarely and we enjoy the taste - but not the next day on the toilet and the funny belly feeling so that ones half and half.

Pizza hut during first lockdown - that was a waste. It was ££££££ for practically nothing! (first Pizza Hut takeaway ever - only about the third time we'd ever had their food).

@sometimescharlottesometimesnot

Yes I do.....takeaways generally poor quality. .hate sitting in restaurants. much rather eat at home.

I also hate sitting in restaurants. Chairs are often uncomfortable, often one is jostled or nudged by other diners; you cannot have exactly what you want (for example a certain kind of condiment that you might have at home) and you pretty much have to eat the whole meal at one sitting (at home I might have eat a bit, then put the rest away and eat it later). Eating at home is just 100 times more comfy.

No I love eating out. Well worth it.

Everything is a waste of money if you’re skint.
However I consider coffees etc on way to be work to be a waste of money.
Takeaway or meal with friends definitely worth it.
Torn with pub - IMO drinks not worth it (I don’t enjoy alcohol) but people like to meet for drinks so I go...

No not as a treat. If you were getting takeaways every day because you were too lazy to cook then yes.