To think no one eats out everyday?

[1AngelicFruitCake]

Lighthearted pondering about meals over summer holidays.

Yesterday talking to my friend about making lunch and tea everyday during school holidays. I love my children but it does feel relentless! Shop at Aldi or Lidl and buy varied food to keep it interesting. My friend knows someone who goes out everyday and eats out so the evening meal is simple. I’m like ‘how?!’ How does anyone afford that?!

Not just the expense but the calories! I’d be the size of a house if I ate out every night!

Probably quite rare I'd expect.

Wish I had this kind of money as the daily drudgery of thinking what to cook and doing it actually does my head in.

Loads of people do, it's just not possible for everyone. Not every meal out has to be a 'treat', it can be healthy and balanced. When I worked full time in the US we would eat out for every meal and I rarely made coffee at home. In England it's very different and we have DC now.

I lived in Manhattan for a short time and found it quite difficult and expensive to get groceries. V small, overpriced supermarkets. There were some cheap cafes that worked out much better value to eat out at, plus the portions were so large that the left overs would last for at least one more meal.

Saying that, this was 25years ago and I gather it’s now pretty pricey to eat out in NYC.

The only ones at work who i see eating out for lunch every day are the ones who are at a lower band to me and have chaotic lives. They are similarly disorganized with their work. Which is saying something from me.

I have my lunch out every day when I'm working. Quite often have breakfast out at the weekends.

Quality of life.

I've worked and I've paid my bills. It's nice to be able to do something I enjoy with the rest of my money.

I did in my late 20s/early 30s when I lived in NYC. The oven was unused! But majority were healthy meals like sushi, salad etc. I can only dream of such a carefree existence now, down to both DC and i couldn’t justify the expense on just food

Many of my retired friends eat out every day, sometimes brunch or afternoon tea then a light meal at night or nothing much during the day then go out in evening my parents used to do the same

Only if you were eating stuff like pizzas and cheeseburgers all the time. Where I live now, that's pretty much the only kind of food you can get on a weekday. In cities with a variety of restaurants it's easy to have a healthy, balanced diet - all cooked by someone else and the washing up done!

My mum hated cooking and after her kids had left home and my dad had died she got a load of equity out of her house and ate out every night. She couldn’t have afforded to do it on her pension.

My ex lived in Japan. He ate out for every meal - rice and vegetables, maybe a small amount of meat. He said it was cheaper than cooking! And was also very healthy because it’s Japan.

Sure people do. And people get daily takeaways too. As to affordability they just earn enough or have decided that’s their priority.

As usual the answer is some people have more disposable income than others.

I've just worked out that I'm one of them.

Can't be arsed to get dressed up though.

I ‘eat out’ every day at work and have found it to be cost effective! I work from the office 4 days a week where there is free breakfast ($0), then I pop out for a ‘massive’ salad at lunch time ($14). A couple of snacks from the office pantry in the afternoon ($0), and I don’t need dinner.

Compare that to my WFH day where I need to sort out breakfast, lunch and dinner which is at least $12-15 of groceries.

We eat out a couple of times a week and get takeaway a couple of times a week too.

Our favourite takeaway is a local Turkish restaurant - they do grilled meats, rice and vegetables and really delicious fresh salads. If I bought the ingredients in to do their mixed grill and salads myself, it would probably cost as much as the takeaway and some of the salad ingredients would end up getting binned because you can't buy e.g. 1/4 of a red cabbage anywhere around here.

what an utterly weird comment.

do restaurants near you only serve fake food or something?

eating out doesn't automatically mean a big mac, most places do offer vegetables and healthy food. I'm going to blow your mind but in 2025 there are even some places that ONLY sell vegan/vegetarian food.

what an utterly weird comment.

do restaurants near you only serve fake food or something?

eating out doesn't automatically mean a big mac, most places do offer vegetables and healthy food. I'm going to blow your mind but in 2025 there are even some places that ONLY sell vegan/vegetarian food.

Depends where you live as well, there are some places, if you live a nice stroll near some independent cafes and restaurants, and you had the cash why not? If you are a regular you can pop in for just one course, drink tap water, it wouldn’t be the expense if you are going out as a treat. I mean we don’t but I could see how someone could.

Depends where you live as well, there are some places, if you live a nice stroll near some independent cafes and restaurants, and you had the cash why not? If you are a regular you can pop in for just one course, drink tap water, it wouldn’t be the expense if you are going out as a treat. I mean we don’t but I could see how someone could.

My brother who is child-free eats out three or four times a week. He has loads of disposable cash and a very busy social life and he lives somewhere that it's relatively cheap.

If you're not looking after a budget, have a very busy life and don't have to cater for particular diets it must be very tempting.

I know quite a few single men who live like that. I don't know any families that do it.

I often feel like that at the end of a holiday 😂😂
just having to get redressed again!

Actually I know a man who lost 10 stones in weight, once he stopped eating out everyday, as he was saving to buy a flat.

He's a very big man (6'6" and broad shoulders) anyway, but 10st is still a lot! He never set out to lose weight, only to save money.

Where I live it’s relatively easy to eat out and get veg and something grilled or veggie at lunchtime. Evening meals are very n’chips though and not much veg. If I lived in a city I’d eat out more or get takeout.

I think this is a thing in New York - apparently some apartments are made with barely a kitchen