Cheaper eating out vs. staying in?

[Badgers]

I love cooking but am shit at baking (Bee?)

 

[Biddlybee]

You cook, I'll bake

If this weather keeps up, I'll get the boy to look at that barbie on our roof

 

[catrina]

You said, "if you plan well you can easily use all the ingredients"

I was saying I don't think it is that easy to use all the ingredients, as per angel's comment about 1/4 onion.

My freezer is tiny, it holds a couple of ice trays, some frozen peas and spinach and... not much else.

And I believe the response was 'get a smaller onion.' Using up ingredients isn't difficult. If you find the cooking itself difficult, then fair enough, but you will always spend more going out.

The only thing I can think of that we routinely bin for not using is eggs, which they don't sell in packages smaller than 6 around here. I could easily eat them, but I choose not to because of health reasons.

It takes a tiny bit of organisation, but it's not difficult, even if you don't have a freezer.

 

[Delia]

Dinner parties can be bloody costly. By the time you buy all the ingeds and spend time cooking I often think it would've been nicer and cheaper just to go out somewhere nice!

 

[Cloud]

Ingredients can cost a fortune, especially if you have to buy all the herbs, spices, stock etc.

If I was to make something such as beef bouillon it would easily cost twenty quid but it would taste fantastic. I've got a few dishes that can be made for under a tenner like curry and baked enchillada's but I have to cut corners to make them so cheap.

I wouldn't say it's cheaper to eat out but it certainly is cheaper to buy ready meals. I spose the great thing about home cooking is that your never disappointed like so often happens at a resteraunt. There's few dishes I can't make better than a cheap eat out and one of them, funny enough, is a cheeseburger from a place in town. God knows how they make them so good, I've given up trying to copy them. I think they must use really good quality beef and the cheese sauce is a huge secret. Expensive though at around £50 for four people, I can make a fairly good posh cheeseburger x4 for less than a tenner.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Ingredients can cost a fortune, especially if you have to buy all the herbs, spices, stock etc.

I think this is the thing....if you cook all the time, you will have all your herbs and spices already in the kitchen so most things you make will only incur the costs of the fresh ingredients.

Curries for me cost naff all because I have all the spices to hand so only have to buy the e.g. chicken, an onion and some fresh coriander. £5 for 2 people.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

If I was to make something such as beef bouillon it would easily cost twenty quid

How many people would that feed though?