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On the other side I agree with eating out is costly and usually not as Healthy.

I think this is valid. I think it also depends on your personality. I actually enjoy getting full use of my home and kitchen and spending relaxed time creating meals for myself and the people in my life. I enjoy getting use out of the way I have ordered my kitchen work space and also putting it back into shape after the meal. I enjoy that the knife I use is useful and sharp because I sharpened it with my own understanding and my own hands (using a sharpening stone, of course, not just my hands!).

It wasn’t always like this for me, but it has become this way so I think it can change for people like Karyn, too. It’s kind of a shift of perspective or frame. I actually find it a bit of a bore to go out to eat now because in most cases it’s so wasteful of my money resources. For that reason I tend to usually reserve eating out for those social occasions that have to happen in , or are best suited to, a public restaurant or bar.

Becoming accustomed to more simply-prepared food (as most home-prepared food is) adjusts your taste. And also, getting accustomed to spending $3 to $4 per meal, instead of $10 and upwards, adjusts your spending barometer so that when you do go out, you are acutely aware of the value tradeoff in spending $15 or more on dinner, even without drinks and a tip.

I have found that it’s good to have some “comfort” foods in my repertoire that I can fall back on when I feel I need an “easy treat”. One good example of this is pizza: I have learned to make pizza very quickly, and usually have some dough on hand in a plastic tub in the fridge, along with some pizza sauce (made from canned tomatoes and other ingredients) in a mason jar and some shredded mozzarella in a ziploc in the freezer.. If I want a pizza, it’s just 30 minutes from idea to finished product, which is likely less than it would take me to get takeout pizza, and it will cost me less than one fifth the outlay of ordering pizza from a shop.

Completely true, especially with junk food. My family cut out the junk about a year ago which basically meant smarter meal planning and skipping the idea that dessert is necessary after every dinner.

Now things like apples and bananas are considered dessert. It’s amazing how good natural foods start to taste when you detox from the junk.

Cheers.

I’m a big “everything in moderation” type of person – so as long as you’re not spending outrageous amounts on dining out I think it’s OK. And if it’s something you enjoy doing, then by all means do it! Just set aside an amount each month that can go for that and when you run out, no more eating out.

Whether you’re at home or going out – think of dinner time as fellowship time. God created us as relational beings and we all have something in common – we need to eat. Use that time to build relationships.

If you’ve overspent by $25 for the month, but you built a new relationship with the neighbor or someone at church and through that you’ll be able to be a light to them….I think it’s a worthwhile $25.

Honestly, it’s not so much that I beat myself up… it’s more that I just cannot believe how inefficient dining out is in relation to the amount of sustenance provided for the cost. Like I said, my wife and I do go out for special occasions, but it has actually gotten to the point where most times we prefer to eat at home. This has as much to do with the quality of the food as the cost – we now eat mostly all organic local foods.

I think your analogy would only work if you were making dinner while at work – I don’t really think you can apply it to performing basic necessities of life like eating, sleeping, cleaning up your own house, getting the mail, time with your kids, sex, using the bathroom, showering. . . . .the list could go on forever.

Point still taken though.