PepePeru
Diamond Member
- Jul 21, 2005
- 3,846
- 0
- 0
I made a meal last night for two that would easily be 8-10 bucks a piece at a casual dining rest.
pork chops
+
"vegetable medley" of asparagus, potatoes and onion.
+
beer for me, pop for SO.
the chops were like 5-6 bucks for 3 of them
the asparagus is like 2 bucks
an onion is about .20
a couple potatoes is about .20
Plus i still have two chops at home in the fridge, which we'll eat w/ some rice or other veggie that you just cook in olive oil w/ salt and pepper.
but, i realize, after living as a bachelor for the past 11.5 yrs, that it also helps to have someone to help clean up, cook and of course eat the food.
I could eat pretty cheap (though quite unhealthy) living alone, eating out.
I moved in w/ my SO and I eat out less.
I guess when we get married, I"ll never eat out.
pork chops
+
"vegetable medley" of asparagus, potatoes and onion.
+
beer for me, pop for SO.
the chops were like 5-6 bucks for 3 of them
the asparagus is like 2 bucks
an onion is about .20
a couple potatoes is about .20
Plus i still have two chops at home in the fridge, which we'll eat w/ some rice or other veggie that you just cook in olive oil w/ salt and pepper.
but, i realize, after living as a bachelor for the past 11.5 yrs, that it also helps to have someone to help clean up, cook and of course eat the food.
I could eat pretty cheap (though quite unhealthy) living alone, eating out.
I moved in w/ my SO and I eat out less.
I guess when we get married, I"ll never eat out.
PricklyPete
Lifer
- Sep 17, 2002
- 14,582
- 162
- 106
To be honest...my wife and I could probably eat cheaper eating out all the time (as long as we ate at fairly cheap places) than what she spends on groceries...but she buys very healthy items for the most part and I love her cooking. So I wouldn't give that up...but we do like to go out on occasion to somewhere nice.
seriously.
i grilled chicken cutlets for lunch with the kids today, and since they cook fast, i threw on some chicken thighs i had bought. coulda cooked something else after those, maybe. while they cooked, i made a quick spicy peanut sauce and some tomato/avocado salsa, and some slightly tangy home made ranch style dressing. i also have some tortillas at home. now i have enough food for chicken wraps for most of the week, just by spending a little more than an hour on a meal. lunch tomorrow is gonna take about 5 minutes.
I pretty much eat every meal out. The only things I "cook" are stuff like frozen pizza, and snacks. I've been getting a McDonald's meal every morning for breakfast for the past 10-15 days ($4.75 each). I keep track of my expenses, and I can see what it costs me. Though I don't have anything to compare it to.
But I don't need to be tight with my money. Sure I could save $50 a month or something, but I could save more than that in a lot of other areas too. So for right now, the money aspect doesn't bother me, nor does the health aspect. It's quick and easy and I've been doing it for over a year now.
The couple of times I bought some lunch meat, cheese, buns, etc, I'd make three or so sandwiches and have the veggies or bread or whatever else go bad.
But I don't need to be tight with my money. Sure I could save $50 a month or something, but I could save more than that in a lot of other areas too. So for right now, the money aspect doesn't bother me, nor does the health aspect. It's quick and easy and I've been doing it for over a year now.
The couple of times I bought some lunch meat, cheese, buns, etc, I'd make three or so sandwiches and have the veggies or bread or whatever else go bad.
Dinner parties. It's as easy to cook for 6 people as it is for one. If each person hosts one day a week, then everyone only has to cook one meal every week and you can eat out on the seventh. This makes a good social activity and it also cuts down on leftovers.
- Oct 10, 1999
- 31,295
- 12,817
- 136
AreaCode707
Lifer
- Sep 21, 2001
- 18,447
- 133
- 106
Eating out is one of my larger expenses, I'll admit. Lunch out with coworkers and friends is one of my favorite things to do. It's a bit pricey but I tend to make up for it by saving money in other ways (drive a beater car, mostly shop at Goodwill, don't buy shoes or makeup like other women often do, don't go to concerts, don't buy much in the way of electronics like ipods, etc.)
For me it's a tradeoff; I enjoy the experience of spending time with people over a meal downtown more than I enjoy some of the more material (and arguably longer lasting) things. I would cut back if it were a budget issue but since it's not right now I don't have a problem using my cash that way.
For me it's a tradeoff; I enjoy the experience of spending time with people over a meal downtown more than I enjoy some of the more material (and arguably longer lasting) things. I would cut back if it were a budget issue but since it's not right now I don't have a problem using my cash that way.
I've saved so much money since I started brown-bagging lunch to work every day, it's astounding.
I used to spend $10-$15/day *just on lunch* 4 days/week (and that's not taking into account all the times I'd call for pizza after getting home or drive by BK... of course, this is also when I was like 450 pounds)
I try not to eat out very often... by myself, I might have chinese once a month and maybe wendy's 2-3 times (though all I ever get from wendy's is a large chili or baked potato, never comes out to more than like $3). since my expenses are reigned in elsewhere, I don't really sweat having to drop bank if I go to a nice restaurant on a date or with friends once in awhile.
I used to spend $10-$15/day *just on lunch* 4 days/week (and that's not taking into account all the times I'd call for pizza after getting home or drive by BK... of course, this is also when I was like 450 pounds)
I try not to eat out very often... by myself, I might have chinese once a month and maybe wendy's 2-3 times (though all I ever get from wendy's is a large chili or baked potato, never comes out to more than like $3). since my expenses are reigned in elsewhere, I don't really sweat having to drop bank if I go to a nice restaurant on a date or with friends once in awhile.
Capt Caveman
Lifer
- Jan 30, 2005
- 34,543
- 651
- 126
As a graduate student with almost no set schedule, it's *really* hard to get things done right. Luckily I have an office on campus where I spend most of my time and a kitchen area just down the hall. I keep some bowls here in my office and some silverware, and warm up some soup each day for lunch. Throw in a diet soda and that's $3 for lunch, much better than $10-12 eating out. Every once in a while, we'll go out for sushi or some Thai, but I've really reigned in on the lunch aspect.
Edit: while soup everyday can get a little bit boring, I do always think about how much money I'm saving, how many calories and fat I'm avoiding, etc. So there can be other things that motivate you other than having a tasty lunch - you can be satisfied by an ordinary cup of soup. There are actually some really nice soups out there, by the way - try some of Amy's organic stuff. I'm not an organic kinda guy, but they're much better than most Campball's stuff.
And yes, I've been there before - I do believe that I've had fast food at least once a day for at least 3 months. It's crazy, and it sounds stupid and irresponsible, but when you're in the middle of it, you're more worried about grabbing a quick, easy dinner than you are about thinking about how often you've been grabbing greaseball burgers. And there's this huge salt-dependency thing that I've heard other people talk about, but I certainly think is true: once you start eating out too often, your body really starts craving that rich and salty, greasy food. You have to kinda get sick of it before you break out of the pattern, though.
So, my best advice to the OP is to set aside 1hr every other day (like someone else suggested) and spend some time - and this can actually be fun - researching some recipes. Stop by the grocery store on the way home, pick up what you need and get out of there without buying that 2-for-1 special on Oreos. Go home, cook your food, enjoy it with a beer watching some TV, then spend 15 minutes cleaning up afterward and saving the leftovers for lunch or tomorrow's dinner. Speaking of which, one thing I enjoy is picking out a dinner to go with a nice beer you have.
I'm not sure if this is peculiar to me, but there's a sense of satisfaction (more like a sense of "i'm not acting like a slob!") when you clean up after you've made your dinner and taken care of your leftovers for the next day. Besides, if you leave your mess for later, it weighs on you and in my opinion, sets up a mental block for future cooking, making it almost impossible to get a cooking routine set up.
It helps if you have a buddy or a girlfriend to do this with, by the way.
Edit: while soup everyday can get a little bit boring, I do always think about how much money I'm saving, how many calories and fat I'm avoiding, etc. So there can be other things that motivate you other than having a tasty lunch - you can be satisfied by an ordinary cup of soup. There are actually some really nice soups out there, by the way - try some of Amy's organic stuff. I'm not an organic kinda guy, but they're much better than most Campball's stuff.
And yes, I've been there before - I do believe that I've had fast food at least once a day for at least 3 months. It's crazy, and it sounds stupid and irresponsible, but when you're in the middle of it, you're more worried about grabbing a quick, easy dinner than you are about thinking about how often you've been grabbing greaseball burgers. And there's this huge salt-dependency thing that I've heard other people talk about, but I certainly think is true: once you start eating out too often, your body really starts craving that rich and salty, greasy food. You have to kinda get sick of it before you break out of the pattern, though.
So, my best advice to the OP is to set aside 1hr every other day (like someone else suggested) and spend some time - and this can actually be fun - researching some recipes. Stop by the grocery store on the way home, pick up what you need and get out of there without buying that 2-for-1 special on Oreos. Go home, cook your food, enjoy it with a beer watching some TV, then spend 15 minutes cleaning up afterward and saving the leftovers for lunch or tomorrow's dinner. Speaking of which, one thing I enjoy is picking out a dinner to go with a nice beer you have.
I'm not sure if this is peculiar to me, but there's a sense of satisfaction (more like a sense of "i'm not acting like a slob!") when you clean up after you've made your dinner and taken care of your leftovers for the next day. Besides, if you leave your mess for later, it weighs on you and in my opinion, sets up a mental block for future cooking, making it almost impossible to get a cooking routine set up.
It helps if you have a buddy or a girlfriend to do this with, by the way.
zerocool84
Lifer
- Nov 11, 2004
- 36,041
- 472
- 126
What really sucks is when your job is on the road. I buy food wherever I'm at and it's usually ~$7 or $8 for lunch and then just cook at home.
I've also gone through the "buy some stuff, then it goes bad in the fridge" stuff. I think the key is to buy small, get the slightly-more-expensive 8oz pack of lunchmeat rather than the Econo-Alternator-sized Turkey pack, buy the nice 9-grain bread, get the good sliced cheese that comes in 8slices instead of 56. You pay a bit more, but you waste less. The same is (especially) true with produce. It's better to jog by the store once a week and buy 3 bananas, lettuce and a couple of tomatoes than to buy the big bundles they sell for housewives with 3 kids. You're still coming out ahead on the cost aspect, and you waste less. And training yourself to run by the grocery instead of the drive-through is good.
There's also a large degree of experimenting you should do, where you'll buy stuff but find you don't like it. Don't feel bad about wasting stuff like that, just find what you like. As far as my own tastes go, I found that I ended up enjoying some of the nicer frozen skillet dinners. It's "cooking" but very easy. Try some Bertolli skillet dinners, which are a breeze to make, and if you put half of them in tupperware right out of the skillet, you don't eat the whole thing, and you've got tomorrow's lunch. Then once you get out of the habit of eating out, you can slowly move to more custom cooking - a bag of frozen veggies and a bag of instant-steamed microwave rice with some olive oil. Then start trying out different ways of cooking chicken, then try boiling your own rice and grilling some carrots and cauliflower and asparagus, and eventually you can make something that you honestly wouldn't mind serving to your mom.
Sorry to be so long-winded about this, but like I said, this is something I've gone through personally and still sometimes lapse back into. Taking care of yourself isn't easy, especially when you're a bachelor and nobody's there to look in your fridge and mock you for having 20 boxes of HotPockets and frozen pizza and Mountain Dews. It can be hard to get your motivation, but eventually you'll get tired of eating shit 7 days a week. Baby steps, man, baby steps.
There's also a large degree of experimenting you should do, where you'll buy stuff but find you don't like it. Don't feel bad about wasting stuff like that, just find what you like. As far as my own tastes go, I found that I ended up enjoying some of the nicer frozen skillet dinners. It's "cooking" but very easy. Try some Bertolli skillet dinners, which are a breeze to make, and if you put half of them in tupperware right out of the skillet, you don't eat the whole thing, and you've got tomorrow's lunch. Then once you get out of the habit of eating out, you can slowly move to more custom cooking - a bag of frozen veggies and a bag of instant-steamed microwave rice with some olive oil. Then start trying out different ways of cooking chicken, then try boiling your own rice and grilling some carrots and cauliflower and asparagus, and eventually you can make something that you honestly wouldn't mind serving to your mom.
Sorry to be so long-winded about this, but like I said, this is something I've gone through personally and still sometimes lapse back into. Taking care of yourself isn't easy, especially when you're a bachelor and nobody's there to look in your fridge and mock you for having 20 boxes of HotPockets and frozen pizza and Mountain Dews. It can be hard to get your motivation, but eventually you'll get tired of eating shit 7 days a week.
Baby steps, man, baby steps.TRENDING THREADS
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