Spending on Takeout/Delivery

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how people eat out so much.

Eating out 2-3x a month, ok. But getting takeout constantly? Just cook something simple at home. Make a lot. Eat leftovers.

The internet makes it seem like you need to eat a new/fun meal all the time, but you really don't. That shit is also terrible for your health, as well as your wallet.

When you and your spouse work 60+ hours a week, every minute not spent working is precious. And if you have a job where you're always on call, it can be really challenging to even make the weekly plan where you take inventory of what you have, build a shopping list, and procure the groceries.

I cook only 1-2 days per week. On Sunday, I do a big batch recipe that serves as lunches during the week. I also often cook on Friday night. The other nights are takeout or the healthy meal service I use.

Food prep is hard. Even simple, balanced meals require a good amount of labor. Making my own food is very low on my priority list when I have so much else going on.

Making pasta with meat sauce takes not that much longer than entering a door dash order and throwing away the massive pile of packaging. Or something like baked potato and pork loin is even faster.

But more importantly that much takeout is really unhealthy. If my spouse and I both worked that much I would use the money to hire cook.

a) Pasta with meat sauce isn't very healthy.
b) They take a hell of a lot longer and require more planning than order DD.
c) I will do some of these "quick cook" meals occasionally, but, often, premartinated meat isn't great health wise and still ends up requiring cooking a veggies, which often requires chopping, pots and pans, and sufficient advanced planning if you want to use fresh veggies.
d) You can order healthy DoorDash? You can also cook crap at home.
e) The 3x a week meal service is paying for cooking at home. We don't make private chef money (I priced it out), even with long hours, but we can swing this healthy meal service that's $25/meal.

Most takeaways and Uber eats is unhealthier than cooking a typical meal at home. It's not difficult to make basic simple meals. People just crave sugar and fat and salt. It's glorified junk food. Yes, you can order a salad but that is not what most people are doing.

When people say they are too busy to cook, that isn't true. Many people work full time, raise kids, and still cook every night. You just chose not to cook probably because you don't like cooking or can't be bothered to be disciplined about it. That’s fine. I am not judging you. But it is a conscious choice to spend money on takeaways and deliveries, and the vast majority will not be as healthy as what you can make at home. Restaurants amp up the salt/sugar/fat versus the equivalent you could make at home. Including pastas.

You’re not a morally superior person for preferring to cook (and yes, you’re acting that way despite claiming you’re “not judging”). I could absolutely eat only home cooked food if I wanted. It would also mean approximately 25-50% of my time spent not working during the week would be taken up by cooking. No, that’s not worth it to me. My free time is precious.

I can and do prioritize eating healthy foods and exercising (a good chunk of my non working time is devoted to exercise). I am selective about where I order delivery from. Sweetgreen, CAVA, and other Mediterranean spots are big contenders. Restaurants are as variable in quality as the food we make at home. And for the meal service I use, I get full nutritional info. I specifically chose this local service because the sodium content is not elevated like with Factor or similar national services.

And to your point that most people work full-time, raise kids, and cook at home, that’s absolutely not true in dual big law attorney households. The hours are extreme, and very few people with kids are devoting their free time to daily scratch cooking. Most rely on take out, hired help, meal delivery, or a combination.

I also exercise 5 days a week, too. I probably spend as much time at the gym as I do cooking altogether. I'm just disciplined about it. The difference is that I enjoy cooking, and you don't, so you don't prioritize it. I do understand, I come from a family that employed cooks in previous generations. It is very easy and in many cases, quick to cook healthily at home. Simple roast chicken with a green salad, easy easy. What amused me was some of the implications in your posts. Most people who order takeaways regularly are eating more unhealthy than a family who cooks every night. We can twist it and show the exceptions, and, sure they exist. But whatever strategy you managed to make work for yourself isn't going to be applicable to most people who rely on Uber eats or doordash.

Or, you know, theory of mind and all

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how people eat out so much.

Eating out 2-3x a month, ok. But getting takeout constantly? Just cook something simple at home. Make a lot. Eat leftovers.

The internet makes it seem like you need to eat a new/fun meal all the time, but you really don't. That shit is also terrible for your health, as well as your wallet.

When you and your spouse work 60+ hours a week, every minute not spent working is precious. And if you have a job where you're always on call, it can be really challenging to even make the weekly plan where you take inventory of what you have, build a shopping list, and procure the groceries.

I cook only 1-2 days per week. On Sunday, I do a big batch recipe that serves as lunches during the week. I also often cook on Friday night. The other nights are takeout or the healthy meal service I use.

Food prep is hard. Even simple, balanced meals require a good amount of labor. Making my own food is very low on my priority list when I have so much else going on.

Making pasta with meat sauce takes not that much longer than entering a door dash order and throwing away the massive pile of packaging. Or something like baked potato and pork loin is even faster.

But more importantly that much takeout is really unhealthy. If my spouse and I both worked that much I would use the money to hire cook.

a) Pasta with meat sauce isn't very healthy.
b) They take a hell of a lot longer and require more planning than order DD.
c) I will do some of these "quick cook" meals occasionally, but, often, premartinated meat isn't great health wise and still ends up requiring cooking a veggies, which often requires chopping, pots and pans, and sufficient advanced planning if you want to use fresh veggies.
d) You can order healthy DoorDash? You can also cook crap at home.
e) The 3x a week meal service is paying for cooking at home. We don't make private chef money (I priced it out), even with long hours, but we can swing this healthy meal service that's $25/meal.

Most takeaways and Uber eats is unhealthier than cooking a typical meal at home. It's not difficult to make basic simple meals. People just crave sugar and fat and salt. It's glorified junk food. Yes, you can order a salad but that is not what most people are doing.

When people say they are too busy to cook, that isn't true. Many people work full time, raise kids, and still cook every night. You just chose not to cook probably because you don't like cooking or can't be bothered to be disciplined about it. That’s fine. I am not judging you. But it is a conscious choice to spend money on takeaways and deliveries, and the vast majority will not be as healthy as what you can make at home. Restaurants amp up the salt/sugar/fat versus the equivalent you could make at home. Including pastas.

You’re not a morally superior person for preferring to cook (and yes, you’re acting that way despite claiming you’re “not judging”). I could absolutely eat only home cooked food if I wanted. It would also mean approximately 25-50% of my time spent not working during the week would be taken up by cooking. No, that’s not worth it to me. My free time is precious.

I can and do prioritize eating healthy foods and exercising (a good chunk of my non working time is devoted to exercise). I am selective about where I order delivery from. Sweetgreen, CAVA, and other Mediterranean spots are big contenders. Restaurants are as variable in quality as the food we make at home. And for the meal service I use, I get full nutritional info. I specifically chose this local service because the sodium content is not elevated like with Factor or similar national services.

And to your point that most people work full-time, raise kids, and cook at home, that’s absolutely not true in dual big law attorney households. The hours are extreme, and very few people with kids are devoting their free time to daily scratch cooking. Most rely on take out, hired help, meal delivery, or a combination.

I also exercise 5 days a week, too. I probably spend as much time at the gym as I do cooking altogether. I'm just disciplined about it. The difference is that I enjoy cooking, and you don't, so you don't prioritize it. I do understand, I come from a family that employed cooks in previous generations. It is very easy and in many cases, quick to cook healthily at home. Simple roast chicken with a green salad, easy easy. What amused me was some of the implications in your posts. Most people who order takeaways regularly are eating more unhealthy than a family who cooks every night. We can twist it and show the exceptions, and, sure they exist. But whatever strategy you managed to make work for yourself isn't going to be applicable to most people who rely on Uber eats or doordash.

It’s literally not easy. You need to procure the food, manage expiration, season, monitor while in the oven. Chop all the veggies for the salad. Make the dressing (unless you want to buy premade dressing with extra sugar and salt). When you don’t get home from the office until 7:30 and are on call until 10:30 or 11, roasting a chicken is not something you can reliably do while eating at a remotely reasonable hour.

For me, cooking is a chore, and it’s one of the harder chores for me to do because of time restrictions and the advanced planning required. I can clean my toilet at 10:30 pm.

Maybe instead of deciding that I’m some sort of edge case, you recognize that your personal experience isn’t universal. Not everyone has the time at home that you have. Not everyone who cooks at home eats healthfully. Not everyone who orders takeout gets garbage food.

We all have different constraints. Most people can be happy and healthy within those.

You aren’t morally superior, “more disciplined,” or healthier just because you cook at home (though you definitely spend less on food). You have a different set of circumstances than others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how people eat out so much.

Eating out 2-3x a month, ok. But getting takeout constantly? Just cook something simple at home. Make a lot. Eat leftovers.

The internet makes it seem like you need to eat a new/fun meal all the time, but you really don't. That shit is also terrible for your health, as well as your wallet.

When you and your spouse work 60+ hours a week, every minute not spent working is precious. And if you have a job where you're always on call, it can be really challenging to even make the weekly plan where you take inventory of what you have, build a shopping list, and procure the groceries.

I cook only 1-2 days per week. On Sunday, I do a big batch recipe that serves as lunches during the week. I also often cook on Friday night. The other nights are takeout or the healthy meal service I use.

Food prep is hard. Even simple, balanced meals require a good amount of labor. Making my own food is very low on my priority list when I have so much else going on.

Making pasta with meat sauce takes not that much longer than entering a door dash order and throwing away the massive pile of packaging. Or something like baked potato and pork loin is even faster.

But more importantly that much takeout is really unhealthy. If my spouse and I both worked that much I would use the money to hire cook.

a) Pasta with meat sauce isn't very healthy.
b) They take a hell of a lot longer and require more planning than order DD.
c) I will do some of these "quick cook" meals occasionally, but, often, premartinated meat isn't great health wise and still ends up requiring cooking a veggies, which often requires chopping, pots and pans, and sufficient advanced planning if you want to use fresh veggies.
d) You can order healthy DoorDash? You can also cook crap at home.
e) The 3x a week meal service is paying for cooking at home. We don't make private chef money (I priced it out), even with long hours, but we can swing this healthy meal service that's $25/meal.

Most takeaways and Uber eats is unhealthier than cooking a typical meal at home. It's not difficult to make basic simple meals. People just crave sugar and fat and salt. It's glorified junk food. Yes, you can order a salad but that is not what most people are doing.

When people say they are too busy to cook, that isn't true. Many people work full time, raise kids, and still cook every night. You just chose not to cook probably because you don't like cooking or can't be bothered to be disciplined about it. That’s fine. I am not judging you. But it is a conscious choice to spend money on takeaways and deliveries, and the vast majority will not be as healthy as what you can make at home. Restaurants amp up the salt/sugar/fat versus the equivalent you could make at home. Including pastas.

You’re not a morally superior person for preferring to cook (and yes, you’re acting that way despite claiming you’re “not judging”). I could absolutely eat only home cooked food if I wanted. It would also mean approximately 25-50% of my time spent not working during the week would be taken up by cooking. No, that’s not worth it to me. My free time is precious.

I can and do prioritize eating healthy foods and exercising (a good chunk of my non working time is devoted to exercise). I am selective about where I order delivery from. Sweetgreen, CAVA, and other Mediterranean spots are big contenders. Restaurants are as variable in quality as the food we make at home. And for the meal service I use, I get full nutritional info. I specifically chose this local service because the sodium content is not elevated like with Factor or similar national services.

And to your point that most people work full-time, raise kids, and cook at home, that’s absolutely not true in dual big law attorney households. The hours are extreme, and very few people with kids are devoting their free time to daily scratch cooking. Most rely on take out, hired help, meal delivery, or a combination.

I also exercise 5 days a week, too. I probably spend as much time at the gym as I do cooking altogether. I'm just disciplined about it. The difference is that I enjoy cooking, and you don't, so you don't prioritize it. I do understand, I come from a family that employed cooks in previous generations. It is very easy and in many cases, quick to cook healthily at home. Simple roast chicken with a green salad, easy easy. What amused me was some of the implications in your posts. Most people who order takeaways regularly are eating more unhealthy than a family who cooks every night. We can twist it and show the exceptions, and, sure they exist. But whatever strategy you managed to make work for yourself isn't going to be applicable to most people who rely on Uber eats or doordash.

It’s literally not easy. You need to procure the food, manage expiration, season, monitor while in the oven. Chop all the veggies for the salad. Make the dressing (unless you want to buy premade dressing with extra sugar and salt). When you don’t get home from the office until 7:30 and are on call until 10:30 or 11, roasting a chicken is not something you can reliably do while eating at a remotely reasonable hour.

For me, cooking is a chore, and it’s one of the harder chores for me to do because of time restrictions and the advanced planning required. I can clean my toilet at 10:30 pm.

Maybe instead of deciding that I’m some sort of edge case, you recognize that your personal experience isn’t universal. Not everyone has the time at home that you have. Not everyone who cooks at home eats healthfully. Not everyone who orders takeout gets garbage food.

We all have different constraints. Most people can be happy and healthy within those.

You aren’t morally superior, “more disciplined,” or healthier just because you cook at home (though you definitely spend less on food). You have a different set of circumstances than others.

Agree. And for me, there's just this stress of doing this night and after night for 4 people and dealing with questions of when we're eating because I'm running late because chopping took longer than anticipated. We share chores and I actually enjoy cooking, just not the nightly stress. We try to cook enough to have leftovers, but given how much teens and preteens eat, it's getting hard to have them last more than 2-3 days. We're trying to eat out less, but it's definitely a struggle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how people eat out so much.

Eating out 2-3x a month, ok. But getting takeout constantly? Just cook something simple at home. Make a lot. Eat leftovers.

The internet makes it seem like you need to eat a new/fun meal all the time, but you really don't. That shit is also terrible for your health, as well as your wallet.

When you and your spouse work 60+ hours a week, every minute not spent working is precious. And if you have a job where you're always on call, it can be really challenging to even make the weekly plan where you take inventory of what you have, build a shopping list, and procure the groceries.

I cook only 1-2 days per week. On Sunday, I do a big batch recipe that serves as lunches during the week. I also often cook on Friday night. The other nights are takeout or the healthy meal service I use.

Food prep is hard. Even simple, balanced meals require a good amount of labor. Making my own food is very low on my priority list when I have so much else going on.

Making pasta with meat sauce takes not that much longer than entering a door dash order and throwing away the massive pile of packaging. Or something like baked potato and pork loin is even faster.

But more importantly that much takeout is really unhealthy. If my spouse and I both worked that much I would use the money to hire cook.

a) Pasta with meat sauce isn't very healthy.
b) They take a hell of a lot longer and require more planning than order DD.
c) I will do some of these "quick cook" meals occasionally, but, often, premartinated meat isn't great health wise and still ends up requiring cooking a veggies, which often requires chopping, pots and pans, and sufficient advanced planning if you want to use fresh veggies.
d) You can order healthy DoorDash? You can also cook crap at home.
e) The 3x a week meal service is paying for cooking at home. We don't make private chef money (I priced it out), even with long hours, but we can swing this healthy meal service that's $25/meal.

Most takeaways and Uber eats is unhealthier than cooking a typical meal at home. It's not difficult to make basic simple meals. People just crave sugar and fat and salt. It's glorified junk food. Yes, you can order a salad but that is not what most people are doing.

When people say they are too busy to cook, that isn't true. Many people work full time, raise kids, and still cook every night. You just chose not to cook probably because you don't like cooking or can't be bothered to be disciplined about it. That’s fine. I am not judging you. But it is a conscious choice to spend money on takeaways and deliveries, and the vast majority will not be as healthy as what you can make at home. Restaurants amp up the salt/sugar/fat versus the equivalent you could make at home. Including pastas.

You’re not a morally superior person for preferring to cook (and yes, you’re acting that way despite claiming you’re “not judging”). I could absolutely eat only home cooked food if I wanted. It would also mean approximately 25-50% of my time spent not working during the week would be taken up by cooking. No, that’s not worth it to me. My free time is precious.

I can and do prioritize eating healthy foods and exercising (a good chunk of my non working time is devoted to exercise). I am selective about where I order delivery from. Sweetgreen, CAVA, and other Mediterranean spots are big contenders. Restaurants are as variable in quality as the food we make at home. And for the meal service I use, I get full nutritional info. I specifically chose this local service because the sodium content is not elevated like with Factor or similar national services.

And to your point that most people work full-time, raise kids, and cook at home, that’s absolutely not true in dual big law attorney households. The hours are extreme, and very few people with kids are devoting their free time to daily scratch cooking. Most rely on take out, hired help, meal delivery, or a combination.

I also exercise 5 days a week, too. I probably spend as much time at the gym as I do cooking altogether. I'm just disciplined about it. The difference is that I enjoy cooking, and you don't, so you don't prioritize it. I do understand, I come from a family that employed cooks in previous generations. It is very easy and in many cases, quick to cook healthily at home. Simple roast chicken with a green salad, easy easy. What amused me was some of the implications in your posts. Most people who order takeaways regularly are eating more unhealthy than a family who cooks every night. We can twist it and show the exceptions, and, sure they exist. But whatever strategy you managed to make work for yourself isn't going to be applicable to most people who rely on Uber eats or doordash.

It’s literally not easy. You need to procure the food, manage expiration, season, monitor while in the oven. Chop all the veggies for the salad. Make the dressing (unless you want to buy premade dressing with extra sugar and salt). When you don’t get home from the office until 7:30 and are on call until 10:30 or 11, roasting a chicken is not something you can reliably do while eating at a remotely reasonable hour.

For me, cooking is a chore, and it’s one of the harder chores for me to do because of time restrictions and the advanced planning required. I can clean my toilet at 10:30 pm.

Maybe instead of deciding that I’m some sort of edge case, you recognize that your personal experience isn’t universal. Not everyone has the time at home that you have. Not everyone who cooks at home eats healthfully. Not everyone who orders takeout gets garbage food.

We all have different constraints. Most people can be happy and healthy within those.

You aren’t morally superior, “more disciplined,” or healthier just because you cook at home (though you definitely spend less on food). You have a different set of circumstances than others.

Agree. And for me, there's just this stress of doing this night and after night for 4 people and dealing with questions of when we're eating because I'm running late because chopping took longer than anticipated. We share chores and I actually enjoy cooking, just not the nightly stress. We try to cook enough to have leftovers, but given how much teens and preteens eat, it's getting hard to have them last more than 2-3 days. We're trying to eat out less, but it's definitely a struggle.

+100. So many things can derail the cooking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how people eat out so much.

Eating out 2-3x a month, ok. But getting takeout constantly? Just cook something simple at home. Make a lot. Eat leftovers.

The internet makes it seem like you need to eat a new/fun meal all the time, but you really don't. That shit is also terrible for your health, as well as your wallet.

When you and your spouse work 60+ hours a week, every minute not spent working is precious. And if you have a job where you're always on call, it can be really challenging to even make the weekly plan where you take inventory of what you have, build a shopping list, and procure the groceries.

I cook only 1-2 days per week. On Sunday, I do a big batch recipe that serves as lunches during the week. I also often cook on Friday night. The other nights are takeout or the healthy meal service I use.

Food prep is hard. Even simple, balanced meals require a good amount of labor. Making my own food is very low on my priority list when I have so much else going on.

Making pasta with meat sauce takes not that much longer than entering a door dash order and throwing away the massive pile of packaging. Or something like baked potato and pork loin is even faster.

But more importantly that much takeout is really unhealthy. If my spouse and I both worked that much I would use the money to hire cook.

DP, but you're not including the time it takes to grocery shop too. I'm not a big delivery person, but to say that cooking takes the same amt of time is just factually false.

[Anonymous]

We get takeout 1-2 nights a week, but typically pick it up rather than Doordash.

I am a widow with two teenagers and I hate to cook.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how people eat out so much.

Eating out 2-3x a month, ok. But getting takeout constantly? Just cook something simple at home. Make a lot. Eat leftovers.

The internet makes it seem like you need to eat a new/fun meal all the time, but you really don't. That shit is also terrible for your health, as well as your wallet.

When you and your spouse work 60+ hours a week, every minute not spent working is precious. And if you have a job where you're always on call, it can be really challenging to even make the weekly plan where you take inventory of what you have, build a shopping list, and procure the groceries.

I cook only 1-2 days per week. On Sunday, I do a big batch recipe that serves as lunches during the week. I also often cook on Friday night. The other nights are takeout or the healthy meal service I use.

Food prep is hard. Even simple, balanced meals require a good amount of labor. Making my own food is very low on my priority list when I have so much else going on.

Making pasta with meat sauce takes not that much longer than entering a door dash order and throwing away the massive pile of packaging. Or something like baked potato and pork loin is even faster.

But more importantly that much takeout is really unhealthy. If my spouse and I both worked that much I would use the money to hire cook.

a) Pasta with meat sauce isn't very healthy.
b) They take a hell of a lot longer and require more planning than order DD.
c) I will do some of these "quick cook" meals occasionally, but, often, premartinated meat isn't great health wise and still ends up requiring cooking a veggies, which often requires chopping, pots and pans, and sufficient advanced planning if you want to use fresh veggies.
d) You can order healthy DoorDash? You can also cook crap at home.
e) The 3x a week meal service is paying for cooking at home. We don't make private chef money (I priced it out), even with long hours, but we can swing this healthy meal service that's $25/meal.

Most takeaways and Uber eats is unhealthier than cooking a typical meal at home. It's not difficult to make basic simple meals. People just crave sugar and fat and salt. It's glorified junk food. Yes, you can order a salad but that is not what most people are doing.

When people say they are too busy to cook, that isn't true. Many people work full time, raise kids, and still cook every night. You just chose not to cook probably because you don't like cooking or can't be bothered to be disciplined about it. That’s fine. I am not judging you. But it is a conscious choice to spend money on takeaways and deliveries, and the vast majority will not be as healthy as what you can make at home. Restaurants amp up the salt/sugar/fat versus the equivalent you could make at home. Including pastas.

You absolutely are judging.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have literally never paid for food delivery in 10 years time. I do pick up take out once or twice a week. For a famoly of 3 its usually $40ish.

Paying for food delivery is so wild to me. Why?? Why cant you just go pick it up? Such a waste.

Some people are short on time, or their time is worth more than driving to the restaurant to pick up.

I refuse to believe this is the majority of people. We live 5 minutes from many take out places. You can order online and swing by on your way home. Unless you live 30 minutes away and arent going anywhere in the vicinity, its really not about time.

[Anonymous]

I never ever get delivery.

I used to own several restaurants. No matter how many times I and the managers would attempt to train the kitchen staff, someone invariably does lazy, mean or stupid things.

Not just the obvious of using food dropped on the floor or using items that are partly spoiled or contaminated with rat feces etc. I Chaulk it up to them being lazy and tired after busy days. It's the mean ones that Urk me. We've caught cooks literally spitting, peeing and once even putting poop in the food just because they didn't think they were being watched by cameras. It seems the more autonomy they're given, the more they do stupid and disgusting things. I used to think this kind of thing was done because they're not very bright and have a bone to pick with people that are financially better off than them. Nope, after hospital stays, even better paid healthcare workers do stupid things. I think there is just something wrong with some people.

There is no way in H E double L I'm going to ever trust a delivery driver that potentially is upset over tips for the night.

[Anonymous]

Never, ever order delivery. Ever.

I am a single empty nester, make $125k, and my fixed bills are too high (and increasing!). Spending $42 all-in on a delivery hummus bowl is not something I can do comfortably.

As a single, I have the luxury of eating yogurt, fruit and nuts for dinner if I Don’t Feel Like Cooking. Which is most days. Or an almond butter sandwich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t like eating in full service restaurants because trying to make eye contact with a busy server when you need something just sucks. Say what you want about Panera or Chipotle, but at least I know I can get a refill any time I want. That’s worth a lot to me.

And I don’t do delivery services because I hate the stress and guilt of not knowing whether you’ve tipped enough. Why put yourself through this if you don’t have to?

Just tip 15% for delivery - why are you stressing about this? It's not stressful at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how people eat out so much.

Eating out 2-3x a month, ok. But getting takeout constantly? Just cook something simple at home. Make a lot. Eat leftovers.

The internet makes it seem like you need to eat a new/fun meal all the time, but you really don't. That shit is also terrible for your health, as well as your wallet.

When you and your spouse work 60+ hours a week, every minute not spent working is precious. And if you have a job where you're always on call, it can be really challenging to even make the weekly plan where you take inventory of what you have, build a shopping list, and procure the groceries.

I cook only 1-2 days per week. On Sunday, I do a big batch recipe that serves as lunches during the week. I also often cook on Friday night. The other nights are takeout or the healthy meal service I use.

Food prep is hard. Even simple, balanced meals require a good amount of labor. Making my own food is very low on my priority list when I have so much else going on.

Making pasta with meat sauce takes not that much longer than entering a door dash order and throwing away the massive pile of packaging. Or something like baked potato and pork loin is even faster.

But more importantly that much takeout is really unhealthy. If my spouse and I both worked that much I would use the money to hire cook.

a) Pasta with meat sauce isn't very healthy.
b) They take a hell of a lot longer and require more planning than order DD.
c) I will do some of these "quick cook" meals occasionally, but, often, premartinated meat isn't great health wise and still ends up requiring cooking a veggies, which often requires chopping, pots and pans, and sufficient advanced planning if you want to use fresh veggies.
d) You can order healthy DoorDash? You can also cook crap at home.
e) The 3x a week meal service is paying for cooking at home. We don't make private chef money (I priced it out), even with long hours, but we can swing this healthy meal service that's $25/meal.

I'd be very interested to hear what you consider a healthy homecooked meal and a healthy DoorDash meal. I'm not being passive aggressive, to me its wild to think that pasta with meat sauce isn't healthy when compared to delivery. Interested in your perspective.

Jarred pasta sauce, pasta, and ground beef aren’t great. They’re not the worst, but red meat is inflammatory and high in saturated fat. Jarred pasta sauce often (not always) has added sugar and high sodium content. Pasta is refined carb.

A hummus bowl with roasted eggplant and cauliflower is a lot healthier. Than a spaghetti with meat sauce meal. I get hummus bowls all the time.

To be clear, I eat pasta and jarred sauce from time to time because it’s an easy cheap meal. But it’s not a meal I feel awesome about and like to have more occasionally than as a weekly rotation. In contrast, one of my typical Sunday home cooked meals is a slow cooker lentil soup with kale, which is the type of home-cooked food I prefer to eat for health content.

NP. The jarred sauce I buy has zero added sugar. I specifically taste-tested like six different jars without sugar to find what I liked. I buy Goodles pasta or Barilla Protein Pasta. We use the chopped meat that's like 94% fat free from Trader Joe's. We add veggies to our meatsauce and pasta. So sure, there are way to eat this unhealthily, but don't assume everyone is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never, ever order delivery. Ever.

I am a single empty nester, make $125k, and my fixed bills are too high (and increasing!). Spending $42 all-in on a delivery hummus bowl is not something I can do comfortably.

As a single, I have the luxury of eating yogurt, fruit and nuts for dinner if I Don’t Feel Like Cooking. Which is most days. Or an almond butter sandwich.

I'm single too, and my dinner last night was granola with banana, and mixed nuts. Another night it was an apple and peanut butter pretzels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how people eat out so much.

Eating out 2-3x a month, ok. But getting takeout constantly? Just cook something simple at home. Make a lot. Eat leftovers.

The internet makes it seem like you need to eat a new/fun meal all the time, but you really don't. That shit is also terrible for your health, as well as your wallet.

When you and your spouse work 60+ hours a week, every minute not spent working is precious. And if you have a job where you're always on call, it can be really challenging to even make the weekly plan where you take inventory of what you have, build a shopping list, and procure the groceries.

I cook only 1-2 days per week. On Sunday, I do a big batch recipe that serves as lunches during the week. I also often cook on Friday night. The other nights are takeout or the healthy meal service I use.

Food prep is hard. Even simple, balanced meals require a good amount of labor. Making my own food is very low on my priority list when I have so much else going on.

Making pasta with meat sauce takes not that much longer than entering a door dash order and throwing away the massive pile of packaging. Or something like baked potato and pork loin is even faster.

But more importantly that much takeout is really unhealthy. If my spouse and I both worked that much I would use the money to hire cook.

a) Pasta with meat sauce isn't very healthy.
b) They take a hell of a lot longer and require more planning than order DD.
c) I will do some of these "quick cook" meals occasionally, but, often, premartinated meat isn't great health wise and still ends up requiring cooking a veggies, which often requires chopping, pots and pans, and sufficient advanced planning if you want to use fresh veggies.
d) You can order healthy DoorDash? You can also cook crap at home.
e) The 3x a week meal service is paying for cooking at home. We don't make private chef money (I priced it out), even with long hours, but we can swing this healthy meal service that's $25/meal.

I'd be very interested to hear what you consider a healthy homecooked meal and a healthy DoorDash meal. I'm not being passive aggressive, to me its wild to think that pasta with meat sauce isn't healthy when compared to delivery. Interested in your perspective.

Jarred pasta sauce, pasta, and ground beef aren’t great. They’re not the worst, but red meat is inflammatory and high in saturated fat. Jarred pasta sauce often (not always) has added sugar and high sodium content. Pasta is refined carb.

A hummus bowl with roasted eggplant and cauliflower is a lot healthier. Than a spaghetti with meat sauce meal. I get hummus bowls all the time.

To be clear, I eat pasta and jarred sauce from time to time because it’s an easy cheap meal. But it’s not a meal I feel awesome about and like to have more occasionally than as a weekly rotation. In contrast, one of my typical Sunday home cooked meals is a slow cooker lentil soup with kale, which is the type of home-cooked food I prefer to eat for health content.

NP. The jarred sauce I buy has zero added sugar. I specifically taste-tested like six different jars without sugar to find what I liked. I buy Goodles pasta or Barilla Protein Pasta. We use the chopped meat that's like 94% fat free from Trader Joe's. We add veggies to our meatsauce and pasta. So sure, there are way to eat this unhealthily, but don't assume everyone is.

This is exactly my point though. Cooking can be healthy or unhealthy and so can takeout.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how people eat out so much.

Eating out 2-3x a month, ok. But getting takeout constantly? Just cook something simple at home. Make a lot. Eat leftovers.

The internet makes it seem like you need to eat a new/fun meal all the time, but you really don't. That shit is also terrible for your health, as well as your wallet.

When you and your spouse work 60+ hours a week, every minute not spent working is precious. And if you have a job where you're always on call, it can be really challenging to even make the weekly plan where you take inventory of what you have, build a shopping list, and procure the groceries.

I cook only 1-2 days per week. On Sunday, I do a big batch recipe that serves as lunches during the week. I also often cook on Friday night. The other nights are takeout or the healthy meal service I use.

Food prep is hard. Even simple, balanced meals require a good amount of labor. Making my own food is very low on my priority list when I have so much else going on.

Making pasta with meat sauce takes not that much longer than entering a door dash order and throwing away the massive pile of packaging. Or something like baked potato and pork loin is even faster.

But more importantly that much takeout is really unhealthy. If my spouse and I both worked that much I would use the money to hire cook.

a) Pasta with meat sauce isn't very healthy.
b) They take a hell of a lot longer and require more planning than order DD.
c) I will do some of these "quick cook" meals occasionally, but, often, premartinated meat isn't great health wise and still ends up requiring cooking a veggies, which often requires chopping, pots and pans, and sufficient advanced planning if you want to use fresh veggies.
d) You can order healthy DoorDash? You can also cook crap at home.
e) The 3x a week meal service is paying for cooking at home. We don't make private chef money (I priced it out), even with long hours, but we can swing this healthy meal service that's $25/meal.

Most takeaways and Uber eats is unhealthier than cooking a typical meal at home. It's not difficult to make basic simple meals. People just crave sugar and fat and salt. It's glorified junk food. Yes, you can order a salad but that is not what most people are doing.

When people say they are too busy to cook, that isn't true. Many people work full time, raise kids, and still cook every night. You just chose not to cook probably because you don't like cooking or can't be bothered to be disciplined about it. That’s fine. I am not judging you. But it is a conscious choice to spend money on takeaways and deliveries, and the vast majority will not be as healthy as what you can make at home. Restaurants amp up the salt/sugar/fat versus the equivalent you could make at home. Including pastas.

You’re not a morally superior person for preferring to cook (and yes, you’re acting that way despite claiming you’re “not judging”). I could absolutely eat only home cooked food if I wanted. It would also mean approximately 25-50% of my time spent not working during the week would be taken up by cooking. No, that’s not worth it to me. My free time is precious.

I can and do prioritize eating healthy foods and exercising (a good chunk of my non working time is devoted to exercise). I am selective about where I order delivery from. Sweetgreen, CAVA, and other Mediterranean spots are big contenders. Restaurants are as variable in quality as the food we make at home. And for the meal service I use, I get full nutritional info. I specifically chose this local service because the sodium content is not elevated like with Factor or similar national services.

And to your point that most people work full-time, raise kids, and cook at home, that’s absolutely not true in dual big law attorney households. The hours are extreme, and very few people with kids are devoting their free time to daily scratch cooking. Most rely on take out, hired help, meal delivery, or a combination.

Can you share the name of your local meal service?