OP, any time you spend not billing, is expensive for you.

Sleeping
Being with your kid
Commuting
Shopping
Vacationing
Having sex
Exercising
Using the bathroom.

You are actually very screwed.

I am not making any money as I am a SAHM. I am able to do a lot of work and activities that makes me happy but does not earn me any money. My hourly rate is $0

You should also do what makes you happy. Making money makes you happy so why are you cooking? Do the Math.

Anonymous wrote:You should hire someone to cook for you in your home.

OP here. Thanks for the idea! I will look into this.

Cooking at home isn’t cost effective if you do it as a one-off. The cheaper cost comes from being able to make large batches of things you like easily and quickly and buying the ingredients in bulk. And even then it’s probably not going to be savings to the tune of $625/hour. I cook because I enjoy it and because I make very simple meals mostly ones I’ve made often, it’s frankly easier than ordering out (which I do maybe four times a year and consequently find somewhat stressful).

I don’t make $625 per hour so cooking at home is certainly worth it for my family. And I enjoy cooking.
But if I were you OP I would throw money at the issue. You clearly work very hard at your job and understandably don’t want to slog in the kitchen after that. Restaurant meals are unhealthy on a regular basis. I would hire a private chef to cook meals according to your family’s taste.

OP, you sound like me, trying to find ways to justify going out or ordering food rather than cooking. I hate to cook. But I am finding there are fast and healthier options. You just have to get in the mindset, and get in the habit.

Eating healthy is an investment for the future, more important than $$ in 401K. It is cheap to be healthy. Restaurant food is not healthy, contains high sodium levels, saturated fat. For someone who makes $600+ an hour, saving money through cooking at home sounds a little silly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are so many ways to prep ahead, clean as you go, and generally make it easier for yourself. But if you are committed to not learning any of those techniques or skills and are instead convinced that cooking = making a huge mess and doing it all in the moment, then what is there to say?

For *you,* it does sound better to eat at a restaurant. For people willing to learn some basic skills, techniques, tips, and tricks, and put in some practice, it's well worth it--rewarding, satisfying, even--to cook at home.

OP here. Actually I do know how to cook. My mother taught me in my childhood in Europe, mostly French and Austrian dishes. Because she was busy working, as a teenager it was me who would cook for our family of four on a daily basis. I dare even say that I am an excellent cook. But I just do not enjoy it, and now that I am older, I tire more easily than in my youth.

OK, you’re perfect, got it. If your “kitchen is a mess” (your words) at the end of the meal prep, you’ve got a lot to learn, but OK. Eat your sodium-laden restaurant meals.

You should hire someone to cook for you in your home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I've been trying to persuade myself to cook more at home. But when I cook, it takes at least an hour to prepare a decent meal. I am alone in the kitchen and tired afterwards. Our child is not interested in cooking, so it is not a pleasant family moment of being together and teaching life skills.

Then the kitchen looks like a mess and I spend another 30 minutes cleaning up.

I am an attorney and work from home. My hourly rate is $625. I always have more than enough work. I keep thinking that instead of cooking I could have cleared $1000 during the same time. That is an expensive meal!

Driving to a restaurant and waiting for the food takes time, too, but we always have pleasant conversations in the car and at the table. So that, to me, would be much more worth it, even if I don't do billable work during that time.

From an economic point of view it seems to me that ordering in is the best option. Saves time, and I can get work done if I don't feel like driving to a restaurant.

What is your take on this?

If this is true and you could have actually billed during the time you were cooking, then it's a no-brainer. Order out or even pay someone to come home and cook for you. You may have to pay for 4 hours or so but they will cook at home and you freeze it and eat over the course of the week.

+1. If you can actually bill "cooking" time, then by all means eat out or hire a chef.

We decided not to go out to eat at all in September. We saved a lot of money and lost weight just by not eating out.

Anonymous wrote:There are so many ways to prep ahead, clean as you go, and generally make it easier for yourself. But if you are committed to not learning any of those techniques or skills and are instead convinced that cooking = making a huge mess and doing it all in the moment, then what is there to say?

For *you,* it does sound better to eat at a restaurant. For people willing to learn some basic skills, techniques, tips, and tricks, and put in some practice, it's well worth it--rewarding, satisfying, even--to cook at home.

OP here. Actually I do know how to cook. My mother taught me in my childhood in Europe, mostly French and Austrian dishes. Because she was busy working, as a teenager it was me who would cook for our family of four on a daily basis. I dare even say that I am an excellent cook. But I just do not enjoy it, and now that I am older, I tire more easily than in my youth.

I think you are a bad cook who doesn't know how to efficiently prepare a meal, and in your specific case, it is probably more cost effective to eat out.

I'm a good cook who can efficiently prepare a healthy meal in about 40 minutes, cleaning as I'm going so I don't have a pile of dishes to do at the end. My meal will have a lot more nutritional value than most restaurant meals, as well as a lot less sodium (though I do love to cook with butter, restaurants get that right). It will also cost a tiny fraction of most restaurant meals.

My family likely saves in the thousands every year on food because we cook a lot at home, meal prep, make large batches and eat leftovers, etc. But we like cooking, put effort into it, and know how to make really delicious food. If you don't, it might not work out that way for you.

Also, as a fellow lawyer, you need to stop valuing your time based on your billing rate. This is a childlike approach to life. Your billing rate reflects more than your time, for starters, and also there is more to life than how much a client is willing to pay you to do legal work for them. Please stop.

I cook most of our meals but the prep is maybe 15 minutes. Yes, it may take another 30-45 minutes but I’m not hard at work. Clean up? That’s my husbands job. Yes, you could use that time better to bill $1000 but how about spending it with your kid and husband. There are tons of quick meal cookbooks that can solve your problem and you should put your husband to work.

crock pot meals are easy, one pot to clean up afterwards. Or try a meal prep service company - faster to cook, less waste, no grocery shopping, and I'd expect healthier than eating out.

There are so many ways to prep ahead, clean as you go, and generally make it easier for yourself. But if you are committed to not learning any of those techniques or skills and are instead convinced that cooking = making a huge mess and doing it all in the moment, then what is there to say?

For *you,* it does sound better to eat at a restaurant. For people willing to learn some basic skills, techniques, tips, and tricks, and put in some practice, it's well worth it--rewarding, satisfying, even--to cook at home.