I'm amazed that with all the unemployment you still have to wait in line at a restaurant. I would think with this many people out of work, there would be lots of space at the diner.
You can go to these wide open places in strip centers, purchase raw meat, take it home and cook it. They're called grocery stores. Buying meals at a grocery store can save you up to 80%! Yes, you can fix meals at home for 20% of what it wouid cost you to dine out.
Take chicken. If you go to a warehouse club, such as Sam's, you'll pay about $2.00 a pound for skinned and boned chicken breasts. They're ready to put in the broiler. You can't eat a pound, you'll probaly eat a half-pound, which will cost you $1.00. I know, you're buying about six pounds when you purchase chicken breasts at Sam's, you just freeze the rest until you're ready to eat them. I prepare two or three at once, and only have to cook once for dinner the entire week. I like that. Oh, with spices and veggies and the electricity or the grill to cook the chicken, let's add in another $1.00, which is very generous for those items, making us up to a whopping $2.00.
Now let's say instead you go to Chili's and order the guiltless chicken, or whatever they're currently calling it. It's about $7.00, we're not going to order a drink because it's cheaper not to, and we didn't include it in the home version above; when you add tax and tip, you've shelled out about $10.00.
Didn't I tell you? You can save $8.00 or 80% by cooking at home. Think about this if you did this every night. Yes, we need to go out occasionally, but not every night. Yes, I realize the restaurant is procuring, preparing, delivering and cleaning up for you, but is it worth $8.00? Multiply the $8.00 by the number of people sitting at the table. What could you do with all that money?
I would like to hear from you; how many times a week do you go out for dinner? Do you think you could stay at home more often?