When Eating out becomes Cheaper than Eating In
Wow! I went to Sam’s Club today and I was taken aback - really flabbergasted by the prices I had seen. Pork and beef products were all more than $4.00 a pound; the baby bark ribs were over $6.00 a pound. So I began to ponder, at this juncture in our economy, is eating out cheaper than eating in?
We have all heard of the stories: COSTCO rationing out the amount of rice that customers could purchase, the all time high prices of corn, eggs and milk (three of the most widely used ingredients) and the effect of high gas prices on the average Joe.
I said to myself, that my family and I should start eating out less; then I thought of this Chinese restaurant down the street (Huntsville, Alabama). My wife and I had been there just a couple days earlier. We paid $14.90 total for two ALL YOU CAN EAT buffet with so many times of vegetables, ( broccoli and beef is my favorite) chicken, beef, shrimp and host of other foods. 
I kept thinking if we had bought the meat at Sam’s at around $4.00 a pound, add rice, vegetables and seasoning to it, would we be better off than eating at that Chinese restaurant? When you factor in the electricity to keep the stove going and the time, about an hour and a half to cook, would it have been more expensive than that impressive buffet at the Chinese restaurant for $6.95 a piece?
I think given the economy situation, we now need to reason whether eating out is less expensive than eating in. What do you think? I would love to hear some comment on this topic. Perhaps, you know of some place I could get some free coupon.
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