My blood boils thinking about this subject.  I can’t even believe how much people eat out.  I’m not talking just New Yorkers; I’ve got relatives in California who eat out constantly.  They’re all good cooks; there’s plenty of good food in the cupboards.  But no.  They’ll hit the road for some Applebees 5 nights a week.  My friends, co-workers and clients almost never cook.  When I was growing up, mom cooked dinner every, single night.  Every night we sat around the dinner table (and mom even worked a full-time job).  So it’s appalling to me that families–even couples–don’t do that.  I don’t care that we live in New York and that our apartments are small.  That’s no excuse to not cook in.  Don’t know how to cook?  Well get off your lazy butt and learn.  Take a class.  Read a book.  

Let’s think first of how much money you’re spending a day or a week on eating out or ordering in.  My friend, who owns a clothing store in SOHO spends approx $40 a day on food.  Ok.  So, let’s do a little math…x’s that by 5, take the square root, divided that by the reciprocal, carry the one, move the decimal and you’ve got…$1200 a month on food.  Holy Moly!  Sweet Jesus in heaven!  That’s a lot of money!  Now, take me, for example.  Do you know how much I spend on food?  $32 a week.  That’s all my groceries cost me.  Give or take $5 here and there for some fresh fruit off the street but there’s a big difference between $1200 and $128.  

So, now you’re gonna tell me you don’t have time to make your lunch.  First of all, don’t ever tell me you don’t have time for anything cause it’s not a pretty sight watching Code Red’s head explode.  There’s nothing I hate worse that hearing that.  It’s all a matter of priorities.  MAKE THE TIME.  Take the extra 15 minutes in the morning to throw a lunch together.  It’s not rocket science, people.  It’s a sandwich.  It’s a piece of fruit.  It’s a yogurt.  It goes in a bag and you go to work.  Not hard.  Do it the night before even.  And last, eating your own food from home is so much healthier for you.  Your own fresh fruit and veggies are not processed like the chicken parm from the corner deli.  Your own food will be lower in sodium and smaller portions than what the restaurant will give you.  

All I’m asking you to do is try it for one month.  Heck!  Try it for one week!  Brown-bag it for lunch and make dinner at home for yourself.  It will make going out to a restaurant more special and more fun.  Save those occasions for a reward to yourself for saving so much money and calories.  I want to hear back from you how it goes!