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OK. Can you please send me your bank account and credit card details so I can deposit the money? Poke tongue | ;-P

My bank doesn't handle such fiddling small change.

It's only you, because you're a notorious Danish spammer, I'm sure... Poke tongue | ;-P

Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
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I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Me, all the time

Why would a Dane spam when they have all that BACON?

veni bibi saltavi

Touché! Good observation! Laugh | :laugh:

Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
-
I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Me, all the time

I will be terrible at that then. I am hardly a regular poster.

Yes, it is a built in spam algorithm/software.

I'm sure you can submit a request to Bob to be added to the safe senders list, as I did.

I'm trying to do the sensible thing.

When you work at home, is it better to eat out every day ?

(Or, if not every day, most days.)

Since starting my work from home job, I have observed that I have spent as many as 60 hours without opening the door. During those times, I have slept less, slept far more irregularly, exercised less and exercised less regularly; i.e., all the bad things; and these behaviors have shown an absolutely singularly defining mark: working at home instead of a company owned building.

I did a little thinking, and I'm wondering if I am making up an excuse to be lazy and avoid the ancillary facets of a meal (also known as "work") or if this really is the cause of the problem (or at least a significantly contributing factor) and should be rectified by local restaurants.

Food via home cooking...

Internet shopping and comparison of local stores
Drive to grocery store(s)
Stalk the aisles
Stand in line to checkout
Load car
Drive back home
Unload car
Refrigerator space allocation

Those occur two or three times a week

Meal prep
Dishwasher and the dishes
Kitchen chores
Take out the trash

Those occur every day, sometimes twice

Now for...

Food via eating out...

Drive to restaurant
Order the meal, wait on the prep
Eat it
Pay
Leave and drive back home

From looking at those two lists, I see three factors that are about the same: Driving there, driving back, and the wait (the prep time is about equal to the checkout lane).

Have others here (others who have worked both traditionally, and from home) done a similar analysis ? If so, can you share knowledge gleaned from personal experience ?

I'm starting to wonder how much money I'm actually "saving" by doing all the work myself at home.

I would like to suggest a reference point salary of eight hundred dollars per week. I got that number from the U.S. Bureau Of Labor Statistics, HERE[^] While far from perfect, it's in the ballpark and close enough for this discussion.

If Joe Generalguy makes $800 a week, then how much is he "paying himself" by doing his own food as opposed to buying two burgers and fries out of his wages ?

More to the point: Does home food prep have any real payoff for work-at-home people ?

Simple.

Spend a week eating out and a week at home doing it self. Compare the costs. I suspect the second will be cheaper, but most of the time its not about money...

A sensible approach

What does the Mrs. think?

The Mrs. = {}

(i.e., the null set)

C-P, from this I assume you are single, from other posts I figure you are not a child programmer any more. I guess this is not about cost or even eating, it sounds like the lower level of social interaction caused by working from home is getting to you.

I had family around me when I worked from home so there was little peace and quiet. I had a rule that after dinner, fairly early with kids I did not work that evening. I have been known to plug in at 4 am though!

I would go with your first option, not for the cost saving but just to get out of the house and away from the blasted computer and work.

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH

Positive Resonance is occurring with much of what you have written. Thanks.

Smartest reply in this thread! Thumbs Up | :thumbsup:

Jeremy Falcon

Well he IS Sherlock's politically astute brother.

No he's the first self aware computer on the moon - Moon is a Harsh Mistress!

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH

I work from home, and live out in the boonies (southern Ohio). It's all remote office for us--other guys are in Wisconsin, and we've had Colorado developers on the line for a while.

For me, it's not a problem. I like being away from people, and my family is about all I need to interact with. On the other hand, Jeff (one of the bachelor cheese heads) got so starved for social interaction that he took a job as the night shift clerk at a liquor store. Because he was willing to work all sorts of odd hours and weekends, they were more than happy to accommodate him if project work took a weird turn for business travel.

Although, in most places, the statement "I'm taking a job at a liquor store for less than 1/3 my pay here" would seem strange or foreboding in most situations, I completely understood. He seemed pretty happy for a long time, until he finally got an offer to work for a local multinational in a traditional office.

Lesson for me: You do what it takes to make you happy. I'm happy being left alone, and Jeff was happier with people to talk to.

vuolsi così colà dove si puote
ciò che si vuole, e più non dimandare
--The answer to Minos and any question of "Why are we doing it this way?"

Assuming you are single, you can cook at at home during the week. Every day. Please do not develop habit of eating left overs or doing bulk cooking. Cooking everyday will give you a break from work. For weekends, you can set a day and time to buy groceries for the week (not online). And also have a schedule to socialize with people.

Money wise, I find eating out and cooking at home at par (depends on kind of restaurants you visit). However, quality wise, it may be better since you have control over raw materials. Also, if you are good cook, you might end up eating better tasting food and might even start enjoying cookery.

Time wise, if you stick to a schedule, there should be any problems. Western food in my opinion is quick to cook in comparison to Indian food. I would assume 20 minutes would be good enough to cook for one (?). In that case, you are spending 40 minutes cooking and might end up reducing your break times (if you take any) by at least some margin if not 40 minutes.

Here is a routine I would suggest:
1. Sunday morning: Buy groceries in person from nearby store.
2. Monday through Friday: Work with cooking lunch for yourself. I was flexible with cooking dinners and would aim to get it from a local cafe rather than a fast food place.
3. Saturday morning: Go out and do something that you like.
4. Saturday evening: Socialize.

I used to live like this and it was optimal for me.

d@nish wrote:
In that case, you are spending 40 minutes cooking

Way underestimated, big time. I'm thinking that you and I may have different ideas on dishes, kitchen, etc.

Perhaps you have a glass-top stove, in which case I'm highway green with jealousy.

I have one of those electric eye things; the fire hazard kind which attracts a mess as a result of one use.

It's generally 20 to 30 to prepare the meal, and 30 to 45 to clean up after it. Actually more, as the plates must come out of the dishwasher, the plastic stuff must be set out to dry off, etc., etc..

90 minutes is not out of the ballpark at all, and that really hits home; what with all the other thoughts folks here have tossed into the mix of thoughts. (Thanks, both you, d@nish, and a dozen others here)

I'm the master of the 20 minute meal (cook time). During cooking I normally have time to empty the dishwasher from the previous day and clean up any prep work mess. Now in fairness that's a two course meal. A meat and a vegetable and sometimes a starch. Maybe look to the crock pot meals and see if that helps. From my experience, it's cheaper to eat at home and much healthier. I don't know how it is for you, but I do find cooking cathartic, especially once you learn technique and throw away recipe cards. Smile | :)

I am also not living with my family and doing a job in a city which is not my hometown. For food i mostly go outside. I have tried to cook food by myself for a month in the past but do not continue as i do not find it worth. i keep some packed food at home every time in case i can't go out due to weather or some other reason. Money wise you can say if you prepare a food at home you can save 20% as compare to eating food outside but at the same time you have to compromise with the time factor which you give to prepare the food.

Ravi Khoda

Humanity is the best religion and smile is the best medicine.

ravikhoda wrote:
you have to compromise with the time factor which you give to prepare the food.

Small comment, huge implications.

You nailed a big one.

Thank you.

If you're just making the same quick stuff when you cook at home, then maybe you're better off going out as at least you get to meet people; even if they all think of you as the 'sad loner guy'.

If you use the opportunity to experiment and try out new things, then go for it. I find cooking very therapeutic.

All that said, get out of the frigging house! Walk / run / cycle / swim. Just get out and use your body to match up the use of your mind.

veni bibi saltavi

Nagy Vilmos wrote:
Just get out and use your body

Correct. I heard a piece of advice given by a guy speaking in public: You are not what you produce.

Totally agreed; but, fact is that most of us refuse to believe that and act accordingly (as you have suggested).

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