on eating out

I feel very lucky to be living in a place that has been shielded somewhat from the effects of the recession. That being said, it is kind of hard living in a place where the streets are always crowded and the stores are always so busy. We went to Chick-Fil-A last weekend (using a free coupon from the mail, of course) and it was absolutely nuts. Nary a space in the parking lot, 20 cars in the drive-thru, and people running around, well, like headless chickens. Of course, the food was delicious. From what I read, the business is doing really well and is gaining popularity everywhere. Maybe it really is God's chicken.

Because of the crowds (partly due to the fact that Houston is huge, and also to the fact that a lot of areas were very poorly planned), we mostly eat in, even though we both work and it takes a lot of planning to pull off. I read an article about how eating out may save you money, but I think that is absolutely preposterous. Over the long run you don't save money and around here, you definitely don't save time. Just in case, though, we plan on keeping track of our prices and times for cooking at home. Empirical data may get the best of us yet.