Another factor—I don’t eat out because it is too expensive. But not because I couldn’t afford the difference cost of 5 dollars per meal; I certainly could. But the additional utility of eating out is less than $5 -- in some cases, the utility is actually negative (that is, there are cases in which I would spend more money to make my own meal than to have to go out; I have certainly turned down free meals!) I really like having control over what I eat, and I don’t like a lot of things that restaurants think I should like. I hate waiting around for food; if I must wait, I’d prefer to spend that time cooking. I do not enjoy the environment of most restaurants.
Whether or not this sort of thing is what your friends mean when they say it’s too expensive, I don’t know. But it’s hard to believe that it is not at least part of what they mean; after all, most of us can identify a simple way to save $5 that we don’t take, so we must be weighing the value of the goods and services differently. It is also worth noting that it is not uncommon for people to consider going out to eat, but find that they are not particularly motivated by any of the choices—a clear indicator that the value of going out (in those cases) is not that they are motivated by the food served.
Another factor—I don’t eat out because it is too expensive. But not because I couldn’t afford the difference cost of 5 dollars per meal; I certainly could. But the additional utility of eating out is less than $5 -- in some cases, the utility is actually negative (that is, there are cases in which I would spend more money to make my own meal than to have to go out; I have certainly turned down free meals!) I really like having control over what I eat, and I don’t like a lot of things that restaurants think I should like. I hate waiting around for food; if I must wait, I’d prefer to spend that time cooking. I do not enjoy the environment of most restaurants.
Whether or not this sort of thing is what your friends mean when they say it’s too expensive, I don’t know. But it’s hard to believe that it is not at least part of what they mean; after all, most of us can identify a simple way to save $5 that we don’t take, so we must be weighing the value of the goods and services differently. It is also worth noting that it is not uncommon for people to consider going out to eat, but find that they are not particularly motivated by any of the choices—a clear indicator that the value of going out (in those cases) is not that they are motivated by the food served.