Canada

They'd probably do it like gas stations... put a $200+ hold on the card, then actually charge the amount you pumped.

You'd never convince me that eating at a restaurant is more economical and cooking at home, even with the math you present.

I mean, when it costs $5 to make pasta for four people at home, or $20 per plate at some cheap diner down the street, I'm not sure I'd want to pile on desert and drinks after seeing the bill before I eat.

In other words, it costs $60 per day just to have an idle kitchen in your home.

An idle kitchen in the home is a sin, especially if money is a factor. But kitchens aren't really used 24/7. Even an hour of kitchen time per day is going to save you money and time vs multiple restaurant meals, coffee runs, or convenience store snacks.

The average meal takes around 30 minutes to make and cleanup. The average wage is around $30 per hour. If we assume three meals per day, that’s $45 spent. We’re up to $105 per day and we still don’t have any food.

Nah. Breakfast for most people might involve pouring milk into cereal. 10 seconds at most.

Lunch is often <5 minutes to prepare, add an extra minute if you're making it for multiple people.

Dinner can take 30 minutes, if you want it to. But in less than 30 minutes of actual kitchen time, you could have had your pressure cooker making meals for the week. You could have made a wonderful cappuccino for you and your partner, and had fresh bread going ready while you did something else.

Tim Hortons 3 x a day? Make it in minutes at home using pennies worth of beans.

Any typical restaurant meal would at a minimum $25 ($10 for lunch) + the time and gas to get there to order it, eat it, then come home. Do that 6x a day (3 meals + snacks) for X number of people in the home, and you'd literally need another income just to feed your family restaurant meals.

It is true that you can improve upon those numbers if you have a family, but one-person households are the predominant household type in Canada.

I'd argue that one person can be even easier to cook for, since a meal for four can feel one person four times. And a single person doesn't have to cater to multiple preferences.

The reality is that restaurants are among the most expensive, unnecessary things that most Canadians indulge in. In a time when people are concerned about housing affordability, job insecurity, and the cost of food, it's almost silly to try to justify eating out these days.