Author Topic: Dream Dinners  (Read 5477 times)

steggy81

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Dream Dinners
« on: March 26, 2012, 08:41:11 AM »
Saturday night my husband and I had dinner with some friends at their home.  We were grilling burgers and visiting with their 5 month old baby when the subject of Dream Dinners came up.  Also, it’s important to note that my friend  recently made the decision to not stay home with her child as she has told me on numerous occasions they don’t have enough money.    Some background on this couple is that they currently live in a suburban area of a large city, pay a maid to clean their 2,400 square foot home, make approx. $130k gross annually, and both commute to the center of town which takes at least 45 minutes one way.  They are making several poor financial choices, but let’s get back to Dream Dinners.  I’ve never heard of Dream Dinners before so I was curious.  Basically with Dream Dinners you visit their store front to put together dinners from their selection of ingredients.  They box them up for you and you take them home to freeze until the day you plan to consume.  All you have to do is follow their recipe they include with your boxed meal and heat up or use some basic cooking skills like heating a skillet and adding oil.  Our friends confessed to using Dream Dinners on occasion and also pointed out other friends of ours that use this service.   I was in shock and couldn’t believe that my friends use this service.  I was curious as to how much they were spending for their dinners so I looked at their website and for three servings of Seared Sesame Crusted Tuna it is $21.13.  They might as well go out to eat.  They are paying a premium for dinner and she wonders why she can’t stay at home with their new baby.  Anyone else ever heard of this and know people Un-Mustachian enough to use this service? 
« Last Edit: March 26, 2012, 08:55:24 AM by Sparafusile »

TLV

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Re: Dream Dinners
« Reply #1 on: March 26, 2012, 10:41:31 AM »
My parents used it occasionally, though not until after I had moved out. I thought it was a bit odd, since my mom had been a SAHM my whole life, and her cooking was way better than the dream dinners.

shedinator

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Re: Dream Dinners
« Reply #2 on: March 26, 2012, 11:02:12 AM »
sounds kinda like Omaha Steaks. And here I thought it was splurging when I bought a "take and bake" pizza from the grocery store.

Mrs MM

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Re: Dream Dinners
« Reply #3 on: March 26, 2012, 06:57:27 PM »
This is exactly the type of people MMM was written for, by the way.  We know a LOT of people like this.

I haven't heard of dream dinners specifically, but I've heard of other services like this that go by another name.

ferfischer

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Re: Dream Dinners
« Reply #4 on: March 26, 2012, 08:32:36 PM »
This is exactly the type of people MMM was written for, by the way.  We know a LOT of people like this.

This may be true - however, I'm not sure that's who you have reading it!  Maybe a few of us, but not a ton (we're totally one of "those" families, it's true).

arebelspy

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Re: Dream Dinners
« Reply #5 on: March 26, 2012, 09:40:58 PM »
I was curious as to how much they were spending for their dinners so I looked at their website and for three servings of Seared Sesame Crusted Tuna it is $21.13.  They might as well go out to eat. 

While I agree it certainly isn't Mustachian in any way, shape, or form, and there are much better ways to do it, that price isn't actually that bad.  No way you could go out to eat for 3 people for $21 (including tax, tip, etc).  That's the cost of one entree eating out.

$7 per person isn't frugal, but nor is it shockingly high.

And if it keeps them from eating out (I.e. they make it a rare "date night" or something), it can have its uses.
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MrSaturday

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Re: Dream Dinners
« Reply #6 on: March 27, 2012, 08:36:01 AM »
My ex-wife brought these things home a couple of times  a few years ago.  I think it was a place called "Super Suppers" or something like that but essentially the same concept.  I think it was a bit cheaper too, around $5-6 per serving at the high end.  That might be because we went with the biggest orders and split them with other families.

For people who had near zero cooking skills it was a great way to see what goes into making something more complicated than a frozen dinner and gain a little skill and confidence in making things on our own.

Mrs MM

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Re: Dream Dinners
« Reply #7 on: March 27, 2012, 10:21:35 AM »
This is exactly the type of people MMM was written for, by the way.  We know a LOT of people like this.

This may be true - however, I'm not sure that's who you have reading it!  Maybe a few of us, but not a ton (we're totally one of "those" families, it's true).

True, although I think the people reading who fit into that category are a bit quieter.  :) 

And you are definitely NOT one of "those" families, by the way.

My point was, when there is a ridiculous amount of excess, there is a LOT of room for improvement and wealth accumulation.  When there's less money to go around, you have to work a lot harder for it, but it's still possible. 

Having worked in high tech, many of the couples we know make $100K+ per household yet still don't feel like they can sacrifice one income to stay home with their child(ren).   Obviously there are special cases, but for the majority of these families, it IS possible if they are willing to change their lifestyles just a little bit.

ShavenLlama

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Re: Dream Dinners
« Reply #8 on: March 27, 2012, 01:48:29 PM »
Wait- I go to their storefront and I pick out my food that looks good, they box it for me, and I go home and cook it?

LIKE THE GROCERY STORE???

Seriously, though, what am I missing?

TLV

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Re: Dream Dinners
« Reply #9 on: March 27, 2012, 03:25:06 PM »
Quote
LIKE THE GROCERY STORE???

Seriously, though, what am I missing?

It's similar in convenience to buying a frozen TV dinner from the grocery store, but the quality will be closer to a meal you cook yourself.