You bring up an interesting point about individuals versus businesses. I think one of the key differences here is that I don't want to work lots of overtime in

You bring up an interesting point about individuals versus businesses. I think one of the key differences here is that I don't want to work lots of overtime in order to make up the monetary difference to pay for food being delivered to my house - it comes out of the same bucket that eating out, movies etc would come out of. So in the end, it's true, I would have net more money if I cooked at home - but ~10 hours less time, regardless of hourly rate I remember a friend of mine who would wash her car herself to save money. I know some people care for cars a lot and wash their car themselves because they enjoy it and they take pride in it - that's a whole separate class of utility and enjoyment. She was just washing it to keep it clean. She made well over 6 figures, and she could have driven it through a car wash for 7 bucks and have it done in 5 minutes. I remember reading an article that basically said we get attached to things we have - including money, and we value it more because it is ours. Perhaps that also partially accounts for the psychological disconnect between the way businesses act (when it's the company's money, and not their own) versus individuals.