Home cooking isn't trendy. It's survival. #frugal #france #cafe #home

Indexed: 2026-05-22

[00:00:01]Hello everybody and welcome back to the channel. And if you're new, it's lovely to meet you. I'm Jane and my husband Mike does everything behind the camera.

[00:00:10]We're British early retirees. We have no debt. We've paid off the mortgage and we live a thrifty, frugal, and money-saving life on a modest income here in the Oxitania region of the south of France.

[00:00:25]And every Friday, we bring you something food related. Now, we live in France and we don't eat out simply because we can't afford to. Although, you'd think from the reaction that sometimes get that we've confessed to some kind of lifestyle failure rather than just describing reality for most people because apparently unless you're constantly dining out, you know, on a regular basis, you must be doing retirement wrong. Even if you're, you know, like us and you're actually retired but still working and still earning money and having the kind of income that, you know, millions of people have here in France and actually living here quite normally. So there's this kind of idea, isn't there? Maybe it's a stereotype or people have, you know, maybe got it from movies that people are constantly eating maybe fancy or elaborate cuisine meals. And I think a lot of that is from maybe tourism or nostalgia or film making dressed up as some kind of, you know, super romantic reality. But actually most people are eating very ordinary food, bread, soup, salad, cheese or whatever's quick and easy or suitable for their family and mostly from the supermarket. And when they do go out, you know, it's not a regular thing. It might be just a simple cafe or beastro or it's usually you know nothing fancy or you know the kind of experience people you know think is happening. So, let's let's get on to this because, you know, we don't eat out and actually most people are not eating out either. And if they do eat out, it's only because it's a special occasion.

[00:02:25]In any country, half the population is living below the median income, which means eating out regularly is simply not realistic for a large number of people.

[00:02:35]For most, including us, restaurants are reserved for birthdays or anniversaries or the occasional holiday or vacation or trip. And and most people of our income of where we are, you know, living below the median, you know, are not eating out on a on a regular basis. And so the way we live and the fact that we're not eating out more than wedding anniversaries or special occasions is is really quite normal. So, you know, when I get that kick back from people that when I share, especially in budgeting or talking about the cost of living that we don't eat out and we do get some quite derisory comments that we're kind of missing out on life in some way or how can you live in France and and not eat out. I think they're missing the point that at our price point, at our income, most people aren't doing that either.

[00:03:38]Let's talk about now how eating out here must might be different from the country that you live in.

[00:03:48]In France, eating out is quite tightly structured. Breakfast is usually just a coffee, orange juice, so no croissant.

[00:04:00]And beyond that, there's not a lot of flexibility in the day for eating. Lunch runs roughly 12 until 2 and then dinner starts around 7. and in between the there isn't that kind of culture of brunch or late breakfasts or casual afternoon eating or it just really isn't part of everyday life outside of what I would say are the big cities. So, I know some of you going to say, "Well, I go out with my friend and we share a starter." Well, a starter here is just a little salad. It's not enough. It's not often more than enough for one person.

[00:04:39]It's definitely not something that you'd you'd be able to to share. And a dessert is usually something small. Again, not really something that you would be able to share. It's not really very big at all. And and you know, it would be seen as I suppose bit rude really if you started ordering and one meal between the two of you as if restaurants say like like we're having a hard enough time here without you lot sharing your food. So, I know in other countries where you have bigger portions and that you could share and they're quite okay with you to do that. Things here are a little more structured. I'm not going to say anyone's going to tell you off for doing it or say, "Oh, no, you shouldn't do that." But it's not kind of normal behavior. So, it's not something that you'd go out for breakfast or you would go out for brunch or those cheaper things. It's a it's a proper lunch or it would be a proper evening meal. So, it's not so easy to eat quite cheaply. Yes, you can go to some casual buleries where they'll have somewhere that you can sit and eat. But I can't eat gluten, so I won't be sitting there. And I don't even have caffeine. So, it's not so easy for me just to say, "Oh, I'll go out and have a cafe, coffee, cafe, and quasant."

[00:05:54]Because I don't have those anyway. So, things are a little different here. So, I do know some of you are going to say that, "Oh, I do that." And that's okay.

[00:06:03]That's okay. But it is not something that happens here. So, cuz we're not at that price point to go and sit in a beastro. And I know some of you will say, "Well, I live here and I can go out and get a three course lunch for 15 or €18."

[00:06:20]We don't have a budget for that. We don't have. But don't forget that's 30 for the two of us. Adding an iced tea to that or a cola or something like that, you're adding in another €6 for the two of you. So that's taking that up to 36.

[00:06:34]We don't have €36. And actually here, I think our cheapest beastro here for just a menu full moon, the three courses is €20. And and we also appreciate the fact that at that price point, they're barely breaking even. Barely breaking even. So we we understand that, but that's not within our budget. And that is precisely why we and many people like us living under the median the kind of income that we have don't eat out. We're not failures. We're not losers. We're not doing anything wrong. It's just we're priced out of that and we're not more unusual than any of those French people living on exactly the same kind of income that we have.

[00:07:23]Now, just like the title of the video says is I I don't enjoy cooking. I don't even like cooking, but I make my life easier by planning meals once once a week, batch cooking everything in one go and freezing portions. So, if I make one lasagna, I make four. And the same goes for pies or casserles or soup. We have a simple routine. We have a proper cooked meal at lunchtime. Often a roast, for example, on Sunday. So, I don't have to think of Sunday. We always have some kind of traditional roast on the Sunday.

[00:07:54]And then we literally have the same thing plated again on Monday that I just reheat in the microwave. And with something light in the evening, such as a smaller version of what we had for our main lunch reheated in the evening or something like soup or a salad or a sandwich, and I don't cook anything after 5. We tend to eat at midday. We eat at 5. Breakfast is minimal. I just make coffee for me. Uh Mike will usually have toast for breakfast or he will have cornflakes for breakfast. And if we go out like lots of French families, we go out and take a picnic with us. We've been to places like um Carcasson up to the castle. We've been to tourist resorts and places and we like other French people around here, we sit there and we'll we'll open a lunchbox. We'll have a picnic. will do exact the same as other people are doing. And we'll make things like a simple pasta salad or sandwiches or wraps. So, I don't enjoy cooking, but I do enjoy eating. Like I said, I like a proper lunch. I like a small evening meal. And like I said, I I rarely I rarely eat breakfast cuz I'm just not hungry in the mornings. And although, you know, I might have a the occasional bowl of of porridge. And despite not enjoying the process of cooking, I still make it a priority to make sure that we eat a proper meal every day. It doesn't need to be anything elaborate.

[00:09:27]And I usually enjoy whatever we've made.

[00:09:29]I know Mike enjoys what what I've made.

[00:09:31]And like most people here in France, I'm not cooking fancy food. I'm certainly certainly not eating out very often. And and when I'm cooking at home, it's usually very simple. It might just be some fish. It might be some meat with some salad or like I said, some soup or some bread or or some crackers. But, you know, I do want to, you know, knock this on the head that, you know, if you're not eating out regularly in your 60s, you're some kind of failure. You're some kind of losers. And actually, in reality, you know, most people don't eat out. It's a treat.

[00:10:13]It's not a habit. It's not something that's done regularly. It's not an everyday expectation.

[00:10:23]So, I wanted to answer that today about people who say things like, "Oh, I couldn't live the way you live." Well, you don't have to. If and if you don't have to and you can eat out on a regular basis, I'm happy for you. You carry on.

[00:10:37]You enjoy that. So just a quick message today sort of answering that clapback really from that thing that first of all when you see me cooking and you see the meals of the week. I don't enjoy cooking. It is a chore. It is something I do every day. I don't enjoy meal planning. It is a chore. But it's got to be done. We've got to eat. We've got to eat as healthfully as possible. and the fact that we can't afford to eat out other than very very seldom like on a wedding anniversary or if we're visiting family those type of things or it's a very special occasion you know we're not losers we're just ordinary people living through an extraordinary economically difficult times so I hope we answered that one thanks for watching let me know are you someone who eats out regularly or like you know the majority of people actually it's increasingly expensive and increasingly difficult and something that you don't do on a regular basis.

[00:11:41]Thanks for watching. We'll see you on the next video. Bye for now.