I don't have cable anymore but most shows I recorded I'd probably never watched during their scheduled times. I'd save them for a wintery day, rainy day or just plain bored of everything else. You could save time by fast forwarding the commercials, if it was a show done in different topic segments you could skip through the parts you didn't want to watch. Dateline is probably the only show I miss not having access to at any given time, I've always been crime drama type person, could speed through it in no time skipping the commercials.

I know what you mean about eating out. Stopped to get a burger a few months back and realized the price had risen to eight to nine bucks. I am usually not big on fries, have to have a urge for fries to eat them and soft drinks from fast food places usually are horrible. Now I go buy a rotisserie chicken and a small container of potato salad, depending upon where I stop to get it it runs slightly under ten bucks for both. I can eat out two days in a roll in a park with that and still have leftovers.