All that seems to be a philosophy, not a fact. Obviously, when I'm spending my hour equivalent on full featured dinner, I'm saving myself around five hours, not even comparing quality and extra time to achieve it. That's how competence and production lines basically work.
Yep, it's a whole chapter in the book I wrote on the topic of working less to live your dreams.
The other thing to realize is that when you are spending money, you are spending the time you have left in your life. You can never, ever get that time back, so spending should be very precious.
It's quite a mind-shift, but once you make it you'll never be able to go back.