It's all relative. Sure, you can buy the restaurant and eat free, but it takes a chunk of cash to do that. 5000 happiness points are easy to get early on. And eating at home is quicker, but you don't get the socialization from eating with someone. And for the teleporter, if you really can't live without one in every vacation home, you can use the testing cheat for free if you're not trying to play an exactly perfect game.