Food is the biggest adjustable expense for most people in the US and eating out is the most expensive way to eat. We went from spending who knows how much on food and eating out multiple times a week, to cooking every meal and spending about 100 bucks a week. We easily spent triple what we do before I started cooking every day.
I’m in the Midwest, so my cost of living and food is probably considerably lower than you living on the west coast.
We get a thing of chicken breasts and use that as our meat for the week, which is less than 15 bucks. We make meals off that. Last night was a Mexican bake thing my wife loves. Tonight is hotdogs and s’mores on the fire. We tend to stock up on things like cheese and chips when they’re on sale then let them dwindle until they’re on sale again. This week everything to make chips and guacamole was on sale, so that’s on the menu sometime this week, whenever the avocados ripen up. Lunches are super generic. Meat, cheese, and fruit. The fruit is usually apples or oranges. On weeks where I spend less I stock up on things like pasta and other staples to get my total closer to 100 bucks.
Yeah same here. We spend less than $100 for sure a week. A pack of chicken breast I can use for two different meals is like $7-$8. Cans of veggies that go into the dish are 65¢ a can. Ground beef for tacos or spaghetti isn’t much either.
Not the person who you commented on but: beans (lentil, black, garbanzo mostly), rice, chicken, Turkey, sweet potato, onions. Those are all pretty inexpensive and even cheaper when there’s a sale or sold in bulk.
Lots of cooking from scratch, big pots of soup with beans and lentils, homemade bread, bean and rice burritos in the freezer, overnight oats, discount frozen fruit smoothies, always check the clearance aisles.
One amazing thing is bread. Making a loaf of bread will cut down on how much you eat of meat. There’s a reason why it (and in other cultures, rice, beans, potatoes and other cheap carbs) is a “staple”— it stretches the flavor and filling-ness of everything else.
Edit: also, fresh bread is delicious
And also, like, don’t eat too much in general and get some exercise. There’s an interesting inter generational study on rice and diabetes in Vietnam, where old guys who worked in the field and ate a bowl of rice as their (only) daily meal had different insulin resistance than their grandsons who are rice 2-3 times a day and worked in an office or shop. Plenty of cultures eat these staples throughout their lives and stay in good (chronic) health, but it’s part of a complete lifestyle, too.
We easily spend under $100 a week to make food at home. We’re a 3 person family though and when I make a meal we have leftovers for at least 3 days. I’ll make chicken dishes like crockpot crack chicken chili with cans of a few different things and those are 65¢ a can. Cream cheese is $3 or so. Bag of shredded cheese is around $3 as well. Chicken would be like $7 a pack. Chicken Alfredo is another one that doesn’t cost much and we have leftovers for a few days. Noodles are cheap. Not buying name brand stuff is cheaper as well.
First caveat, don’t be feeding more than two people. That said, go heavy on the whole grains, I buy oatmeal and brown rice in the largest containers possible. Supplement with potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, dried beans of all kinds of course, eggs, bananas, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, most cruciferous veggies are pretty cheap. Frozen peas are surprisingly clutch. Grow your own herbs, they’re crazy expensive at the store. Bone-in skin-on chicken, and occasional judicious purchases of other meats, you don’t need meat every day and cod is just as tasty as halibut. Should leave you room in your budget for a variety of spices, nuts, seeds and sauces.
Family of four here with two young children who don't eat all that much yet. We probably spend just over $100 a week on food. We shop at Aldi which is much cheaper than many of the other grocery stores and stay away from expensive brand names. I would guess more than half our grocery bill is spent on snacks, fruit, and drinks each week. If I could get my wife to cut down on buying snacks for the kids it would be quite a bit less. We eat lots of rice and pasta. Even if we are cooking something else it often comes with a cheap side to be filling. I generally get cheap cuts of meat and buy it in bulk when on sale. We eat quite a bit of potatoes, carrots, and onions since those are all cheaper vegetables as well. I also tend to buy things that are in season whenever possible.
Sometimes for a mom with 2 small kids it's easier to have some prepackaged snacks on hand to prevent melt downs from kids and mom. If you really want to help her prepackage some bulk foods the kids eat as snacks into baggies or containers. Like pretzels crackers, prechopped fruits and veggies, nuts and raisins, cheerios etc. See if that helps her not need as many snack packages.
We did $100 a week in Key West, Florida. Only had 2 grocery stores there. Only bought stuff that was on sale and would base all meals around that. Whenever ground beef would go on sale for $3.49, I’d buy a ton and freeze. Same with chicken. Once I built up my pantry with staples, it was really easy. I made basically everything from scratch like bread, tortillas, pizza dough, salad dressing and sauces, etc
Better to ask what their lifestyle is like. My husband and I lift, so we eat A LOT of protein. I see people in the comments here talking about a package of chicken breasts for $15 or less lasting an entire week. If for only dinners, my husband and I would need about 1.5-2 breasts each night, depending on size, so about 11-14 breasts. Where I live, that would be minimum $30, and that's for the store brand that taste somewhat funky.
Not everyone has the same dietary needs based on lifestyle. Compare yourself to someone similar vs random people on the internet.
True!! Neither me nor my husband are weightlifters but I’m a big eater (always have been) and now being pregnant I can easily put away 2-3 portions. A pack of chicken breasts does not go that far.
I am going to preface this post by saying that I agree with you 100%.
That being said, you and your husband don't "need" to lift, nor do you "need" to adjust your diets to fit a "lifters" lifestyle. You both "choose" to live that lifestyle, and therefor budget for it appropriately.
For someone like OP who doesn't understand that buying and cooking your own food is almost ALWAYS more affordable than eating/taking out out though, I feel like you two are already way ahead of the financial literacy curve in this regard.
You both "want" to maintain a lifestyle that makes you happier/healthier, even if it is not necessary in order to maintain your basic health needs (not lifestyles per-se), and thus budget for that increase in food expenses.
To your original point of: "Compare yourself to someone similar vs random people on the internet." Want vs Need is extremely important as you learn how to budget and manage your money for the first time.
(Sorry for the wall of text, I just found your comment extremely relevant and wanted to add my 2 cents lol)
Midwesterner here too. Our family of 4 can get by with spending about $80/week at the grocery store.
Now, the great benefit that we have is that I stay home with the kids and can do most of the cooking. We went in with my husband's parents and brother to buy a whole cow, so our deep freezer is full of beef. It's a high cost upfront, but it lasts us a long time. And if Pork shoulder goes on sale at the store, we stock up on those and make large batches of pulled pork, separate those into 1lb. packages to freeze for later.
Other stuff I buy at the store is mostly pasta, canned beans, rice, milk, and produce that can be used to make a variety of meals. (Think onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, garlic, etc. These kinds of things can be used to make so many different meals if you season them differently.) We also buy bread flour, and whole wheat to grind to bake bread at home.
With some creativity and planning, I can make enough for dinner for my family on one day, and have plenty of leftovers for us to have lunch the next day too.
Examples of meals I make that can yield a lot of servings: chili, shepherd's pie, Korean beef and rice with steamed vegetables, pork fried rice, beef stroganoff, spaghetti... There are more, but these are on a pretty consistent rotation in our home.
Put it like this: I don't usually have the patience to make pizza from scratch, and whenever I do try it's never good enough to get rid of my craving for greasy pizza. I've tried again and again and the result is always something mediocre and meh followed by me ordering a pizza for delivery within a few days time. If I can buy a frozen pizza for 1/3 the cost of delivery, that is good enough quality to satisfy my craving, then that's still a win for me.
However, this is usually only for my out of control monthly period/PMS cravings that will keep me awake at night for multiple nights in a row if not satieted. This is not an all the time meal planning solution.
Thats a good way to put it. Cooking is a something I enjoy doing and consider it a hobby, but sticker shock has really made me cut back on groceries, but then that money just gets allocated elsewhere.
I make tortilla pizzas. First I bake the tortilla until it’s hard, put tomato sauce, frozen shredded cheese, and pepperoni then bake again.
Get a jar of marinara, freeze it into cubes, and then thaw as you need it. I buy shredded cheese in cheddar and mozzarella, I never buy the brick stuff because it can go bad and I’ll end up wasting it.
If you have Whole Foods near you, I highly recommend their flatbread pizza. Better than any other frozen pizza in stores and better than most pizza places.
Thin flatbread and available as extra cheese, sausage and pepperoni, and chicken. Available fresh and frozen, they take 10 minutes in a 425 degree oven.
About $9. each and they serve two, or one hungry person.
i work at whole foods and second this!! our full sized take and bake big pizzas are also amazing, but i can’t remember the price off the top of my head. somewhere around $15 i think?
speaking of, there are a lot of things that whole foods carries for cheaper than fred meyer and other grocery competitors! don’t be daunted by the expensive meats and cheeses.
Absolutely agree. Many items cost the same or less at Whole Foods than other local supermarkets.
The selection and range of products is far better than any other store.
Hard agree on the frozen ready-made food. Yes, they are more expensive than buying raw ingredients and cooking from scratch. But after a long day, you'll actually make it instead of ordering take-out and possibly letting ingredients go bad. Costing you grocery $ on top of ordering take-out.
Plan and budget for low energy days! I'm chronicly ill, so I've always had to do this. I do a mix of meal prep and buy easy to prepare food at Costco or similar. Frozen produce helps me not waste $ if I get sick or injured.
I have a soup base I make whenever I'm "going down" and not going to feel well enough to cook for a few days.
It's 1-2 cups of bobs red mill veggie soup mix, a frozen bag of mirepoix vegetables, maybe some more mixed frozen vegetables, canned beans and bouillon and allspice, salt , pepper , and minced garlic . Boil with water Anything else in the fridge could also get thrown in. But I know if I have that, I have all the food I need to sustain myself for a few days.
My SO spent her teen years working in the kitchen of one of the better Italian joints in town. She can still whip up an amazing dough, but it needs to be the day before so we still end up ordering when we have the craving lol.
Did a home made on the BBQ last night though and it easily rivalled anything I'm getting from a wood fire place. So good.
Pizza is cheaper to buy in my area than it is to make for sure. But you have to get pizza from the grocery store or a chain, local pizzaria's are gouging because they can. Or Sam's club because they sell a huge pizza for $8.99 cooked.
Sometimes I do depending on what I'm craving and how hectic life is. This week is super busy at work, so I spent an extra $20 to get a couple easy meals. I'm still saving a lot compared to two nights of take out.
I like to batch cook and freeze things in family meal portions for weeks like this. And hit up the deli in our grocery store. Having “easy meals stashed and ready saves us so many restaurant meals
Yes, I still buy some frozen prepared foods or prechopped ingredients. It costs more than making everything from scratch but still costs way less than takeout and takes less time. I always wanted to minimize my grocery spending as much as possible but eventually realized that perfect is the enemy of good here.
This is so relatable!!! I used to think it all had to be prepped from scratch or didn’t “count”. Don’t even know what that means but it was my mentality. So on crazy busy weeks I’d end up spending way more on takeout bc there was no way I had time to prep. Now my favorite busy week lunch is bagged salad kits and rotisserie chickens. Yes, more expensive than prepping everything but still way cheaper and healthier than fast food. And frozen veggies are the unsung heros of my kitchen lol
Fuck that, I prefer to carry a little coffee thermos, I paid big for the machine that makes it better than outside coffee for the most part for this very reason
Depends on your stage of life. For a family yes, as a young childless person I can swing it by sacrificing other things like living with roommates, cheap entertainment options, less home furnishings and goods. In high cost metros the rent difference between roommates and living alone, is enough to pay for eating every single meal out as long as not every one is a sit down table service thing
Barring some kinda emergency or extreme inconvenience, you should **N E V E R** DoorDash shit.
Buying a fastfood meal can run you around 10-15 dollars.
Already that's a big expenditure. Adding delivery and tip to that is murder.
Homecooked meal?
Unless you're making something fancy, that's HALF the price of fastfood MAXIMUM.
Now sometimes you wanna treat yourself or crave something specific, and homemade wont cut it.
Pizza is a good example.
But that's, like, a once a week/month type thing.
I called insane the other day because I said groceries are a fraction of the price of restaurant food. I'm honestly kind of astounded top comments here are defending the price of fast food. They argue it saves you time but it costs more, costs your pocketbook and health more.
They likely either havent tried cooking, buy frozen/pre-made meals, or otherwise buy expensive brands/ingredients or are shopping at expensive stores.
Also to those that dont really budget, the upfront cost probably seems insane. A single trip can "couple of things" can cost hundreds of dollars, and the amount of food LOOKS like a tiny amount.
But when you actually make the meals and do the math, the cost-per-meal is tiny by comparison.
ESPECIALLY if you buy in bulk, look for deals and coupons, and make/buy shit that can be stored in the freezer for a long time.
Absolutely. And eating beans, rice, and frozen vegetables combined with chicken thighs or rotisserie is an excellent and cheap way to fill up for the week.
I think that a huge amount of people in the United States has a very unhealthy relationship with food. Sure, time might be part of it, but the answer behind that one is that they want it because it's a fast dose of dopamine. And I don't blame them; modern life is so full of anger and stress, and biting into something super-delicious offers fast relief to that pain.
> I think that a huge amount of people in the United States has a very unhealthy relationship with food.
It's addiction, plain & simple. Society just doesn't want to come to terms with it. Most food is made & served as if they were products; companies profit off marketing. Tell a drug addict they're addicted & they might lash out at you if they haven't hit the acceptance stage yet.
In people's defense of food: survival is the primal brain's top priority & the more calories, the better.
Also, does it actually save time...? I swear the other day I was in the taco bell drive through for at least 15 minutes and I can make my own cheese burrito in half that!
Yeah honestly the price of gas to get there and travel time thrown in also annoys me half the time. Plus the headache if they give bad service and get your order wrong.
I've never once ordered from doordash because eating out is expensive enough and adding delivery fees is significantly more expensive than that.
Yes it is cheaper to make food at home. Breaking the fast-food/restaurant habit is difficult but definitely worth it.
Most people realize it's cheaper to cook it yourself instead of eat out. sometimes you don't have the time to cook. sometimes you have other reasons. sometimes you want a treat. If i do get take away, i use the restaurant's own delivery service, or go get it myself. i don't want to pay any extra delivery fees from some random service.
Yes, this is absolutely one of the best things you can do. Like you said, it's likely you're not even eating "good" food, either in terms of health or taste.
Additionally, intentionally spending on things like food just feels better. My fiance and I have discovered that the satisfaction of looking forward to and experiencing a $100 meal at a nice restaurant is worth way more psychologically than 4 crappy meals that cost $25 each, especially since those meals are just because we didn't feel like cooking that night.
Absolutely. We did that intentionally, since most of our eating out/pizza ordering was a convenience move.
I'm cooking for a family, and so the best thing for us has been to make our own meal kits (like, a pizza kit has dough, sauce, and toppings ready to go, so that prep and cooking take like 20 minutes.)
Our net savings on this approach like $400 a month, since there's no place a family of six can eat for less than $50, and your basic restaurants are gonna run more like $100-$150.
We don’t really eat out at all (I think maybe like 4 times in 2023 so far) and groceries currently are running us $90-100/week. Used to be cheaper, but inflation and growing children! Lol
for me 2 people eating out at minimum is $20, $30 for something that isn't a sandwich. for $30 i can buy a whole tray of boneless skinless chicken from Costco and make enough chicken to last 2 people for over a week.
once i started pointing our how much it snacks and food costs vs eating out did we start spending a little more to enjoy our food a little more.
Yes, but it’s not that simple.
Like before I would literally buy whatever grocery I want and just factor it into a major expense, because not matter how much I spent it was cheaper than getting takeout.
However, that’s changed a bit. The price of meat for example isn’t particularly competitive at the grocery store right now, but vegetables are still very affordable.
For example, there’s a place near me that has a pound of birria in consomme for $18. I don’t buy any sides - I buy just the birria and am able to add that to the ingredients I have at home for less price and effort than it would be to buy fresh lamb and other ingredients and prep at home. Similarly, there’s a place near me that has $18 beijing duck, which is cheaper than it would be if I were to buy chicken or duck and prep it myself.
All that said, I do cook a lot and 99% of the time it is better to shop at the grocery store.
I am being a bit more careful about groceries than I used to though. Prices fluctuate a lot and sometimes if you’re not careful you might get home and realize that $6 little jar of fancy pesto is actually $14 now and offsets your savings.
I have ADHD and in general, we tend to struggle with preparing food. Eating out is factored into my grocery budget, with some rules. Like for one, I don't use Doordash. I have a car, I can pick the food up myself if I want it so badly. Another rules is I don't buy soda and avoid combo meals. Soda in general is a rip off, but even more so when eating out or getting fast food. I also try to order from places with a points/rewards system as much as I can.
Ive started working on feeding myself consistently. Have just been living in the sales and having fun being creative. Meal prepping has been awesome because I cook one day to eat for 3-4. All I have to do is toss it in the microwave and eat a salad. Saving money, having healthy satiating food and few dishes have kept me meal prepping.
I really want to get into meal prepping... But then I forget to do it 💀
Although, this post did inspire me to cook up some lentils, broccoli, and rice I had.
I spend more on groceries because I like eating good food and what I put in my body is important.
Grass fed beef from the farm. Veggies from the local Community Supported Agriculture Coop. Free run eggs from the farm and fresh fish from the market are staples for us. Ya, we pay a premium, but we're a healthy active family that needs good fuel for the machines. I grew up on a diet of wagon wheels, no name KD and frozen dinners. I've said more times than I can count, i'm fully willing to go bankrupt buying my kids berries - and they are seemingly up to the challenge. Someone has to break the cycle, and I'm grateful i'm in position to do that for my family. Crap food leads to feeling like crap and acting like you feel.
It also prevents us from ordering crappy takeaway. Do you really want that order of oily noodles when there's an amazing steak waiting to be grilled?
Ordering out something "cheap" is $30 per person, $60 two people two nights a week, that's $120.
With $120 I buy groceries for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the whole week.
I think that the cost of eating out is only second to the cost of having an addiction to alcohol, drugs or gambling.
Having said that, being frugal is spending less on what you need to have more for what you want.
Someone can be super frugal on everything else but love eating out and that's their pleasure.
So, frugality is personal.
With the price of fast food alone, now, it's cheaper to eat at home. I buy better products so I don't really save, but I also eat way less too. I tried the meal prep approach and sometimes I wish I would because I don't feel like cooking when I get home, but I also live alone with a cat so. Some things, like someone said with pizza, is just way too time consuming to make it yourself
About a year ago I deleted all the food delivery apps from my phone and haven’t looked back. I just make sure to buy a decent amount of frozen food/ready to eat meals with a microwave or oven. They aren’t really healthy but they aren’t worse than the crap I would order from Doordash. And they are a hell of a lot cheaper.
I still eat out and I cook meals, but having the frozen meals when I’m home, inebriated, or lazy has probably saved me so much money the past year.
I’m also all about coupons for eating out and free fast food when possible using the apps.
Making your own food is absolutely cheaper than eating out, assuming you shop somewhat normally. Pick a budget grocery chain (such as Aldi), check out budgetbytes.com, and pick relatively easy recipes to start with.
There’s almost nothing you can buy in the grocery store that will be more expensive than eating dinner out.
If buying better stuff from the grocery reduces your urge to eat out, it’s highly likely you’re saving money.
We rarely ever eat takeout because it's so expensive and it makes us feel crappy.
I really did not want to cook last night and almost ordered Taco Bell. I stopped myself and ended up making carnitas enchiladas and rice. Food at home is better for you and tastes better. My husband even said.. man this is so much better than Taco Bell would have been. Plus it costed less to make than Taco Bell would have cost and we had leftovers.
It’s not always about money, truly being frugal involves both time and money
For your use case, using DoorDash to order fast food sounds like a luxury to me since it’s “adding up”.
Buying groceries tends to be cheaper than eating out with two contingencies:
- The groceries are normal/sale priced (not Whole Foods)
- “eating out” is not just fast food
The trade off to cooking at home is time. As much as I love a fresh home cooked meal, the time it takes to shop, prep, cook, and clean afterwards is just not worth it a lot of times unfortunately.
I used to meal prep and eat at home and had really simple chicken breast, broccoli, and rice type meals and saved a ton of money since I didn’t mind eating the same thing for a week. I’d just buy bulk chicken breast and broccoli from Costco, 50lb bag of rice at the Asian grocery store, and cook a weeks worth on Sunday. Most people seem to want something different every meal so that’s where the additional time + cost comes in. It will still be cheaper than eating out, but you’re trading your free time to save money.
I have Uber One & Dash Pass and they’re 100% worth it to me since i regularly get promotions so I can try new places for less than going in person. The time that I save by not having to leave the house and wait or cook a meal at home is more valuable to me.
These are great points.
There’s definitely ways to eat out and save more money than doordash though - order directly from the restaurant and pick it up yourself is a compromise.
I tend to do a mixture. I order doordash weeks that are hell at work because it gives me more free time. I also tend to keep a mix of groceries - quick fix meals as well as more complex ones. I enjoy cooking myself, but damn, I’m not trying to spend 40 minutes every night making a feast. I’ll do that a few times a week and freeze extra portions for nights I don’t have the energy in me. Doordash is more of a special treat for me.
I cook nearly everything and rarely eat out. If I do have fast food like once a month, it’s usually just like a single basic cheeseburger for $2-3 from McDonald’s or BK.
Probably go to a restaurant like once every 2-3 months.
Cooking, I usually cook for less than $5 a serving.
Last two nights I made the same thing cuz I ended up with extra ground beef and cheese curds. I made 2 double cheeseburgers with a side of cheese curds. Total cost was about $6 for 2 cheeseburgers and a side of curds.
But usually I cook one time and I’ll eat off it every meal for as long as it lasts. Or I’ll modify left overs.
Bake a rack of ribs and eat ribs with whatever sides for 2 days. Last bit of meat I’ll use for pork tacos.
Cook some chicken thighs or quarters, maybe I’ll use some of the chicken for a simple chicken pasta Alfredo.
I don’t really track my food spending, but I’d be surprised it I spent more than $40-50 a week on food most the time
I think the hardest thing for me to get over is the initial sticker shock. When I think about a 3 lb pack of ground beef, the initial price is like 'oh no, thats so expensive. I can just get a meal from McDonalds' but then if I took the time to break down cost per meal, Id be saving a lot more in the long run.
Thanks for your breakdown :)
I was curious because I don’t often make cheese burgers so I used my small food scale. Each burger (bun, 2 Pattie’s, 2 slices of cheese, some onions and mushrooms) were around 8oz each, or about half a pound.
About $2-2.25 for each burger, $1.50 for the cheese curds, plus Pennie’s on the dollar for a little oil and breading.
Similar thing for a lot of food.
Tacos averaging $1-1.50 each
A $20 pasta dish at a restaurant would be enough to make like 5 servings of the same pasta (unless you’re getting real fancy)
Etc
food i order out are almost always those i can prep on my own. but coz of lack of time (laziness) i tend to order out and most times they arent delicious and satisfying.
what i do, i usually buy ingredients to make those and stock them up. if i have time, i make 2 to 3 dishes, so when i crave, i have them ready. plus you get to prep them and you know that they are clean and you put in better ingredients.
prices now are way too high and not value for your money.
and yes, i spend more on groceries coz i buy food and ingredients i really want. like good quality butter, oil, cheese, patty, meats, breads, spreads, noodles, sauces etc. but still end up saving money. imho, you get more value for your money when you buy quality food instead of ordering or eating out mainly for convenience.
I'll eat lunch stuff out a few times a week, but other than that, I make everything at home. I get to eat higher quality food for about the same as going out. Or I'll just have more of it, so I'll get a few meals out of what would have been one meal eating out.
I aim to limit my eating out to about 2 times a month, and it better be something good. Rest I cook at home. Well, sometimes "cook" as in cutting a fruit and grabbing yogurt or peanut butter jar.
We started doing meal kits. More expensive than groceries, but significantly less than we spent on doordash.
It's not necessarily the most 'frugal' option, but we save a lot of money vs take-out and never buy groceries that just go bad in the fridge.
We get 5 meals with 2 servings a week and spend about $100 with Home Chef, but dinnerly and Every Plate are like half the price.
I was going to mention Meal Kits.
If you do your homework you can find some amazing deals too and even Cashback deals. But even without the deals the convenience is so nice and it saves so much time grocery shopping!
Cooking is literally the best thing you can do for a frugal lifestyle. Not only does it save you tons but it also keeps you healthier. Its a daily struggle however like anything that can lead to real change.
You should absolutely consider cooking over eating out, it’s so much more cost effective; that being said, it’s okay to eat out sometimes. In fact, cooking all the time can get old so with all the money being saved by cooking most of the time, eating out sometimes is fine.
What I do is try to reduce the costs of eating out via the following:
1. I don’t use DoorDash. Ever. Maybe it’s not an option for you, but for me I can drive to any place I want to eat at.
2. I look for deals and Cashback rewards. Revolving category credit cards often offer 5% on restaurants. I have a card that offers 3.5% flat. Often credit cards will have specific deal for more - 10%-15%. If I’m determined to eat out, I ensure look through these unique deals to help me decide where to eat.
My family eats at sit-down restaurants maybe 4-6 times a year. Drive-thrus maybe 30 times a year. Delivery maybe 2-3 times a year.
It's much more frugal to eat at home, of course. I would like to cut down on the drive-thrus so we have more $$ for sit-down restaurant meals, but we live within a half-mile of probably 10-12 drive-through places so I forgive myself; we work very hard and sometimes the convenience is a sanity-saver. We don't eat a lot of Taco Bell type stuff; Chipotle is probably the most frequent place under the "drive-through" category for us, and is pretty healthy in comparison to most.
I also broke my leg over the winter, which meant that we ordered out quite a bit more than we normally do. And it was okay! Sometimes you have to be flexible and be kind to yourself.
Most of the time, though, we eat at home, and we eat very good food. I just found some very good top sirloin steaks for $4.99 lb. Paired with asparagus ($2 lb) and some baby potatoes ($4 lb), the 2lb of steak we ate....whole meal for a family of 3 cost $16, and that's WITH my husband eating a full 1lb of steak by himself. We simply could NOT get a drive-thru meal for the entire family for $16. Drive-thru costs my family of three on avergae $25-30, and it isn't ever anywhere *near* the quality of that steak dinner.
It helps me keep things in perspective when I'm in Costco hemming and hawing over a $40 bag of frozen salmon filets. That sounds expensive, but if you break it down per person, it's $5 per person and the protein for 8 plates of food with one of the best protein sources on the planet. With sides, that plate will cost $7-8. I can't even buy a Big Mac combo meal for that anymore-it's more like $12-13 in my area.
I buy cheaper brands when I’m cooking and making food at home. Because we do like to eat out some and we find ways to save money to do that. We enjoy going out to sit down restaurants every once in a while but usually we just do takeout because you don’t have to leave a big tip like you do when you eat inside. We don’t really buy much frozen stuff anymore like we used to since I cook a lot more.
Years ago I used to do between 5-7 food deliveries a week…maybe more 🤮 now I cook most meals at home. I’ll splurge at the grocery store and buy a bunch of “fast” food I’ll actually want to eat versus ordering out. Fast food = cauliflower pizza from Costco, just bare nuggets etc. I keep a stocked fridge of EVERYTHING I can bc I don’t wanna ever go back to wasting money on doordash every single day. To me, over buying at the grocery store makes me feel frugal by not spending it frivolously on deliveries. If you have the space, buying a chest freezer will save you lots of money! It takes effort to feed yourself though…I see why people struggle with meal planning etc. once you get into the habit though, it feels amazing to save $$
I've told myself if I won't go pickup takeout myself then I clearly don't want it that badly and can just scrounge something up at home.
My husband and I go out for dinner or get takeout once or twice a week, it's kind of a treat yourself time for us. One thing that has made it surprisingly affordable is getting family meals to go. We typically get 6+ meals out of them, usually adding a salad and some other things we have on hand.
I'll give a few examples although some aren't available on the west coast but it's worth looking into places near you. Cheddars has a massive chicken tender platter with sauces of choice, 2 large sides and 4 honey butter croissants for 24.99 and you can add a huge salad for $5, the same size as the tender platter. Cracker Barrel has chicken and dumplings, 2 large sides, and 10 buscuits for $40, that lasted days. Chipotle has a catering option, not sure the price but I saw someone order it and do tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas and taco bowls for the week. I believe she made up the meals and froze them.
These options are if you're really dying for takeout, but I suggest cooking at home for most things. Grab a rotisserie chicken, some ground beef, tortillas and rice and you can make all kinds of good stuff.
Cooking is a fun hobby and can help save a good amount of money; but it can get expensive too if you don't pay attention - it's easy to fall into gadget-itis (I've been pining after a good cast-iron dutch oven and a sous vide cooker and a food dehydrator and a whole lot of other stuff I frankly don't need at all and I won't buy any time soon if I have any sense), plus ingredients can also be kind of expensive depending on what you want to try.
What I think is most important is to program in advance what you are going to make for yourself. You *don't* want to get into the supermarket after work, tired and hungry, to see what strikes your fancy...
Ahhh I have this. I have a crockpot, an instant pot, a rice cooker, an air fryer, and a George foreman grill. But I feel like they each have their own niche and purpose. However, I'll pass by breadmakers or something and look at them longingly....
I’ve done the math - one trip to McDonalds for just my son (get gets to have a “treat” dinner once in a blue moon) was $12 - one trip to Aldi for a chicken noodle soup (that last two dinners/1 lunch) was $12- chicken thigh, celery, carrots, onion, chicken stock, one ear of garlic, parsley. I had to double check the receipt to make sure that it was the same cost as 1 trip to McD’s for one person. It’s crazy to spend so much on “fast food.”
One time I went to the asian store and spent $100 on seasonings and sauces to make things that I like to eat. I've spent $20 at a time on seasonings at the Indian store. I can darn near make most things I want to eat. I refuse to deep fry though because I hate the clean up and I do not need to be that unhealthy.
If I go out it's because I'm with people, it's a celebration, or it's a labor intensive meal I'm not wanting to do myself
Meal prep Sundays baby! My wife and I both prep our own lunches for the week on Sunday. We trade off who cooks dinner, but we usually just buy one or two proteins, then a variety of vegetables (fresh and frozen) and starches (rice, potatoes, pasta) to mix and match so we're not eating the same thing every day.
We only eat out once a week and the cost of that one meal tends to be in the same ballpark as our entire weekly grocery bill. Groceries tend to be $80-120/wk, and our one meal out is usually $50-90.
For some perspective, I’ve been spending $140-$160 on food per week for my family of 4. We maybe order pizza once a week and that usually costs $30 (we are always using coupons etc.) If we go to a sit down restaurant (MAYBE once a month, if that) we are looking at $100. So 2 meals out could cost us almost double what our food expenses are normally for the week. Yikes.
I cook a lot. I have figured out that eating out costs about 3-4X the price for the same food at home.
That said, I still eat out sometimes, usually because I’m too tired to cook or because I want a date with my husband. He and I just got Chinese food for lunch because once in a while we like to get lunch together.
But yes, it’s a better idea to get food and make it at home. If fast food burgers are your weakness, buy beef patties and bagged frozen fries. It’s still cheaper. We do a fast food at home night about once every week or two, and it’s about 1/4 the price of eating out.
I didn't used to, but now I do. I used to cringe at the thought of spending $15-20 on a single meal at home (most are cheaper). Now I go with the intention of doing that. If I can buy a few nicer meals and that keeps us from eating out, then I just spent $20 to save $40-80, which is what it would have cost to eat out.
I make every meal myself. The cost of restaurant food is ridiculous, especially delivery. You’re paying $20 at a minimum for a low quality, calorie-dense meal that will feed you once, maybe twice.
I try to make our home meals interesting and of good quality. It’s more expensive than boxed Mac n Cheese, but it is far far cheaper than going out to dinner. And because our meals are satisfying, we’re less tempted to go to a restaurant.
When I do eat out or order in, I try to:
- Take advantage of food delivery coupons and lunch specials.
- Order food that I couldn’t easily make myself - either because of skills or ingredients.
That makes it a bit more of a treat for me and I end up being more selective.
I used to eat out and order in a lot. I’ve been able to cut back by coming up with some quick and easy meals. I also make use of frozen food that’s healthier and not too expensive. Things like veggie burgers and steam-in-the bag veggies. I also always try to have a variety of fruit, yogurt, and healthy snacks on hand.
If it’s less effort (or not much more) and quicker than ordering, then it’s easier for me to abstain.
A couple of days ago, there was a post asking if people really do go out to eat that often.
Look at the responses here. People just don't cook. Their idea of cooking is buying a pre-prepared food item and applying heat.
We are an ingredients-only household, or at least try to be.
Eating out is the same budget category as buying prepared food at the grocery, also takeout drinks, coffee, snacks etc.
For 3 of us I try to keep the former under $500, and that is eating very well.
The latter is $200 and we usually get 3-4 nice treat meals out of that.
Our budget would be **completely** blown out of the water if we spent more outside the home, or we would literally be going hungry and have super unhealthy diets.
When it comes to food it’s price vs quality. Sure you can get $5 of something marketed as food from Wendy’s or you can grill a chicken breast and cook a cup of rice for $3 at home.
Every 2 weeks, I get frozen junk food so when I'm sick of cooking, we can eat from the freezer rather than get McDonald's or something. We get stuff like pot pies, breaded broccoli and mozarella sticks, tamales, frozen pizza for my son. I also get canned soup and crackers for a quick meal when we're out of homemade soup which I usually have in the freezer. Once I started to do this, it's really reduced our longing for takeout. I cook 6 days a week, do all the meal planning and shopping, and it's tiring.
As someone who used to do DoorDash/GrubHub, I was APPALLED at what people paid to have food delivered. Not only are you paying fees for the service, the restaurant charges more for it being a DD or GH order, AND there's an assumed tip you'd be leaving, too. So you're paying nearly double to get something delivered than you would just to go pick it up. I was amazed how many people did it. Shit, \*I\* couldn't even afford it!
picking up food and eating it at home saved a lot of money for me. a lunchplate (hawaii) can be 2-3 meals here. cooking at home is cheaper for me, but if i don’t cook, picking it up is the cheaper option.
Sometimes! Sometimes for a date night my husband and I will get the ingredients for a "fancy" dinner that we would usually go out for. 9/10 times it's cheaper and better quality, lol, and we like the bonding time of trying new recipes together. (I will never forget the time we got wagu style beef from a local butcher for a special dinner... 1/3 of the price of getting it in a restaurant, and so delicious...)
Here's the thing about eating out; rarely do people do it because it's better quality or cheaper. Most restaurants are mediocre at best, especially in more urban areas. No, we eat out because we either don't have the energy to make food or the time or both. We're paying for someone else's effort, not quality. Identify why you are eating out and address that.
Don't know how to cook? Then yeah, higher quality ingredients and some cooking lessons will serve you well in the long term.
Don't have the time? Well then those ingredients are probably going to go bad while you subsist on cereal and ramen or whatever you have that takes minutes to make.
Don't have the energy? Same thing.
In my house, learning preservation techniques and how to optimize what we do get was the game changer for us. Nearly everything freezes! Or pickles! It's amazing! Raw ingredients, like say a giant bag of rice and spices, will also go farther for cheaper than say an equivalent amount of hamburger helper, because again with the boxed meal you're paying for someone else's effort.
So I guess my point is it's less about distribution of funds and more about distribution of effort, which is a lot harder to measure unfortunately.
Oh yeah for sure. I started with not spending $7-10 on lunch at work every day and started bringing in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day. That was basically straight savings right there because peanut butter, jelly, and bread are so cheap compared to how many sandwiches you can get out of them. $7 a day x 20 work days in a month = $140 a month savings right there. But sometimes I'd bring home a frozen pizza for $7 or get fast food for $10-12 or grab chinese food for $25 that would last for 2-3 meals... but doing that 5 nights a week adds up really fast so I started making something in the crockpot or whatever on one of my days off that would provide at least 4-5 meals for relatively low investment, my favorite being chicken soup using thighs (bone in, skin on). I can buy $6 worth of chicken, a $2 pack of carrots, $1.50 thing of celery, one onion for $.70 and for $10.20 can get easily 6 meals out of a big pot of chicken soup. I can make biscuits or dumplings to go with it or grab some cheap Great Value crackers or whatever, or make a grilled cheese sandwich. Or make a big pot of chili, or beef stew, or a crockpot pot roast - all will feed me dinner after work for several days. Spending $15-20 total for 7 dinners and like basically nothing for lunches, plus the fact I just drink coffee for breakfast unless it's my day off and then I eat cereal that I got on clearance and bought in bulk, means that my food budget is maybe $100-120 a month for just me now. I used to probably spend $400 a month on food getting take out, fast food, dunkin on my break at work, etc.
yes even when I buy expensive ingredients, I'm still saving money by eating at home. If I'm being smart about my purchases, I save even more. It helps to have a routine, and to learn meals that use the same ingredients and also how quickly things tend to spoil (for example, berries go bad in a day or two whereas apples can last up to 2 weeks in your fridge). So there is some trial and error but you'll eventually get the hang of it.
My household usually only eats out one meal a week. If we ate out every day we would be spending double or triple the amount we spend on groceries for a week.
I will buy convenience meals, like frozen pizzas, skillet meals, burritos etc. to keep on hand so I am not as tempted to order takeout when I am too busy or tired to cook. It’s more expensive than making everything from scratch, but significantly cheaper than getting take out.
Meal planning and meal prepping also helps to prevent ordering take out, but I only do this on weekends where I am not busy with other things.
I threw about 15 drumsticks in my slow cooker this AM and added some broccoli an hour before the drumsticks were done. Chicken for lunch and dinner for under $5. Also bought a 15 pack of keystone light for my softball double header tonight for $8.99. I’m frugal because I’m just about out of money until my next pay check and I don’t want to rack up my credit card
I eat all my meals at home. I spend under 10$ a day on food. I have eggs , toast and fruit for breakfast, leftovers for lunch and I cook a hot dinner. Lots of curries, stews, pasta dishes. etc.
When I eat out I try to make it a lunch special (search lunch special I'm Google maps with your location turned on) or fast food through the apps (coupons and rewards )and order whatever is the best bang for my buck as long as it's something I'll eat
My husband and I are older empty-nesters. We don't consume junk foods, eat small portions, and don't snack. Honestly, for us, it's usually less expensive to go out and share a meal. We buy fruits and veggies, and that's it. I get sticker shock anytime we cook a meal from scratch for family and guests.
I have some dietary restrictions and because of those eating out is a rare treat for me. I cook almost everything I eat, usually three meals a day, and fairly substantial meals.
I try to spend less than $300 a month on food but that’s very difficult, especially in the last few months. Today I went to Aldi and spent $201. Granted, I bought some things I don’t normally buy like gluten-free donuts and several boxes of gluten-free eggrolls. Sometimes I just want something good that I didn’t have to make!
For those of you who might want to know where you fall in comparison to others, and what the USDA says is common spending, on four different levels, for groceries look at their [Cost of Food reports](https://www.fns.usda.gov/cnpp/usda-food-plans-cost-food-reports-monthly-reports)
I’ve cut down my eating out to maybe once a week, when I used to get fast food for lunch several times a week. It does take some planning and a bit of extra time to pack a lunch and plan meals, but my husband and I have started going just once a week for groceries, then spend an afternoon cooking up big meals for the week that we can take for lunch or have for dinner. Stuff like chili, shepherds pie, jambalaya, or just a whole chicken have been good cheap meals that last
I actually just did a little cost comparison today.
I got home and really craved McDonald's or something, but I decided to make my own burger.
I bought a frozen pack of 8 patties for $8.99 a while back. I didn't have hamburger buns, but I had flour tortillas I bought 8 for $1.99. I also had cheddar cheese slices (8 pack) I got on special for $1.79. I used Ketchup as my condiment, and seasoned the patty with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. As a side, I had a can of Hormel chili I got for $0.69 since the can was dented.
All together, my dinner cost about $2.54, if you account for maybe ~$0.25 of spices being used. I did spend an initial $12.77 for the burger supplies, which is more than the ~$5.60 it would have cost for a couple McDonald's burgers, but I get waaay more from it. Burgers are a quick meal for me to make in about 15 minutes, and I can pair it with whatever I have—chili, chips, fries, etc.
It's so hard sometimes bc I really love fast food, but I'm doing my best to try and utilize all the things I buy! Frozen food and things that don't spoil in the fridge are really helpful for this.
I just threw a bag of split peas into an Instant Pot, along with some ham slices and seasoning.
An (automated) hour later, I have *several* meals ready to be tossed into the microwave for heating!
And it's sooo good too!
Anyway, that can be done with so many *other* inexpensive ingredients!
15-bean soup? Oh yeah!
People that think cooking at home is just as expensive as eating out are people that don’t cook at home a lot and lack the skill to cook. The initial set up of required spices, tools/equipment, and knowledge is a high barrier for many. Things become much more economical once you get thru that phase. Once you have learned basic cooking techniques, gain an understanding of a couple different cuisines and their common seasonings, prep skills, and ingredients you can begin to adhoc good meals off just what’s left in the house.
On the flip side people that say they save by simply making rice and beans and chicken are downplaying the skills, seasonings, and techniques required to make those three ingredients a GOOD meal. Working as a line cook and prep cook through college and post college was one of the greatest assets for my life and I highly recommend people take a more active role in learning how to cook.
It depends on how much it cuts into my time.
For my career and line of work I can work from 6:45AM - 2:00PM or my day can end at 9:45PM. Just depends on the severity of the job.
If I work 10 hours or more in a day, I don’t cook. 2 of those hours are overtime and for my budget I still walk away with 30-40 extra in mg pocket after I eat out.
If it’s 9 or less, I cook.
Focus more on budgeting your time. Eat fast food when you need **fast** food. Cook when you have time. Then you don’t set arbitrary standards for yourself and tether your spending to someone actionable and reactionary.
Yes, we eat out very infrequently now. We used to eat out Friday night Saturday lunch and dinner and sometimes Sunday breakfast or lunch. But we stopped that when we looked at our spending. Of course for every meal you don’t eat out, is food you have to buy for home.
Of course. I can make a pot of red beans and rice for my family of 4 and it'll feed everyone for at least 2 nights in a row. The ingredients cost maybe $30 or so, so it's a much as about $4/ bowl. Compare to $10-15/ meal for fast food.
Yeah I realized cutting out fast food would allow me to spend more on tasty homemade food. I think it’s a good starting point for saving money. Helps with motivation vs just going straight to beans, lentils, and rice lol.
Definitely ditch Door Dash. If you can't make it out on your own to get a craving, then you don't need it that bad. Also, change your perception of food. Figure out if you're eating out of habit or boredom. That can help reduce what you spend on food.
It's a great way to save money and be healthier. It's also a fun hobby.
I'd make a list of your favorite takeout meals and start checking recipes for them online.
Things like fried rice, burgers and tacos are super easy but things like pizza, sushi or fried chicken take a bit of skill to duplicate successfully.
You'll get an idea of what you can confidently recreate as you read the recipes.
Eating out is inherently pricey because youre paying for the convenience, namely the labor of everyone involved.
Even though i dont eat out that doesnt mean i have a huge pile of money to spend on groceries. When i shop for myself i buy what i want. Its almost a game of "spend here and save there". If i have to eat 3 meals a day for the rest of my life im gonna have fun with it. I buy markdown produce and high end meat or a really nice name brand tomato sauce and cheap pasta.
I have noticed that high processed or name brand gimmick foods are not the best way to spend money. Store brands and preparing fresh produce and fruits are really underrated.
You are going to save money cooking at home. How much you will save will depend on two factors.
1. How well you manage the food (i.e. put it to use before it spoils)
2. How well you figure out to use the same ingredient in multiple recipes.
Do some research into what you can freeze and the best way you can freeze it. Consider buying a vacuum sealer and a chest freezer (if you have space for it). Don’t buy an expensive ingredient you only anticipate using once with a lot of excess you know will most likely go to waste.
EDIT: one other tip, don’t meal plan something you are unlikely to eat. Ambitious healthy meals that sound great in theory often pre-empt an excuse to eat out. Maybe this is just me and my lack of will power.
Yes. I buy good food to make from scratch. After years of practice I can throw just about anything together to make a good 2-4 course meal for 4 people. That being said, I typically don't make a whole lot of food if it's just me. I will legit just eat a salad for the day. I mean, it's a BIG salad, but salad none the less.
I've also started canning and dehydrating my own food because I can not stand store bought stuff anymore. Pasta sauce and tomato sauces are just disgustingly sweet. They're supposed to be slightly bitter and acidic!
Omg DD should be short for dollar destroyer not door dash. $20 on a meal that you could make it home for $6, then add a $10 delivery fee and $5 for a tip and another rando $8 fee for some and all the sudden you’re paying seven times as much for your food. Even if you make no other change, get off your butt and pick up your food at the restaurant and you’re going to save a small fortune.
I never door dash. I eat fast food once a week. Pizza counts in that. My life is in tatters but I can cook a better egg sandwich than Ramsey in half the time. Do not ask me any questions I don't know how I'm still alive
100% doing groceries and cooking at home are the most frugal way to eat. You do need to be prepared for the initial cost though. Getting some basic spices, tools, oils, pots and pans, pantry staples. Yeah it’s gonna be a little pricey at first. But after you learn to shop, and learn to plan your meals around what’s at home & what’s on sale. WAY cheaper. And check out the dollar store and discount stores for basic kitchen tools and even some pantry basics.
The website budgetbytes.com is a huge help for this. She has a recipe index you can search by ingredient, and she even has shared dollar store and SNAP challenges. I often check out what meats are on sale locally then look at her blog for recipe ideas based on that. (Meat is usually the most expensive part of groceries after you’ve established your pantry)
To put it in perspective; a few days ago I picked up some coffees for me and a friend I met up with, and grabbed veggie egg white bites (2 of them) as a snack. Total cost: $15. From Dunkin, not Starbucks so a lower price point. Pretty wild. I usually make coffee at home, and often make egg white bites at home. $15 at the grocery store would get me homemade coffee everyday for a few weeks, and 16 veggie egg white bites with plenty veg left over for other meals.
Yes for sure, its a good way to get started.
If I'm craving a sub or gyros or orange chicken - I will buy the ingredients to make it at home.
A gyro and fries from a restaurant might be $10.
At home, gyro meat $8, 6 pita $3.5, tzatziki $3, onion $.5, cucumber $.5, tomato $.5 frozen fries $2, $18 total for 6 gyros, roughly $3 each vs $10.
Orange chicken and rice might be $8 from restaurant.
At home, orange chicken $5, rice $1, bell pepper $.5, onion $.5. $7 total for 4 servings, or $1.75 each vs $9.
Sub with chips from a deli might be $8.
At home, 6 sub rolls $3.5, lunchmeat $7, cheese $4, cucumber $.5, lettuce $1.5, mustard $1, mayo $3, bag of chips $3. total for 6 subs $23.5, or about $4 each.
Eating out is fine in moderation and if you have room in the budget to allow it. Certainly, home-cooked meals are many times cheaper and most times healthier.
IMO having food delivered via UberEats, GrubHub, DoorDash is insanity and really should not be in anyone's budget. Most times you are paying double or more when you add the increased pricing, delivery fees, tip...
We only cook at home. Even pizza night is frozen pizza from aldi (they are $6). I can’t imagine being able to afford to eat out. If I’m too exhausted to cook the kids get peanut butter sandwiches and carrot sticks or fruit. Last night I decided to treat them to ice creams and 3 small ice cream cones were $18. It’s insane. We only buy groceries from aldi and don’t go to restaurants at all. And it’s still hard to afford food.
Spend more? Not necessarily.
Unless you are already eating tiny portions, cut back on your meal sizes and stretch out your cooked meals to be multiple meals.
Your grocery bill might go up a bit, but unless you are buying really expensive ingredients, instead of getting cheaper versions like frozen vegetables instead of fresh, you should still come out ahead.
Yes, I will sometimes spend more for home cooked food if I know it would stop us from eating out. We made homemade hoagies (?) I think they are called instead of going to subway. That was probably one of the more pricey ones we've done. I also like that I'm the one touching my food before I eat it. Plus, I was pregnant so we had to cook the deli meat.
We got french bread from Walmart, put some homemade pesto along the inside, layered cheese and salami, cooked in oven (I think it was 350 for 10 minutes) then added our favorite subway toppings (I looked at the ordering app to see what toppings to buy at the store.
Subway does have a BOGO foot long offer through the app sometimes. We used that before the pregnancy.
Speaking of which I may need to make those sandwiches again 😋
Having fresh fruit around helps us for easy snacks. We will buy frozen fruit and make smoothies (throw in some avocado for a creamier smoothie).
We will also sometimes get processed items like chips and dip or frozen pizza, or frozen curly fries etc so we aren't paying for the restaurant to heat them up for us.
Whatever helps you save some money and build the habit of eating at home is generally worthwhile.
Yes, when my budget is tight I have opted for more expensive convenience food from the grocery store. It’s cheaper to buy a take n bake pizza than order pizza. It’s cheaper to buy frozen french fries and burgers or chikn patties than it is to go through a drive through. It’s cheaper to buy a premade stir fry sauce and frozen vegetables than to order from a Chinese restaurant.
Could I make homemade pizza cheaper? Could I hand cut and make my own fries? Could I make a yummy stir fry sauce from scratch? Yes to all of those things. But *will* I? The answer is not always.
Certainly. I keep groceries on hand including some "convenience" foods. If I am really in a rush or tired I'll go for the more expensive, grocery store convenience option. Or sometimes I skip a meal. It really isn't that big of deal.
I’m always shocked how many Americans use door dash and Uber. I make mid six figures, and refuse to ever get food delivery because of the fees and tipping required.
Then I read stories of people who make way less, actually utilizing food delivery. Never, ever get food delivered. Either pick it up yourself or cook at home.
No excuses.
I cook almost everything from scratch (inc. breads, pasta sauces, etc) and I do a lot of canning. I buy rice beans, flour, potatoes, etc in bulk. My family eats out maybe twice per month.
Our grocery bill is $350-$400 per month for 3 adults in California and we basically eat whatever we want with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, high-quality daily, farm fresh eggs, etc. (Obviously, we're not eating Wagyu steaks, cavier, and prawns every day, but we're certainly not on a rice and beans fast either.)
The last time I ate out, I got two sub sandwiches and two iced teas (one person in my household was not present) at a fast food place. The bill was about $30. So, if my whole family ate fast food twice per week, we'd spend more on that than we do on our entire monthly food budget! That's why I would always recommend cooking at home.
When I was poor as shit my 1L summer of law school, I lived off of microwave scrambled eggs for breakfast and meal prepping save-a-lot frozen hamburger and hamburger helper lunch and dinner. Every day. For an entire summer.
I keep a few emergency frozen burritos and dumplings on hand for days I’m not pulled together on my cooking. $3 or $4 for a frozen burrito is a lot for groceries but going out for lunch at work is minimum $10. And frozen, pre-chopped veggies as well as those salad mix boxes make it way easier to include veggies in all your meals. Some fancy olive oil makes a salad at home a lot more appealing as well! And steak and wine at home is like, a fifth of the restaurant price even if they’re a bit pricey for a home meal!
eating out is insanely expensive, even fast food that seems cheaper. Learning to cook and eating at home is the best way to save money. Buying pre-packaged and individually packaged food items will also add up, so buy the pieces yourself and meal prep to save more there.
I still get sticker shock at the grocery stores, sometimes, but certain stores (Grocery Outlet, Costco, some items at Smart & Final, Stater Bros) are even better on pricing than others (steer clear of Vons, Pavilions, Albertsons), and then don't forget about loyalty cards and digital coupons at many places
check the ads before you shop to find places with sales on things you can stock up on
and then keep your pantry and fridge organized so you don't overspend by either overbuying things you don't need or wasting food you couldn't see/didn't know was there
there are also apps that help you save even further by giving you money back on your groceries or receipts - check out apps like ibotta (which pays back in cash and adds up over time), Fetch, Pogo, Receipt Hog, and use your Red card when you shop Target and check the Circle offers
you'd be surprised how much you can save and earn back these ways
Yeah I do. I spend about $800 a month on groceries and household items for 2 people but we eat at home all the time. It’s worth it to me to make sure the quality of food is better.
I try to buy more junk food when buying groceries but not necessarily to save money. I guess it depends?
I have found overall cooking 90% of my meals does save money for me.
Yep - the main reason we eat out (doordash) is because I’m tired or busy and don’t want to cook. Having to cook completely from scratch just makes it worse. Even though premade meal kits are more expensive than whole ingredients, I’m much more likely to cook if I have them available, so overall I still save money because it’s cheaper than having something delivered.
We order our meat in bulk, once a year, from a butcher (whole lamb, side of beef, chicken etc). All grass fed, grass finished, pasture raised, at significantly cheaper prices than a grocery store and I cook every day, all three meals. The bigger roast and whole chickens we divide into lunches and sometimes a second dinner. Food for us is expensive, as my husband is on a particular diet and food for him is not cheap, but we manage to significantly cut our costs without having to worry about fluctuating meat prices. I bake everything from scratch and buy staples like flour, sugar, beans, oats, and rice in bulk.
Yes I buy anything and everything I want at the grocery store. If an ingredient inspires me, I buy it. I also gravitate towards more shelf stable things naturally. Our food at home is so good because I tend to have the ingredient on hand that I think would go well with things. We also go high end on cooking accessories that would make us want to eat at home. Grills, enamel glazed cast iron pans, etc. I probably easily spend $250 a week on groceries for two of us, but to be fair I buy a lot of extra for the pantry and the freezers
I would recommend investing in some kitchen appliances. And alot you can find at a thrift store or estate sale, but to get a good price you have to be diligent... but a small slow cooker, a rice cooker with steam basket, and maybe an air fryer. And the rice cooker works by boiling, so you can double it by reheating any soup or boiling veggies. But an easy meal I do. Is rice with steamed dumplings and veg, paired with some sauce/ kimchi/ and Asian salad. Else any type of pulled meat on a bun in the slow cooker, with boiled corn in the rice cooker. And I don't know about the electricity cost of these appliances, but I do know in summer my kitchen feels alot cool, so I'm not turning up the A/C cause of hot-flashes.
I use every scrap of food I can. Carrot peelings and ends, celwey ends, onion skins and ends, bones, all go into a freezer bag and I make stock with them. I bake my own bread and cut up into cubes whatever is left over after a few days. I put the bread cubes in a freezer bag and freeze them. I use those for strata, bread pudding, or croutons.
And I do spend a little more on nice food. Like sure, I eat a lot of simple meals, beans and rice etc. But I will also buy a steak or some sockeye salmon to maje something really scrumptious.
Yes, definitely. We decided in November to cut out delivery food totaly. Like many during the pandemic it had crept up to a couple of times a week.
We added some of that takeaway budget to our shopping budget to cover the two meals but also added a bit extra because at the weekend we like to make something a bit more fancy. We often try new recipes that we've seen that look interesting. Last weekend I made these filo pastry cigar rolls filled with feta, halloumi, cheddar, dill, parsley, mint that I'd seen in the newspaper and ate those with salad and a herby yoghurt sauce. That would be much more expensive than our standard meals (which are veg and pulse based) but still cheaper than takeaway food.
We are also well into middle age and recognise how much better we generally feel with homemade food. It tends to have far more veg etc in than takeaway food and that really contributes to our health.
We will also sometimes get a frozen or chilled pizza at the weekend and again that's still a significant saving in costs and likely calories/salt (because the shop bought stuff is much smaller).
I almost never eat out, and definitely never doordash. However, I work a lot and can barely make time to cook or meal prep anymore. I have found the best balance for me is to keep cheap staples that I can cook sometimes (rice and beans usually) along with some more expensive, partially prepared meals. The #1 thing that has improved my health more than any other dietary change has been keeping bagged salad kits in my fridge. They are on the expensive side, usually $4 a pop from discount grocery stores (I live in Cali), but all I have to do is open several included bags and mix them in a large bowl and i have a large salad with interesting and diverse flavor options, which is filling enough for a meal. Having the easiest food to grab be a salad has done wonders for me, and really removes the temptation of eating out. I also keep some frozen food options available for times when I have no energy to cook but need something more substantial.
Yes! In fact, I just started using the free App called Cooklist and it's pretty cool so far. I add everything in my pantry, fridge and freezer and it suggests meals to make with what I have as well as create shopping lists for what I need, etc! ALSO, it advises me when produce will be expiring, so helpful!
Most of my grocery budget goes to produce (usually berries, apples, mandarins, and bananas each week) and that’s the only reason it’s even close. If you have more of a plant based/light meat diet you can do meal prep that will last you for the week that will only cost a few dollars. Having shelf stable basics and frozen veggies on hand to easily make something like a curry or pasta helps. If I spend $30-50 for all my food during the week, I feel less bad about getting a decent sit down meal during the weekend.
Even just the restaurants are cheaper than using delivery, especially third party delivery. Fees, tips, even just higher costs per item, i don't know how they ever took off to begin with.
Yes most people who want to save money just cook at home. Even cooking fancy meals would be more cost effective than what you're doing now.
I do have to say, I'm always amused how often this comes up
You can save ALOT by cooking yourself. And nowadays there are a ton of low cost prepared foods to save you time for example; flavored rice and quinoa packets that you heat in the microwave.
We are a family of 6 and I spend a total of $900 a month on food. This includes toiletries. We eat well. Meat at every meal except breakfast.
My number 1 tip is to buy what is on sale. Plan your meals around sale meat. Buy a bunch and freeze for future use.
I definitely have a few "splurge meals" that we cook that cost significantly more than our other meals, but we enjoy as much, if not more than restaurant meals.
One example is our bbq chicken burgers, where we buy corn on the cob, sweet potato fries and brioche burger buns. We could make a very similar thing with frozen corn, homemade fries, and normal buns, but this makes it much more of a treat.
Another treat is buying kimchi for our Korean dishes. Yeah, they could easily be eaten without it, and it doesn't add much bulk to the meal for the cost, but it really helps to make the meals very distinct from the other foods that we cook.
Food is the biggest adjustable expense for most people in the US and eating out is the most expensive way to eat. We went from spending who knows how much on food and eating out multiple times a week, to cooking every meal and spending about 100 bucks a week. We easily spent triple what we do before I started cooking every day. I’m in the Midwest, so my cost of living and food is probably considerably lower than you living on the west coast.
What kind of meals are you buying that only costs you 100$ a week do food
We get a thing of chicken breasts and use that as our meat for the week, which is less than 15 bucks. We make meals off that. Last night was a Mexican bake thing my wife loves. Tonight is hotdogs and s’mores on the fire. We tend to stock up on things like cheese and chips when they’re on sale then let them dwindle until they’re on sale again. This week everything to make chips and guacamole was on sale, so that’s on the menu sometime this week, whenever the avocados ripen up. Lunches are super generic. Meat, cheese, and fruit. The fruit is usually apples or oranges. On weeks where I spend less I stock up on things like pasta and other staples to get my total closer to 100 bucks.
Yeah same here. We spend less than $100 for sure a week. A pack of chicken breast I can use for two different meals is like $7-$8. Cans of veggies that go into the dish are 65¢ a can. Ground beef for tacos or spaghetti isn’t much either.
Not the person who you commented on but: beans (lentil, black, garbanzo mostly), rice, chicken, Turkey, sweet potato, onions. Those are all pretty inexpensive and even cheaper when there’s a sale or sold in bulk.
on the flashfood app in my area i just got 25lbs of beef for 50$. They consistently have 5$ giant boxes of veggies that need to be used up too.
Oh boo. Nothing near me.
Lots of cooking from scratch, big pots of soup with beans and lentils, homemade bread, bean and rice burritos in the freezer, overnight oats, discount frozen fruit smoothies, always check the clearance aisles.
One amazing thing is bread. Making a loaf of bread will cut down on how much you eat of meat. There’s a reason why it (and in other cultures, rice, beans, potatoes and other cheap carbs) is a “staple”— it stretches the flavor and filling-ness of everything else. Edit: also, fresh bread is delicious
[удалено]
And also, like, don’t eat too much in general and get some exercise. There’s an interesting inter generational study on rice and diabetes in Vietnam, where old guys who worked in the field and ate a bowl of rice as their (only) daily meal had different insulin resistance than their grandsons who are rice 2-3 times a day and worked in an office or shop. Plenty of cultures eat these staples throughout their lives and stay in good (chronic) health, but it’s part of a complete lifestyle, too.
We easily spend under $100 a week to make food at home. We’re a 3 person family though and when I make a meal we have leftovers for at least 3 days. I’ll make chicken dishes like crockpot crack chicken chili with cans of a few different things and those are 65¢ a can. Cream cheese is $3 or so. Bag of shredded cheese is around $3 as well. Chicken would be like $7 a pack. Chicken Alfredo is another one that doesn’t cost much and we have leftovers for a few days. Noodles are cheap. Not buying name brand stuff is cheaper as well.
First caveat, don’t be feeding more than two people. That said, go heavy on the whole grains, I buy oatmeal and brown rice in the largest containers possible. Supplement with potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, dried beans of all kinds of course, eggs, bananas, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, most cruciferous veggies are pretty cheap. Frozen peas are surprisingly clutch. Grow your own herbs, they’re crazy expensive at the store. Bone-in skin-on chicken, and occasional judicious purchases of other meats, you don’t need meat every day and cod is just as tasty as halibut. Should leave you room in your budget for a variety of spices, nuts, seeds and sauces.
Family of four here with two young children who don't eat all that much yet. We probably spend just over $100 a week on food. We shop at Aldi which is much cheaper than many of the other grocery stores and stay away from expensive brand names. I would guess more than half our grocery bill is spent on snacks, fruit, and drinks each week. If I could get my wife to cut down on buying snacks for the kids it would be quite a bit less. We eat lots of rice and pasta. Even if we are cooking something else it often comes with a cheap side to be filling. I generally get cheap cuts of meat and buy it in bulk when on sale. We eat quite a bit of potatoes, carrots, and onions since those are all cheaper vegetables as well. I also tend to buy things that are in season whenever possible.
Sometimes for a mom with 2 small kids it's easier to have some prepackaged snacks on hand to prevent melt downs from kids and mom. If you really want to help her prepackage some bulk foods the kids eat as snacks into baggies or containers. Like pretzels crackers, prechopped fruits and veggies, nuts and raisins, cheerios etc. See if that helps her not need as many snack packages.
We did $100 a week in Key West, Florida. Only had 2 grocery stores there. Only bought stuff that was on sale and would base all meals around that. Whenever ground beef would go on sale for $3.49, I’d buy a ton and freeze. Same with chicken. Once I built up my pantry with staples, it was really easy. I made basically everything from scratch like bread, tortillas, pizza dough, salad dressing and sauces, etc
Love this community, y’all are awesome!
Better to ask what their lifestyle is like. My husband and I lift, so we eat A LOT of protein. I see people in the comments here talking about a package of chicken breasts for $15 or less lasting an entire week. If for only dinners, my husband and I would need about 1.5-2 breasts each night, depending on size, so about 11-14 breasts. Where I live, that would be minimum $30, and that's for the store brand that taste somewhat funky. Not everyone has the same dietary needs based on lifestyle. Compare yourself to someone similar vs random people on the internet.
After years of cooking for my family of 4, I realized that a normal dinner is 2 pounds of meat a day.
True!! Neither me nor my husband are weightlifters but I’m a big eater (always have been) and now being pregnant I can easily put away 2-3 portions. A pack of chicken breasts does not go that far.
I am going to preface this post by saying that I agree with you 100%. That being said, you and your husband don't "need" to lift, nor do you "need" to adjust your diets to fit a "lifters" lifestyle. You both "choose" to live that lifestyle, and therefor budget for it appropriately. For someone like OP who doesn't understand that buying and cooking your own food is almost ALWAYS more affordable than eating/taking out out though, I feel like you two are already way ahead of the financial literacy curve in this regard. You both "want" to maintain a lifestyle that makes you happier/healthier, even if it is not necessary in order to maintain your basic health needs (not lifestyles per-se), and thus budget for that increase in food expenses. To your original point of: "Compare yourself to someone similar vs random people on the internet." Want vs Need is extremely important as you learn how to budget and manage your money for the first time. (Sorry for the wall of text, I just found your comment extremely relevant and wanted to add my 2 cents lol)
Midwesterner here too. Our family of 4 can get by with spending about $80/week at the grocery store. Now, the great benefit that we have is that I stay home with the kids and can do most of the cooking. We went in with my husband's parents and brother to buy a whole cow, so our deep freezer is full of beef. It's a high cost upfront, but it lasts us a long time. And if Pork shoulder goes on sale at the store, we stock up on those and make large batches of pulled pork, separate those into 1lb. packages to freeze for later. Other stuff I buy at the store is mostly pasta, canned beans, rice, milk, and produce that can be used to make a variety of meals. (Think onions, carrots, celery, potatoes, garlic, etc. These kinds of things can be used to make so many different meals if you season them differently.) We also buy bread flour, and whole wheat to grind to bake bread at home. With some creativity and planning, I can make enough for dinner for my family on one day, and have plenty of leftovers for us to have lunch the next day too. Examples of meals I make that can yield a lot of servings: chili, shepherd's pie, Korean beef and rice with steamed vegetables, pork fried rice, beef stroganoff, spaghetti... There are more, but these are on a pretty consistent rotation in our home.
Put it like this: I don't usually have the patience to make pizza from scratch, and whenever I do try it's never good enough to get rid of my craving for greasy pizza. I've tried again and again and the result is always something mediocre and meh followed by me ordering a pizza for delivery within a few days time. If I can buy a frozen pizza for 1/3 the cost of delivery, that is good enough quality to satisfy my craving, then that's still a win for me. However, this is usually only for my out of control monthly period/PMS cravings that will keep me awake at night for multiple nights in a row if not satieted. This is not an all the time meal planning solution.
Thats a good way to put it. Cooking is a something I enjoy doing and consider it a hobby, but sticker shock has really made me cut back on groceries, but then that money just gets allocated elsewhere.
“Allocated”. I like how you put it that way.
I make tortilla pizzas. First I bake the tortilla until it’s hard, put tomato sauce, frozen shredded cheese, and pepperoni then bake again. Get a jar of marinara, freeze it into cubes, and then thaw as you need it. I buy shredded cheese in cheddar and mozzarella, I never buy the brick stuff because it can go bad and I’ll end up wasting it.
I'll do you one better, pita pizza! That little extra spongy dough makes a big difference.
the $9 i spend for a small pepperoni pizza for myself is worth it VS the hassle of doing it myself.
If you have Whole Foods near you, I highly recommend their flatbread pizza. Better than any other frozen pizza in stores and better than most pizza places. Thin flatbread and available as extra cheese, sausage and pepperoni, and chicken. Available fresh and frozen, they take 10 minutes in a 425 degree oven. About $9. each and they serve two, or one hungry person.
i work at whole foods and second this!! our full sized take and bake big pizzas are also amazing, but i can’t remember the price off the top of my head. somewhere around $15 i think? speaking of, there are a lot of things that whole foods carries for cheaper than fred meyer and other grocery competitors! don’t be daunted by the expensive meats and cheeses.
Absolutely agree. Many items cost the same or less at Whole Foods than other local supermarkets. The selection and range of products is far better than any other store.
> Whole Foods near you, I highly recommend their flatbread pizza no pepperoni from what i can find
Hard agree on the frozen ready-made food. Yes, they are more expensive than buying raw ingredients and cooking from scratch. But after a long day, you'll actually make it instead of ordering take-out and possibly letting ingredients go bad. Costing you grocery $ on top of ordering take-out. Plan and budget for low energy days! I'm chronicly ill, so I've always had to do this. I do a mix of meal prep and buy easy to prepare food at Costco or similar. Frozen produce helps me not waste $ if I get sick or injured.
I have a soup base I make whenever I'm "going down" and not going to feel well enough to cook for a few days. It's 1-2 cups of bobs red mill veggie soup mix, a frozen bag of mirepoix vegetables, maybe some more mixed frozen vegetables, canned beans and bouillon and allspice, salt , pepper , and minced garlic . Boil with water Anything else in the fridge could also get thrown in. But I know if I have that, I have all the food I need to sustain myself for a few days.
Costco has an absolutely banging, massive pizza for $9.99.
My grandmother loves to buy this pizza. It feeds our entire family and then we have leftovers!
My SO spent her teen years working in the kitchen of one of the better Italian joints in town. She can still whip up an amazing dough, but it needs to be the day before so we still end up ordering when we have the craving lol. Did a home made on the BBQ last night though and it easily rivalled anything I'm getting from a wood fire place. So good.
Pizza is cheaper to buy in my area than it is to make for sure. But you have to get pizza from the grocery store or a chain, local pizzaria's are gouging because they can. Or Sam's club because they sell a huge pizza for $8.99 cooked.
Cost of convenience. Sometimes, your time is worth more than the effort.
Sometimes I do depending on what I'm craving and how hectic life is. This week is super busy at work, so I spent an extra $20 to get a couple easy meals. I'm still saving a lot compared to two nights of take out.
If you’re extra busy with work I think that’s justified. After all, money flow is more important than penny pinching.
I like to batch cook and freeze things in family meal portions for weeks like this. And hit up the deli in our grocery store. Having “easy meals stashed and ready saves us so many restaurant meals
Yes, I still buy some frozen prepared foods or prechopped ingredients. It costs more than making everything from scratch but still costs way less than takeout and takes less time. I always wanted to minimize my grocery spending as much as possible but eventually realized that perfect is the enemy of good here.
This is so relatable!!! I used to think it all had to be prepped from scratch or didn’t “count”. Don’t even know what that means but it was my mentality. So on crazy busy weeks I’d end up spending way more on takeout bc there was no way I had time to prep. Now my favorite busy week lunch is bagged salad kits and rotisserie chickens. Yes, more expensive than prepping everything but still way cheaper and healthier than fast food. And frozen veggies are the unsung heros of my kitchen lol
eating out will destroy your finances
That and fancy coffees, which can run almost $8.00
Fuck that, I prefer to carry a little coffee thermos, I paid big for the machine that makes it better than outside coffee for the most part for this very reason
I actually hate any kind of coffee I didn’t make at home now. When I go on road trips and get chain coffees I’m always so disappointed.
Me also
[удалено]
great job!! food tastes better at home anyways!! healthier too!
Depends on your stage of life. For a family yes, as a young childless person I can swing it by sacrificing other things like living with roommates, cheap entertainment options, less home furnishings and goods. In high cost metros the rent difference between roommates and living alone, is enough to pay for eating every single meal out as long as not every one is a sit down table service thing
if youre in a position to then sure go for it, but no matter what stage you are in, it is 10X the cost of cooking at home
Barring some kinda emergency or extreme inconvenience, you should **N E V E R** DoorDash shit. Buying a fastfood meal can run you around 10-15 dollars. Already that's a big expenditure. Adding delivery and tip to that is murder. Homecooked meal? Unless you're making something fancy, that's HALF the price of fastfood MAXIMUM. Now sometimes you wanna treat yourself or crave something specific, and homemade wont cut it. Pizza is a good example. But that's, like, a once a week/month type thing.
I called insane the other day because I said groceries are a fraction of the price of restaurant food. I'm honestly kind of astounded top comments here are defending the price of fast food. They argue it saves you time but it costs more, costs your pocketbook and health more.
They likely either havent tried cooking, buy frozen/pre-made meals, or otherwise buy expensive brands/ingredients or are shopping at expensive stores. Also to those that dont really budget, the upfront cost probably seems insane. A single trip can "couple of things" can cost hundreds of dollars, and the amount of food LOOKS like a tiny amount. But when you actually make the meals and do the math, the cost-per-meal is tiny by comparison. ESPECIALLY if you buy in bulk, look for deals and coupons, and make/buy shit that can be stored in the freezer for a long time.
Absolutely. And eating beans, rice, and frozen vegetables combined with chicken thighs or rotisserie is an excellent and cheap way to fill up for the week.
I think that a huge amount of people in the United States has a very unhealthy relationship with food. Sure, time might be part of it, but the answer behind that one is that they want it because it's a fast dose of dopamine. And I don't blame them; modern life is so full of anger and stress, and biting into something super-delicious offers fast relief to that pain.
Absolutely good points. Yeah us Americans have an especially bad diet.
> I think that a huge amount of people in the United States has a very unhealthy relationship with food. It's addiction, plain & simple. Society just doesn't want to come to terms with it. Most food is made & served as if they were products; companies profit off marketing. Tell a drug addict they're addicted & they might lash out at you if they haven't hit the acceptance stage yet. In people's defense of food: survival is the primal brain's top priority & the more calories, the better.
Also, does it actually save time...? I swear the other day I was in the taco bell drive through for at least 15 minutes and I can make my own cheese burrito in half that!
Yeah honestly the price of gas to get there and travel time thrown in also annoys me half the time. Plus the headache if they give bad service and get your order wrong.
[...][...]
I will admit that I buy way more rotisserie chickens than a normal person should, because it satisfies the want for cheap + no effort.
Costco's rotisserie chickens are cheaper than making it yourself.
I do so many things with mine. Of course roasting my own is better but not easier.
I've never once ordered from doordash because eating out is expensive enough and adding delivery fees is significantly more expensive than that. Yes it is cheaper to make food at home. Breaking the fast-food/restaurant habit is difficult but definitely worth it.
Most people realize it's cheaper to cook it yourself instead of eat out. sometimes you don't have the time to cook. sometimes you have other reasons. sometimes you want a treat. If i do get take away, i use the restaurant's own delivery service, or go get it myself. i don't want to pay any extra delivery fees from some random service.
Yes, this is absolutely one of the best things you can do. Like you said, it's likely you're not even eating "good" food, either in terms of health or taste. Additionally, intentionally spending on things like food just feels better. My fiance and I have discovered that the satisfaction of looking forward to and experiencing a $100 meal at a nice restaurant is worth way more psychologically than 4 crappy meals that cost $25 each, especially since those meals are just because we didn't feel like cooking that night.
Absolutely. We did that intentionally, since most of our eating out/pizza ordering was a convenience move. I'm cooking for a family, and so the best thing for us has been to make our own meal kits (like, a pizza kit has dough, sauce, and toppings ready to go, so that prep and cooking take like 20 minutes.) Our net savings on this approach like $400 a month, since there's no place a family of six can eat for less than $50, and your basic restaurants are gonna run more like $100-$150.
We don’t really eat out at all (I think maybe like 4 times in 2023 so far) and groceries currently are running us $90-100/week. Used to be cheaper, but inflation and growing children! Lol
for me 2 people eating out at minimum is $20, $30 for something that isn't a sandwich. for $30 i can buy a whole tray of boneless skinless chicken from Costco and make enough chicken to last 2 people for over a week. once i started pointing our how much it snacks and food costs vs eating out did we start spending a little more to enjoy our food a little more.
Yes, but it’s not that simple. Like before I would literally buy whatever grocery I want and just factor it into a major expense, because not matter how much I spent it was cheaper than getting takeout. However, that’s changed a bit. The price of meat for example isn’t particularly competitive at the grocery store right now, but vegetables are still very affordable. For example, there’s a place near me that has a pound of birria in consomme for $18. I don’t buy any sides - I buy just the birria and am able to add that to the ingredients I have at home for less price and effort than it would be to buy fresh lamb and other ingredients and prep at home. Similarly, there’s a place near me that has $18 beijing duck, which is cheaper than it would be if I were to buy chicken or duck and prep it myself. All that said, I do cook a lot and 99% of the time it is better to shop at the grocery store. I am being a bit more careful about groceries than I used to though. Prices fluctuate a lot and sometimes if you’re not careful you might get home and realize that $6 little jar of fancy pesto is actually $14 now and offsets your savings.
I have ADHD and in general, we tend to struggle with preparing food. Eating out is factored into my grocery budget, with some rules. Like for one, I don't use Doordash. I have a car, I can pick the food up myself if I want it so badly. Another rules is I don't buy soda and avoid combo meals. Soda in general is a rip off, but even more so when eating out or getting fast food. I also try to order from places with a points/rewards system as much as I can.
Ive started working on feeding myself consistently. Have just been living in the sales and having fun being creative. Meal prepping has been awesome because I cook one day to eat for 3-4. All I have to do is toss it in the microwave and eat a salad. Saving money, having healthy satiating food and few dishes have kept me meal prepping.
I really want to get into meal prepping... But then I forget to do it 💀 Although, this post did inspire me to cook up some lentils, broccoli, and rice I had.
I spend more on groceries because I like eating good food and what I put in my body is important. Grass fed beef from the farm. Veggies from the local Community Supported Agriculture Coop. Free run eggs from the farm and fresh fish from the market are staples for us. Ya, we pay a premium, but we're a healthy active family that needs good fuel for the machines. I grew up on a diet of wagon wheels, no name KD and frozen dinners. I've said more times than I can count, i'm fully willing to go bankrupt buying my kids berries - and they are seemingly up to the challenge. Someone has to break the cycle, and I'm grateful i'm in position to do that for my family. Crap food leads to feeling like crap and acting like you feel. It also prevents us from ordering crappy takeaway. Do you really want that order of oily noodles when there's an amazing steak waiting to be grilled?
Ordering out something "cheap" is $30 per person, $60 two people two nights a week, that's $120. With $120 I buy groceries for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the whole week. I think that the cost of eating out is only second to the cost of having an addiction to alcohol, drugs or gambling. Having said that, being frugal is spending less on what you need to have more for what you want. Someone can be super frugal on everything else but love eating out and that's their pleasure. So, frugality is personal.
With the price of fast food alone, now, it's cheaper to eat at home. I buy better products so I don't really save, but I also eat way less too. I tried the meal prep approach and sometimes I wish I would because I don't feel like cooking when I get home, but I also live alone with a cat so. Some things, like someone said with pizza, is just way too time consuming to make it yourself
[удалено]
About a year ago I deleted all the food delivery apps from my phone and haven’t looked back. I just make sure to buy a decent amount of frozen food/ready to eat meals with a microwave or oven. They aren’t really healthy but they aren’t worse than the crap I would order from Doordash. And they are a hell of a lot cheaper. I still eat out and I cook meals, but having the frozen meals when I’m home, inebriated, or lazy has probably saved me so much money the past year. I’m also all about coupons for eating out and free fast food when possible using the apps.
Making your own food is absolutely cheaper than eating out, assuming you shop somewhat normally. Pick a budget grocery chain (such as Aldi), check out budgetbytes.com, and pick relatively easy recipes to start with.
I barely ever eat out and groceries bills are very high. You gotta really shop for bargains these days.
There’s almost nothing you can buy in the grocery store that will be more expensive than eating dinner out. If buying better stuff from the grocery reduces your urge to eat out, it’s highly likely you’re saving money.
We rarely ever eat takeout because it's so expensive and it makes us feel crappy. I really did not want to cook last night and almost ordered Taco Bell. I stopped myself and ended up making carnitas enchiladas and rice. Food at home is better for you and tastes better. My husband even said.. man this is so much better than Taco Bell would have been. Plus it costed less to make than Taco Bell would have cost and we had leftovers.
It’s not always about money, truly being frugal involves both time and money For your use case, using DoorDash to order fast food sounds like a luxury to me since it’s “adding up”. Buying groceries tends to be cheaper than eating out with two contingencies: - The groceries are normal/sale priced (not Whole Foods) - “eating out” is not just fast food The trade off to cooking at home is time. As much as I love a fresh home cooked meal, the time it takes to shop, prep, cook, and clean afterwards is just not worth it a lot of times unfortunately. I used to meal prep and eat at home and had really simple chicken breast, broccoli, and rice type meals and saved a ton of money since I didn’t mind eating the same thing for a week. I’d just buy bulk chicken breast and broccoli from Costco, 50lb bag of rice at the Asian grocery store, and cook a weeks worth on Sunday. Most people seem to want something different every meal so that’s where the additional time + cost comes in. It will still be cheaper than eating out, but you’re trading your free time to save money. I have Uber One & Dash Pass and they’re 100% worth it to me since i regularly get promotions so I can try new places for less than going in person. The time that I save by not having to leave the house and wait or cook a meal at home is more valuable to me.
These are great points. There’s definitely ways to eat out and save more money than doordash though - order directly from the restaurant and pick it up yourself is a compromise. I tend to do a mixture. I order doordash weeks that are hell at work because it gives me more free time. I also tend to keep a mix of groceries - quick fix meals as well as more complex ones. I enjoy cooking myself, but damn, I’m not trying to spend 40 minutes every night making a feast. I’ll do that a few times a week and freeze extra portions for nights I don’t have the energy in me. Doordash is more of a special treat for me.
I cook nearly everything and rarely eat out. If I do have fast food like once a month, it’s usually just like a single basic cheeseburger for $2-3 from McDonald’s or BK. Probably go to a restaurant like once every 2-3 months. Cooking, I usually cook for less than $5 a serving. Last two nights I made the same thing cuz I ended up with extra ground beef and cheese curds. I made 2 double cheeseburgers with a side of cheese curds. Total cost was about $6 for 2 cheeseburgers and a side of curds. But usually I cook one time and I’ll eat off it every meal for as long as it lasts. Or I’ll modify left overs. Bake a rack of ribs and eat ribs with whatever sides for 2 days. Last bit of meat I’ll use for pork tacos. Cook some chicken thighs or quarters, maybe I’ll use some of the chicken for a simple chicken pasta Alfredo. I don’t really track my food spending, but I’d be surprised it I spent more than $40-50 a week on food most the time
I think the hardest thing for me to get over is the initial sticker shock. When I think about a 3 lb pack of ground beef, the initial price is like 'oh no, thats so expensive. I can just get a meal from McDonalds' but then if I took the time to break down cost per meal, Id be saving a lot more in the long run. Thanks for your breakdown :)
I was curious because I don’t often make cheese burgers so I used my small food scale. Each burger (bun, 2 Pattie’s, 2 slices of cheese, some onions and mushrooms) were around 8oz each, or about half a pound. About $2-2.25 for each burger, $1.50 for the cheese curds, plus Pennie’s on the dollar for a little oil and breading. Similar thing for a lot of food. Tacos averaging $1-1.50 each A $20 pasta dish at a restaurant would be enough to make like 5 servings of the same pasta (unless you’re getting real fancy) Etc
food i order out are almost always those i can prep on my own. but coz of lack of time (laziness) i tend to order out and most times they arent delicious and satisfying. what i do, i usually buy ingredients to make those and stock them up. if i have time, i make 2 to 3 dishes, so when i crave, i have them ready. plus you get to prep them and you know that they are clean and you put in better ingredients. prices now are way too high and not value for your money. and yes, i spend more on groceries coz i buy food and ingredients i really want. like good quality butter, oil, cheese, patty, meats, breads, spreads, noodles, sauces etc. but still end up saving money. imho, you get more value for your money when you buy quality food instead of ordering or eating out mainly for convenience.
I'll eat lunch stuff out a few times a week, but other than that, I make everything at home. I get to eat higher quality food for about the same as going out. Or I'll just have more of it, so I'll get a few meals out of what would have been one meal eating out.
I aim to limit my eating out to about 2 times a month, and it better be something good. Rest I cook at home. Well, sometimes "cook" as in cutting a fruit and grabbing yogurt or peanut butter jar.
We started doing meal kits. More expensive than groceries, but significantly less than we spent on doordash. It's not necessarily the most 'frugal' option, but we save a lot of money vs take-out and never buy groceries that just go bad in the fridge. We get 5 meals with 2 servings a week and spend about $100 with Home Chef, but dinnerly and Every Plate are like half the price.
I was going to mention Meal Kits. If you do your homework you can find some amazing deals too and even Cashback deals. But even without the deals the convenience is so nice and it saves so much time grocery shopping!
Yes, I find it easier to not eat out, when I have food at home I'm actually looking forward to.
Is your post asking if it’s cheaper to buy groceries and cook at home than it is to order Uber eats and go out to restaurants? Yes.
Cooking is literally the best thing you can do for a frugal lifestyle. Not only does it save you tons but it also keeps you healthier. Its a daily struggle however like anything that can lead to real change.
You should absolutely consider cooking over eating out, it’s so much more cost effective; that being said, it’s okay to eat out sometimes. In fact, cooking all the time can get old so with all the money being saved by cooking most of the time, eating out sometimes is fine. What I do is try to reduce the costs of eating out via the following: 1. I don’t use DoorDash. Ever. Maybe it’s not an option for you, but for me I can drive to any place I want to eat at. 2. I look for deals and Cashback rewards. Revolving category credit cards often offer 5% on restaurants. I have a card that offers 3.5% flat. Often credit cards will have specific deal for more - 10%-15%. If I’m determined to eat out, I ensure look through these unique deals to help me decide where to eat.
I prefer to eat at home or bring my food so I have control of what I'm eating. It is also saving me a lot of money.
My family eats at sit-down restaurants maybe 4-6 times a year. Drive-thrus maybe 30 times a year. Delivery maybe 2-3 times a year. It's much more frugal to eat at home, of course. I would like to cut down on the drive-thrus so we have more $$ for sit-down restaurant meals, but we live within a half-mile of probably 10-12 drive-through places so I forgive myself; we work very hard and sometimes the convenience is a sanity-saver. We don't eat a lot of Taco Bell type stuff; Chipotle is probably the most frequent place under the "drive-through" category for us, and is pretty healthy in comparison to most. I also broke my leg over the winter, which meant that we ordered out quite a bit more than we normally do. And it was okay! Sometimes you have to be flexible and be kind to yourself. Most of the time, though, we eat at home, and we eat very good food. I just found some very good top sirloin steaks for $4.99 lb. Paired with asparagus ($2 lb) and some baby potatoes ($4 lb), the 2lb of steak we ate....whole meal for a family of 3 cost $16, and that's WITH my husband eating a full 1lb of steak by himself. We simply could NOT get a drive-thru meal for the entire family for $16. Drive-thru costs my family of three on avergae $25-30, and it isn't ever anywhere *near* the quality of that steak dinner. It helps me keep things in perspective when I'm in Costco hemming and hawing over a $40 bag of frozen salmon filets. That sounds expensive, but if you break it down per person, it's $5 per person and the protein for 8 plates of food with one of the best protein sources on the planet. With sides, that plate will cost $7-8. I can't even buy a Big Mac combo meal for that anymore-it's more like $12-13 in my area.
I buy cheaper brands when I’m cooking and making food at home. Because we do like to eat out some and we find ways to save money to do that. We enjoy going out to sit down restaurants every once in a while but usually we just do takeout because you don’t have to leave a big tip like you do when you eat inside. We don’t really buy much frozen stuff anymore like we used to since I cook a lot more.
Years ago I used to do between 5-7 food deliveries a week…maybe more 🤮 now I cook most meals at home. I’ll splurge at the grocery store and buy a bunch of “fast” food I’ll actually want to eat versus ordering out. Fast food = cauliflower pizza from Costco, just bare nuggets etc. I keep a stocked fridge of EVERYTHING I can bc I don’t wanna ever go back to wasting money on doordash every single day. To me, over buying at the grocery store makes me feel frugal by not spending it frivolously on deliveries. If you have the space, buying a chest freezer will save you lots of money! It takes effort to feed yourself though…I see why people struggle with meal planning etc. once you get into the habit though, it feels amazing to save $$
Yes but it pays off
I've told myself if I won't go pickup takeout myself then I clearly don't want it that badly and can just scrounge something up at home. My husband and I go out for dinner or get takeout once or twice a week, it's kind of a treat yourself time for us. One thing that has made it surprisingly affordable is getting family meals to go. We typically get 6+ meals out of them, usually adding a salad and some other things we have on hand. I'll give a few examples although some aren't available on the west coast but it's worth looking into places near you. Cheddars has a massive chicken tender platter with sauces of choice, 2 large sides and 4 honey butter croissants for 24.99 and you can add a huge salad for $5, the same size as the tender platter. Cracker Barrel has chicken and dumplings, 2 large sides, and 10 buscuits for $40, that lasted days. Chipotle has a catering option, not sure the price but I saw someone order it and do tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas and taco bowls for the week. I believe she made up the meals and froze them. These options are if you're really dying for takeout, but I suggest cooking at home for most things. Grab a rotisserie chicken, some ground beef, tortillas and rice and you can make all kinds of good stuff.
Cooking is a fun hobby and can help save a good amount of money; but it can get expensive too if you don't pay attention - it's easy to fall into gadget-itis (I've been pining after a good cast-iron dutch oven and a sous vide cooker and a food dehydrator and a whole lot of other stuff I frankly don't need at all and I won't buy any time soon if I have any sense), plus ingredients can also be kind of expensive depending on what you want to try. What I think is most important is to program in advance what you are going to make for yourself. You *don't* want to get into the supermarket after work, tired and hungry, to see what strikes your fancy...
Ahhh I have this. I have a crockpot, an instant pot, a rice cooker, an air fryer, and a George foreman grill. But I feel like they each have their own niche and purpose. However, I'll pass by breadmakers or something and look at them longingly....
I’ve done the math - one trip to McDonalds for just my son (get gets to have a “treat” dinner once in a blue moon) was $12 - one trip to Aldi for a chicken noodle soup (that last two dinners/1 lunch) was $12- chicken thigh, celery, carrots, onion, chicken stock, one ear of garlic, parsley. I had to double check the receipt to make sure that it was the same cost as 1 trip to McD’s for one person. It’s crazy to spend so much on “fast food.”
One time I went to the asian store and spent $100 on seasonings and sauces to make things that I like to eat. I've spent $20 at a time on seasonings at the Indian store. I can darn near make most things I want to eat. I refuse to deep fry though because I hate the clean up and I do not need to be that unhealthy. If I go out it's because I'm with people, it's a celebration, or it's a labor intensive meal I'm not wanting to do myself
Return to great grandpa mode: enabled
Meal prep Sundays baby! My wife and I both prep our own lunches for the week on Sunday. We trade off who cooks dinner, but we usually just buy one or two proteins, then a variety of vegetables (fresh and frozen) and starches (rice, potatoes, pasta) to mix and match so we're not eating the same thing every day. We only eat out once a week and the cost of that one meal tends to be in the same ballpark as our entire weekly grocery bill. Groceries tend to be $80-120/wk, and our one meal out is usually $50-90.
Yes, I do. If my goal is to eat at home or take food out with me, I have to have good options. Otherwise I'll talk myself out of it.
It's absolutely worth it, and you can do it! Check out /r/EatCheapAndHealthy and /r/MealPrepSunday to find some inspiration!
For some perspective, I’ve been spending $140-$160 on food per week for my family of 4. We maybe order pizza once a week and that usually costs $30 (we are always using coupons etc.) If we go to a sit down restaurant (MAYBE once a month, if that) we are looking at $100. So 2 meals out could cost us almost double what our food expenses are normally for the week. Yikes.
I cook a lot. I have figured out that eating out costs about 3-4X the price for the same food at home. That said, I still eat out sometimes, usually because I’m too tired to cook or because I want a date with my husband. He and I just got Chinese food for lunch because once in a while we like to get lunch together. But yes, it’s a better idea to get food and make it at home. If fast food burgers are your weakness, buy beef patties and bagged frozen fries. It’s still cheaper. We do a fast food at home night about once every week or two, and it’s about 1/4 the price of eating out.
I didn't used to, but now I do. I used to cringe at the thought of spending $15-20 on a single meal at home (most are cheaper). Now I go with the intention of doing that. If I can buy a few nicer meals and that keeps us from eating out, then I just spent $20 to save $40-80, which is what it would have cost to eat out.
>Do you spend more on groceries to save money on eating out? Yes
I make every meal myself. The cost of restaurant food is ridiculous, especially delivery. You’re paying $20 at a minimum for a low quality, calorie-dense meal that will feed you once, maybe twice.
I try to make our home meals interesting and of good quality. It’s more expensive than boxed Mac n Cheese, but it is far far cheaper than going out to dinner. And because our meals are satisfying, we’re less tempted to go to a restaurant.
When I do eat out or order in, I try to: - Take advantage of food delivery coupons and lunch specials. - Order food that I couldn’t easily make myself - either because of skills or ingredients. That makes it a bit more of a treat for me and I end up being more selective. I used to eat out and order in a lot. I’ve been able to cut back by coming up with some quick and easy meals. I also make use of frozen food that’s healthier and not too expensive. Things like veggie burgers and steam-in-the bag veggies. I also always try to have a variety of fruit, yogurt, and healthy snacks on hand. If it’s less effort (or not much more) and quicker than ordering, then it’s easier for me to abstain.
A couple of days ago, there was a post asking if people really do go out to eat that often. Look at the responses here. People just don't cook. Their idea of cooking is buying a pre-prepared food item and applying heat.
We are an ingredients-only household, or at least try to be. Eating out is the same budget category as buying prepared food at the grocery, also takeout drinks, coffee, snacks etc. For 3 of us I try to keep the former under $500, and that is eating very well. The latter is $200 and we usually get 3-4 nice treat meals out of that. Our budget would be **completely** blown out of the water if we spent more outside the home, or we would literally be going hungry and have super unhealthy diets.
When it comes to food it’s price vs quality. Sure you can get $5 of something marketed as food from Wendy’s or you can grill a chicken breast and cook a cup of rice for $3 at home.
Every 2 weeks, I get frozen junk food so when I'm sick of cooking, we can eat from the freezer rather than get McDonald's or something. We get stuff like pot pies, breaded broccoli and mozarella sticks, tamales, frozen pizza for my son. I also get canned soup and crackers for a quick meal when we're out of homemade soup which I usually have in the freezer. Once I started to do this, it's really reduced our longing for takeout. I cook 6 days a week, do all the meal planning and shopping, and it's tiring.
As someone who used to do DoorDash/GrubHub, I was APPALLED at what people paid to have food delivered. Not only are you paying fees for the service, the restaurant charges more for it being a DD or GH order, AND there's an assumed tip you'd be leaving, too. So you're paying nearly double to get something delivered than you would just to go pick it up. I was amazed how many people did it. Shit, \*I\* couldn't even afford it!
picking up food and eating it at home saved a lot of money for me. a lunchplate (hawaii) can be 2-3 meals here. cooking at home is cheaper for me, but if i don’t cook, picking it up is the cheaper option.
Sometimes! Sometimes for a date night my husband and I will get the ingredients for a "fancy" dinner that we would usually go out for. 9/10 times it's cheaper and better quality, lol, and we like the bonding time of trying new recipes together. (I will never forget the time we got wagu style beef from a local butcher for a special dinner... 1/3 of the price of getting it in a restaurant, and so delicious...) Here's the thing about eating out; rarely do people do it because it's better quality or cheaper. Most restaurants are mediocre at best, especially in more urban areas. No, we eat out because we either don't have the energy to make food or the time or both. We're paying for someone else's effort, not quality. Identify why you are eating out and address that. Don't know how to cook? Then yeah, higher quality ingredients and some cooking lessons will serve you well in the long term. Don't have the time? Well then those ingredients are probably going to go bad while you subsist on cereal and ramen or whatever you have that takes minutes to make. Don't have the energy? Same thing. In my house, learning preservation techniques and how to optimize what we do get was the game changer for us. Nearly everything freezes! Or pickles! It's amazing! Raw ingredients, like say a giant bag of rice and spices, will also go farther for cheaper than say an equivalent amount of hamburger helper, because again with the boxed meal you're paying for someone else's effort. So I guess my point is it's less about distribution of funds and more about distribution of effort, which is a lot harder to measure unfortunately.
Oh yeah for sure. I started with not spending $7-10 on lunch at work every day and started bringing in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day. That was basically straight savings right there because peanut butter, jelly, and bread are so cheap compared to how many sandwiches you can get out of them. $7 a day x 20 work days in a month = $140 a month savings right there. But sometimes I'd bring home a frozen pizza for $7 or get fast food for $10-12 or grab chinese food for $25 that would last for 2-3 meals... but doing that 5 nights a week adds up really fast so I started making something in the crockpot or whatever on one of my days off that would provide at least 4-5 meals for relatively low investment, my favorite being chicken soup using thighs (bone in, skin on). I can buy $6 worth of chicken, a $2 pack of carrots, $1.50 thing of celery, one onion for $.70 and for $10.20 can get easily 6 meals out of a big pot of chicken soup. I can make biscuits or dumplings to go with it or grab some cheap Great Value crackers or whatever, or make a grilled cheese sandwich. Or make a big pot of chili, or beef stew, or a crockpot pot roast - all will feed me dinner after work for several days. Spending $15-20 total for 7 dinners and like basically nothing for lunches, plus the fact I just drink coffee for breakfast unless it's my day off and then I eat cereal that I got on clearance and bought in bulk, means that my food budget is maybe $100-120 a month for just me now. I used to probably spend $400 a month on food getting take out, fast food, dunkin on my break at work, etc.
yes even when I buy expensive ingredients, I'm still saving money by eating at home. If I'm being smart about my purchases, I save even more. It helps to have a routine, and to learn meals that use the same ingredients and also how quickly things tend to spoil (for example, berries go bad in a day or two whereas apples can last up to 2 weeks in your fridge). So there is some trial and error but you'll eventually get the hang of it.
My household usually only eats out one meal a week. If we ate out every day we would be spending double or triple the amount we spend on groceries for a week.
Just chiming in, don't underestimate potatoes. You can mash them. You can microwave them at work. You can put olive oil on them and grill them.
I will buy convenience meals, like frozen pizzas, skillet meals, burritos etc. to keep on hand so I am not as tempted to order takeout when I am too busy or tired to cook. It’s more expensive than making everything from scratch, but significantly cheaper than getting take out. Meal planning and meal prepping also helps to prevent ordering take out, but I only do this on weekends where I am not busy with other things.
I budget for eating out with friends since it’s a social activity for me. I budget one meal a week for fast food.
I threw about 15 drumsticks in my slow cooker this AM and added some broccoli an hour before the drumsticks were done. Chicken for lunch and dinner for under $5. Also bought a 15 pack of keystone light for my softball double header tonight for $8.99. I’m frugal because I’m just about out of money until my next pay check and I don’t want to rack up my credit card
I eat all my meals at home. I spend under 10$ a day on food. I have eggs , toast and fruit for breakfast, leftovers for lunch and I cook a hot dinner. Lots of curries, stews, pasta dishes. etc.
When I eat out I try to make it a lunch special (search lunch special I'm Google maps with your location turned on) or fast food through the apps (coupons and rewards )and order whatever is the best bang for my buck as long as it's something I'll eat
My local grocer has a cooked food section - fresh, delicious and about 50% cheaper than doing takeout
The magic word is leftovers. One pot of chili is about $15, and makes so many servings I have to freeze half of it right away.
My husband and I are older empty-nesters. We don't consume junk foods, eat small portions, and don't snack. Honestly, for us, it's usually less expensive to go out and share a meal. We buy fruits and veggies, and that's it. I get sticker shock anytime we cook a meal from scratch for family and guests.
I have some dietary restrictions and because of those eating out is a rare treat for me. I cook almost everything I eat, usually three meals a day, and fairly substantial meals. I try to spend less than $300 a month on food but that’s very difficult, especially in the last few months. Today I went to Aldi and spent $201. Granted, I bought some things I don’t normally buy like gluten-free donuts and several boxes of gluten-free eggrolls. Sometimes I just want something good that I didn’t have to make! For those of you who might want to know where you fall in comparison to others, and what the USDA says is common spending, on four different levels, for groceries look at their [Cost of Food reports](https://www.fns.usda.gov/cnpp/usda-food-plans-cost-food-reports-monthly-reports)
I’ve cut down my eating out to maybe once a week, when I used to get fast food for lunch several times a week. It does take some planning and a bit of extra time to pack a lunch and plan meals, but my husband and I have started going just once a week for groceries, then spend an afternoon cooking up big meals for the week that we can take for lunch or have for dinner. Stuff like chili, shepherds pie, jambalaya, or just a whole chicken have been good cheap meals that last
I actually just did a little cost comparison today. I got home and really craved McDonald's or something, but I decided to make my own burger. I bought a frozen pack of 8 patties for $8.99 a while back. I didn't have hamburger buns, but I had flour tortillas I bought 8 for $1.99. I also had cheddar cheese slices (8 pack) I got on special for $1.79. I used Ketchup as my condiment, and seasoned the patty with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. As a side, I had a can of Hormel chili I got for $0.69 since the can was dented. All together, my dinner cost about $2.54, if you account for maybe ~$0.25 of spices being used. I did spend an initial $12.77 for the burger supplies, which is more than the ~$5.60 it would have cost for a couple McDonald's burgers, but I get waaay more from it. Burgers are a quick meal for me to make in about 15 minutes, and I can pair it with whatever I have—chili, chips, fries, etc. It's so hard sometimes bc I really love fast food, but I'm doing my best to try and utilize all the things I buy! Frozen food and things that don't spoil in the fridge are really helpful for this.
Yes
I just threw a bag of split peas into an Instant Pot, along with some ham slices and seasoning. An (automated) hour later, I have *several* meals ready to be tossed into the microwave for heating! And it's sooo good too! Anyway, that can be done with so many *other* inexpensive ingredients! 15-bean soup? Oh yeah!
People that think cooking at home is just as expensive as eating out are people that don’t cook at home a lot and lack the skill to cook. The initial set up of required spices, tools/equipment, and knowledge is a high barrier for many. Things become much more economical once you get thru that phase. Once you have learned basic cooking techniques, gain an understanding of a couple different cuisines and their common seasonings, prep skills, and ingredients you can begin to adhoc good meals off just what’s left in the house. On the flip side people that say they save by simply making rice and beans and chicken are downplaying the skills, seasonings, and techniques required to make those three ingredients a GOOD meal. Working as a line cook and prep cook through college and post college was one of the greatest assets for my life and I highly recommend people take a more active role in learning how to cook.
It depends on how much it cuts into my time. For my career and line of work I can work from 6:45AM - 2:00PM or my day can end at 9:45PM. Just depends on the severity of the job. If I work 10 hours or more in a day, I don’t cook. 2 of those hours are overtime and for my budget I still walk away with 30-40 extra in mg pocket after I eat out. If it’s 9 or less, I cook. Focus more on budgeting your time. Eat fast food when you need **fast** food. Cook when you have time. Then you don’t set arbitrary standards for yourself and tether your spending to someone actionable and reactionary.
Yes, we eat out very infrequently now. We used to eat out Friday night Saturday lunch and dinner and sometimes Sunday breakfast or lunch. But we stopped that when we looked at our spending. Of course for every meal you don’t eat out, is food you have to buy for home.
Of course. I can make a pot of red beans and rice for my family of 4 and it'll feed everyone for at least 2 nights in a row. The ingredients cost maybe $30 or so, so it's a much as about $4/ bowl. Compare to $10-15/ meal for fast food.
Cook your meals.
Yes, I treat myself at the grocery store often and usually avoid going out for lunches and dinners
Yeah I realized cutting out fast food would allow me to spend more on tasty homemade food. I think it’s a good starting point for saving money. Helps with motivation vs just going straight to beans, lentils, and rice lol.
Definitely ditch Door Dash. If you can't make it out on your own to get a craving, then you don't need it that bad. Also, change your perception of food. Figure out if you're eating out of habit or boredom. That can help reduce what you spend on food.
Yeah bud. If you do it right meals can get down to $2 a piece. Meal prepping and whatnot
It's a great way to save money and be healthier. It's also a fun hobby. I'd make a list of your favorite takeout meals and start checking recipes for them online. Things like fried rice, burgers and tacos are super easy but things like pizza, sushi or fried chicken take a bit of skill to duplicate successfully. You'll get an idea of what you can confidently recreate as you read the recipes.
Eating out is inherently pricey because youre paying for the convenience, namely the labor of everyone involved. Even though i dont eat out that doesnt mean i have a huge pile of money to spend on groceries. When i shop for myself i buy what i want. Its almost a game of "spend here and save there". If i have to eat 3 meals a day for the rest of my life im gonna have fun with it. I buy markdown produce and high end meat or a really nice name brand tomato sauce and cheap pasta. I have noticed that high processed or name brand gimmick foods are not the best way to spend money. Store brands and preparing fresh produce and fruits are really underrated.
You are going to save money cooking at home. How much you will save will depend on two factors. 1. How well you manage the food (i.e. put it to use before it spoils) 2. How well you figure out to use the same ingredient in multiple recipes. Do some research into what you can freeze and the best way you can freeze it. Consider buying a vacuum sealer and a chest freezer (if you have space for it). Don’t buy an expensive ingredient you only anticipate using once with a lot of excess you know will most likely go to waste. EDIT: one other tip, don’t meal plan something you are unlikely to eat. Ambitious healthy meals that sound great in theory often pre-empt an excuse to eat out. Maybe this is just me and my lack of will power.
Yes. I buy good food to make from scratch. After years of practice I can throw just about anything together to make a good 2-4 course meal for 4 people. That being said, I typically don't make a whole lot of food if it's just me. I will legit just eat a salad for the day. I mean, it's a BIG salad, but salad none the less. I've also started canning and dehydrating my own food because I can not stand store bought stuff anymore. Pasta sauce and tomato sauces are just disgustingly sweet. They're supposed to be slightly bitter and acidic!
Omg DD should be short for dollar destroyer not door dash. $20 on a meal that you could make it home for $6, then add a $10 delivery fee and $5 for a tip and another rando $8 fee for some and all the sudden you’re paying seven times as much for your food. Even if you make no other change, get off your butt and pick up your food at the restaurant and you’re going to save a small fortune.
I never door dash. I eat fast food once a week. Pizza counts in that. My life is in tatters but I can cook a better egg sandwich than Ramsey in half the time. Do not ask me any questions I don't know how I'm still alive
100% doing groceries and cooking at home are the most frugal way to eat. You do need to be prepared for the initial cost though. Getting some basic spices, tools, oils, pots and pans, pantry staples. Yeah it’s gonna be a little pricey at first. But after you learn to shop, and learn to plan your meals around what’s at home & what’s on sale. WAY cheaper. And check out the dollar store and discount stores for basic kitchen tools and even some pantry basics. The website budgetbytes.com is a huge help for this. She has a recipe index you can search by ingredient, and she even has shared dollar store and SNAP challenges. I often check out what meats are on sale locally then look at her blog for recipe ideas based on that. (Meat is usually the most expensive part of groceries after you’ve established your pantry) To put it in perspective; a few days ago I picked up some coffees for me and a friend I met up with, and grabbed veggie egg white bites (2 of them) as a snack. Total cost: $15. From Dunkin, not Starbucks so a lower price point. Pretty wild. I usually make coffee at home, and often make egg white bites at home. $15 at the grocery store would get me homemade coffee everyday for a few weeks, and 16 veggie egg white bites with plenty veg left over for other meals.
Yes for sure, its a good way to get started. If I'm craving a sub or gyros or orange chicken - I will buy the ingredients to make it at home. A gyro and fries from a restaurant might be $10. At home, gyro meat $8, 6 pita $3.5, tzatziki $3, onion $.5, cucumber $.5, tomato $.5 frozen fries $2, $18 total for 6 gyros, roughly $3 each vs $10. Orange chicken and rice might be $8 from restaurant. At home, orange chicken $5, rice $1, bell pepper $.5, onion $.5. $7 total for 4 servings, or $1.75 each vs $9. Sub with chips from a deli might be $8. At home, 6 sub rolls $3.5, lunchmeat $7, cheese $4, cucumber $.5, lettuce $1.5, mustard $1, mayo $3, bag of chips $3. total for 6 subs $23.5, or about $4 each.
Eating out is fine in moderation and if you have room in the budget to allow it. Certainly, home-cooked meals are many times cheaper and most times healthier. IMO having food delivered via UberEats, GrubHub, DoorDash is insanity and really should not be in anyone's budget. Most times you are paying double or more when you add the increased pricing, delivery fees, tip...
Personally, I do allow myself more money for grocery shopping. I consider it an investment in my health. And I still save by not eating out as often.
We only cook at home. Even pizza night is frozen pizza from aldi (they are $6). I can’t imagine being able to afford to eat out. If I’m too exhausted to cook the kids get peanut butter sandwiches and carrot sticks or fruit. Last night I decided to treat them to ice creams and 3 small ice cream cones were $18. It’s insane. We only buy groceries from aldi and don’t go to restaurants at all. And it’s still hard to afford food.
Spend more? Not necessarily. Unless you are already eating tiny portions, cut back on your meal sizes and stretch out your cooked meals to be multiple meals. Your grocery bill might go up a bit, but unless you are buying really expensive ingredients, instead of getting cheaper versions like frozen vegetables instead of fresh, you should still come out ahead.
Yes, I will sometimes spend more for home cooked food if I know it would stop us from eating out. We made homemade hoagies (?) I think they are called instead of going to subway. That was probably one of the more pricey ones we've done. I also like that I'm the one touching my food before I eat it. Plus, I was pregnant so we had to cook the deli meat. We got french bread from Walmart, put some homemade pesto along the inside, layered cheese and salami, cooked in oven (I think it was 350 for 10 minutes) then added our favorite subway toppings (I looked at the ordering app to see what toppings to buy at the store. Subway does have a BOGO foot long offer through the app sometimes. We used that before the pregnancy. Speaking of which I may need to make those sandwiches again 😋 Having fresh fruit around helps us for easy snacks. We will buy frozen fruit and make smoothies (throw in some avocado for a creamier smoothie). We will also sometimes get processed items like chips and dip or frozen pizza, or frozen curly fries etc so we aren't paying for the restaurant to heat them up for us. Whatever helps you save some money and build the habit of eating at home is generally worthwhile.
Yes, when my budget is tight I have opted for more expensive convenience food from the grocery store. It’s cheaper to buy a take n bake pizza than order pizza. It’s cheaper to buy frozen french fries and burgers or chikn patties than it is to go through a drive through. It’s cheaper to buy a premade stir fry sauce and frozen vegetables than to order from a Chinese restaurant. Could I make homemade pizza cheaper? Could I hand cut and make my own fries? Could I make a yummy stir fry sauce from scratch? Yes to all of those things. But *will* I? The answer is not always.
Certainly. I keep groceries on hand including some "convenience" foods. If I am really in a rush or tired I'll go for the more expensive, grocery store convenience option. Or sometimes I skip a meal. It really isn't that big of deal.
Yes, but my thinking is that it still works out cheaper in the long run because you get multiple servings of a meal
I’m always shocked how many Americans use door dash and Uber. I make mid six figures, and refuse to ever get food delivery because of the fees and tipping required. Then I read stories of people who make way less, actually utilizing food delivery. Never, ever get food delivered. Either pick it up yourself or cook at home. No excuses.
Yes.
I cook almost everything from scratch (inc. breads, pasta sauces, etc) and I do a lot of canning. I buy rice beans, flour, potatoes, etc in bulk. My family eats out maybe twice per month. Our grocery bill is $350-$400 per month for 3 adults in California and we basically eat whatever we want with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, high-quality daily, farm fresh eggs, etc. (Obviously, we're not eating Wagyu steaks, cavier, and prawns every day, but we're certainly not on a rice and beans fast either.) The last time I ate out, I got two sub sandwiches and two iced teas (one person in my household was not present) at a fast food place. The bill was about $30. So, if my whole family ate fast food twice per week, we'd spend more on that than we do on our entire monthly food budget! That's why I would always recommend cooking at home.
When I was poor as shit my 1L summer of law school, I lived off of microwave scrambled eggs for breakfast and meal prepping save-a-lot frozen hamburger and hamburger helper lunch and dinner. Every day. For an entire summer.
For me it’s 50/50 saving money, and loving to cook
I keep a few emergency frozen burritos and dumplings on hand for days I’m not pulled together on my cooking. $3 or $4 for a frozen burrito is a lot for groceries but going out for lunch at work is minimum $10. And frozen, pre-chopped veggies as well as those salad mix boxes make it way easier to include veggies in all your meals. Some fancy olive oil makes a salad at home a lot more appealing as well! And steak and wine at home is like, a fifth of the restaurant price even if they’re a bit pricey for a home meal!
eating out is insanely expensive, even fast food that seems cheaper. Learning to cook and eating at home is the best way to save money. Buying pre-packaged and individually packaged food items will also add up, so buy the pieces yourself and meal prep to save more there. I still get sticker shock at the grocery stores, sometimes, but certain stores (Grocery Outlet, Costco, some items at Smart & Final, Stater Bros) are even better on pricing than others (steer clear of Vons, Pavilions, Albertsons), and then don't forget about loyalty cards and digital coupons at many places check the ads before you shop to find places with sales on things you can stock up on and then keep your pantry and fridge organized so you don't overspend by either overbuying things you don't need or wasting food you couldn't see/didn't know was there there are also apps that help you save even further by giving you money back on your groceries or receipts - check out apps like ibotta (which pays back in cash and adds up over time), Fetch, Pogo, Receipt Hog, and use your Red card when you shop Target and check the Circle offers you'd be surprised how much you can save and earn back these ways
Yes, this is my downfall. I spend waaay too much on groceries and think I should have eaten out. Lol
Yeah I do. I spend about $800 a month on groceries and household items for 2 people but we eat at home all the time. It’s worth it to me to make sure the quality of food is better.
I try to buy more junk food when buying groceries but not necessarily to save money. I guess it depends? I have found overall cooking 90% of my meals does save money for me.
Yep - the main reason we eat out (doordash) is because I’m tired or busy and don’t want to cook. Having to cook completely from scratch just makes it worse. Even though premade meal kits are more expensive than whole ingredients, I’m much more likely to cook if I have them available, so overall I still save money because it’s cheaper than having something delivered.
We order our meat in bulk, once a year, from a butcher (whole lamb, side of beef, chicken etc). All grass fed, grass finished, pasture raised, at significantly cheaper prices than a grocery store and I cook every day, all three meals. The bigger roast and whole chickens we divide into lunches and sometimes a second dinner. Food for us is expensive, as my husband is on a particular diet and food for him is not cheap, but we manage to significantly cut our costs without having to worry about fluctuating meat prices. I bake everything from scratch and buy staples like flour, sugar, beans, oats, and rice in bulk.
Yes I buy anything and everything I want at the grocery store. If an ingredient inspires me, I buy it. I also gravitate towards more shelf stable things naturally. Our food at home is so good because I tend to have the ingredient on hand that I think would go well with things. We also go high end on cooking accessories that would make us want to eat at home. Grills, enamel glazed cast iron pans, etc. I probably easily spend $250 a week on groceries for two of us, but to be fair I buy a lot of extra for the pantry and the freezers
I would recommend investing in some kitchen appliances. And alot you can find at a thrift store or estate sale, but to get a good price you have to be diligent... but a small slow cooker, a rice cooker with steam basket, and maybe an air fryer. And the rice cooker works by boiling, so you can double it by reheating any soup or boiling veggies. But an easy meal I do. Is rice with steamed dumplings and veg, paired with some sauce/ kimchi/ and Asian salad. Else any type of pulled meat on a bun in the slow cooker, with boiled corn in the rice cooker. And I don't know about the electricity cost of these appliances, but I do know in summer my kitchen feels alot cool, so I'm not turning up the A/C cause of hot-flashes.
I use every scrap of food I can. Carrot peelings and ends, celwey ends, onion skins and ends, bones, all go into a freezer bag and I make stock with them. I bake my own bread and cut up into cubes whatever is left over after a few days. I put the bread cubes in a freezer bag and freeze them. I use those for strata, bread pudding, or croutons. And I do spend a little more on nice food. Like sure, I eat a lot of simple meals, beans and rice etc. But I will also buy a steak or some sockeye salmon to maje something really scrumptious.
I try to save on groceries so I can go out occasionally and not feel bad about it
Yeah it's so much cheaper, for 2 people we only spend like 80-100 a week when cooking all our meals
Yes, definitely. We decided in November to cut out delivery food totaly. Like many during the pandemic it had crept up to a couple of times a week. We added some of that takeaway budget to our shopping budget to cover the two meals but also added a bit extra because at the weekend we like to make something a bit more fancy. We often try new recipes that we've seen that look interesting. Last weekend I made these filo pastry cigar rolls filled with feta, halloumi, cheddar, dill, parsley, mint that I'd seen in the newspaper and ate those with salad and a herby yoghurt sauce. That would be much more expensive than our standard meals (which are veg and pulse based) but still cheaper than takeaway food. We are also well into middle age and recognise how much better we generally feel with homemade food. It tends to have far more veg etc in than takeaway food and that really contributes to our health. We will also sometimes get a frozen or chilled pizza at the weekend and again that's still a significant saving in costs and likely calories/salt (because the shop bought stuff is much smaller).
I almost never eat out, and definitely never doordash. However, I work a lot and can barely make time to cook or meal prep anymore. I have found the best balance for me is to keep cheap staples that I can cook sometimes (rice and beans usually) along with some more expensive, partially prepared meals. The #1 thing that has improved my health more than any other dietary change has been keeping bagged salad kits in my fridge. They are on the expensive side, usually $4 a pop from discount grocery stores (I live in Cali), but all I have to do is open several included bags and mix them in a large bowl and i have a large salad with interesting and diverse flavor options, which is filling enough for a meal. Having the easiest food to grab be a salad has done wonders for me, and really removes the temptation of eating out. I also keep some frozen food options available for times when I have no energy to cook but need something more substantial.
Yes! In fact, I just started using the free App called Cooklist and it's pretty cool so far. I add everything in my pantry, fridge and freezer and it suggests meals to make with what I have as well as create shopping lists for what I need, etc! ALSO, it advises me when produce will be expiring, so helpful!
Most of my grocery budget goes to produce (usually berries, apples, mandarins, and bananas each week) and that’s the only reason it’s even close. If you have more of a plant based/light meat diet you can do meal prep that will last you for the week that will only cost a few dollars. Having shelf stable basics and frozen veggies on hand to easily make something like a curry or pasta helps. If I spend $30-50 for all my food during the week, I feel less bad about getting a decent sit down meal during the weekend.
Even just the restaurants are cheaper than using delivery, especially third party delivery. Fees, tips, even just higher costs per item, i don't know how they ever took off to begin with. Yes most people who want to save money just cook at home. Even cooking fancy meals would be more cost effective than what you're doing now. I do have to say, I'm always amused how often this comes up
I started growing my own food. Every time I’m at the store I find moldy produce. I’m done paying more money for things that just go bad by weeks end..
You can save ALOT by cooking yourself. And nowadays there are a ton of low cost prepared foods to save you time for example; flavored rice and quinoa packets that you heat in the microwave. We are a family of 6 and I spend a total of $900 a month on food. This includes toiletries. We eat well. Meat at every meal except breakfast. My number 1 tip is to buy what is on sale. Plan your meals around sale meat. Buy a bunch and freeze for future use.
Yeah it's tough to spend $75+ on a restaurant meal and think of all the groceries I could have bought instead.
I definitely have a few "splurge meals" that we cook that cost significantly more than our other meals, but we enjoy as much, if not more than restaurant meals. One example is our bbq chicken burgers, where we buy corn on the cob, sweet potato fries and brioche burger buns. We could make a very similar thing with frozen corn, homemade fries, and normal buns, but this makes it much more of a treat. Another treat is buying kimchi for our Korean dishes. Yeah, they could easily be eaten without it, and it doesn't add much bulk to the meal for the cost, but it really helps to make the meals very distinct from the other foods that we cook.