Debt Hater was debating between eating at home all the time or eating out. She wanted to know how to figure out a way to see if eating at home was cheaper or not.
For me, it is cheaper to eat at home.
Without a doubt, I spend $200-$250 a month on really good, organic foods, and if I were to eat out all the time, I would have a bigger waist and a smaller wallet, to the tune of $450 a month.
I arrived at $450 as a number because I actually ate out for one day, and had a bowl of Pho for lunch without a breakfast.
I was so full, I didn’t need to eat anything for the rest of the day. So… $15 x 30 days = $450 on average.
No going outside of the $15 tax & tip included zone, which means my food choices would be kind of limited based on price.
For me, eating out is definitely easier.
I could probably make the Pho at home for cheaper if I took the time to do it, but t it takes such a dang long time if you want to get the soup really flavourful and done right.
But if you are trying to find a differential between whether eating out all the time at cheapie places or eating at home is cheaper, try these two methods.
You will NEED to be tracking all your expenses for these methods to work.
Method #1: Track it by the total amount
- Try each method for one week.
- Try eating at home and buying groceries for the whole week.
- The next week, try only eating out for the whole week.
- Compare the two totaled amounts.
Notes:
You will probably have leftovers from groceries or eating out, but pretend they don’t exist, as we are looking at the totals, rather than on a per-meal basis.
As not to waste food, I would suggest buying what you think you need for the week, and then eating the food until it’s completely gone, even if it goes over a week (7 days).
If it goes over an entire week, and ends up being 9 days for example, then take the grocery bill, divide it by the 9 days, and multiply it by 7 days to get an approximation for a week.
On the 10th day, start eating out for 7 whole days for whenever you feel hungry.
Eat any leftovers before you buy a new meal.
Method #2: Count by the meals
- Try each method for the week, the same as in Method #1
- But this time, keep track somewhere of how many meals you ate out of the money you spent
- The difference is you are looking at the amounts by the number of meals eaten rather than a single, total weekly amount
Notes:
If you eat at home, and you have leftovers into the next week, that grocery bill counted for those meals.
So if you bought $50 of groceries but you went over 7 days into 9 days, count the meals you ate for those extra days as part of the grocery total, just like above.
Only this time, you would have something like: $50 in groceries = 27 meals (9 days, 3 times a day)
If you eat out, and you have leftovers for another meal, that one receipt counts for two meals.
At the end, you should have a good idea of what you would typically spend eating out or cooking at home for each month.
The problem with NOT tracking it methodically as described above, is that if you eat out today, but cook at home tomorrow, you start mixing the receipts & getting the food amounts confused.
Plus, if you plan on always eating out, would you ever cook at home? And vice versa?
You have to try that kind of lifestyle for a week to see if you could get used to it, or get sick of it.
When I traveled and ate out all the time, I eventually hated it so much, that I finally bought some plain bread and cheese.
A simple, no fuss, no muss meal.
It was all I wanted.
It was what I craved, after eating steaks, and other restaurant-type fare.
Any other tips from readers on how to calculate or figure out which way is cheaper?
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver.
I cleared $60,000 in 18 months earning $65,000 gross/year.
Now I am self-employed, and you can read more about 
What I do like to do is every once in a while maybe every month or so, maybe every two months, cook a REALLY SPECIAL fancy/gourmet meal instead of my normal everyday cooking. Like, instead of sticking with the 1.99 meat special, get that $12/lb cut and make a nice wine reduction sauce for it and those special garlicky mashed potatoes with all the cream and whatnot. Don't forget the $20 bottle of wine and the nice dessert either. And of course invite a friend or even two.
I call it "splurging in".
The genius of this post is not in finding out whether eating out or in is less expensive. I already have the answer to that if you want to ask me.
The genius is that because when you do the experiment you are doing it in a spirit of curiousity, you will be more likely to pull off a full week of eating at home. After all, this isn't deprivation, it's research!
Thanks for the post! I know in my gut eating at home it cheaper, but it ain't easier — don't care what any one says. Still, I'll try Method 1 you listed in this post. I think it will give me the picture of where the money is going that I was looking for.
No prob. Hope it helped 😀
I eat at home all the time. I only allow myself to eat out once a week. I don’t find it very hard because most of the time when I eat out my stomach will hurt later from how it’s cooked. My cooking never hurts me. 🙂 Plus, it doesn’t hurt that I love to be in the kitchen and can make almost anything out of nothing. Takes a little practice, that’s all.
Wow FB! I’m impressed with your culinary skillS! You write all those instructions? Impressive!
I eat out 5X a week given 1) We suck at cooking, 2) it takes too long for sucky food, and 3) we have about 50 restaurants within a 1 mile radius and the food rocks in SF!
FS
@Financial Samurai: I do write all those instructions. It wasn’t that hard, really 🙂
I can’t imagine eating out more than once a week. It isn’t just money, it’s my time. I’m busy! By the time I get home, get the dogs walked and fed, and check my email for work updates, I’m no longer interested in going out and cooking a quick, budget-friendly, fairly healthy meal just isn’t that difficult. Plus I usually go to the gym in the evenings, so I need that little home break (and an episode of “Family Guy”) before heading out into the world again.
The other thing about eating in is that I can control the food. I can limit our salt, make sure our meat came from happy animals pre-death, add as much cilantro as I want, and, well, frankly I don’t have to be courteous to anyone (which is a huge factor — sitting in a restaurant means waiting and being nice… neither things that I’m particularly good at).
Only once in a while will we hit a restaurant for dinner, but that is only when I’m relaxed and ready to enjoy it … and so I can wear cute shoes.
.-= Kat G´s last blog ..T-Shirts and Jeans =-.
I can’t imagine living somewhere in the world where it would be cheaper to eat out. In London it’d be 2-10 times more expensive, without trying very hard. I am an excellent cook though, and am not charging myself by the hour. 😉
.-= Monevator´s last blog ..The unseen assets on your balance sheet =-.
definately cooking is cheaper. well for one person anyways. I like creating different flavours but then again, eating out from time to time is nice and you get to sample stuff you might not cook at home.
I have trouble picturing anyone who eats out every single day. On our honeymoon, we ate out for every meal in some way, shape, or form. We didn’t have a kitchen. Perhaps this was partly because funds were limited, so that limited our choices. But I have to assume that most people eating out every day couldn’t exactly go crazy.
Either way, eating in is by far the most frugal. I’m far from perfect on always cooking or eating in every single day. But I know I save a ton of money by not giving in to every desire to eat at a restaurant.
I think the best way to track how much it costs to eat in is to keep all groceries you buy. Because it’s not really accurate to only count what you eat. Whatever you buy — whether you use it or not — is part of the expense of trying to eat in. It might go bad before you use it, but you bought it in an attempt to make eating at home possible. So I say you should count it.
Honestly, no matter how steep groceries are, I just don’t think that eating out could ever be cheaper than eating in. You can always make cheaper recipes and items that last a long time. You can go vegetarian and use beans & rice as a protein source. But there aren’t many food joints around that can let you eat for under $5 consistently.
.-= Abigail´s last blog ..Freebie Friday =-.
For me, eating out is much more expensive than dining in. This is because when I cook a meal it may cost the same as dining out but make enough food for 4-5 servings. Eating out would be enough food for 1-2 servings.
I agree with previous commenters, that one would have to familiarize themselves with the basics of cooking and be open to eating leftovers. That’s where a lot of the savings (time, money, energy) are for me.
For me, it’s all about coupons coupons coupons! Oh, and supermarket salad bar salads, which are generally very reasonably priced, fill you up, and are healthier too (depending on what you put in it!).
.-= Jillian´s last blog ..Great Reads: Girls Like Us =-.
I definitely agree with Meg that it is cheaper to cook only if you actually learn to cook. If you throw together a lot of pre-made ingredients or waste ingredients, it’s not as cheap. However, when you go out to eat, you have to include tip and tax, not to mention the damage to your waistline.
My husband and I are pretty good at making several recipes out of same or similar ingredients, so nothing goes to waste. However, yesterday I experimented with phyllo dough for a cheese and onion tart. I have to figure out what to do with all the leftover phyllo!
.-= oilandgarlic´s last blog ..Boycotting Whole Foods, And A Health Care Quiz =-.
It’s MUCH cheaper and healthier to eat at home, but sometimes you have to teach yourself a bit about cooking. You can spend A LOT eating at home if you’re not careful.
If you find it cheaper to eat away from home ask yourself:
* Am I spending too much on pre-prepared meals (or even ingredients) and calling that “cooking”?
* Am I wasting a lot of food by not eating leftovers? By not using scraps to make other meals? By buying too much? By not properly storing food?
* Am I spending way too much on specialty ingredients that could be substituted? Or making expensive meals in general?
* Am I eating too cheaply and unhealthily when I do eat out?
* Can I reduce the cost of my ingredients by shopping around, using coupons, using generics, etc.?
* Can I grow some stuff at home, even if it is just some herbs?
I find it also helps to have some fall back meals that are cheap, healthy, tasty, and easy for those times when you don’t want to spend a lot of time planning and prepping. For me, that’s currently quinoa with a bit of ketchup or salad dressing and whatever else I want to throw in. I’ve also relied on steel cut oatmeal into which I threw some frozen banana and maybe a small piece of chocolate (a little goes a LOOOONG way). And today I plan to eat some more toast with homemade (but made in bulk) hummus 🙂
since i’m single and live w/ a roomate who will eat my food if i buy i groceries i buy only breakfast foods and i leave them at work and then eat out for lunch/dinner usually only one meal just on the weekdays….my weekends i sometimes buy the ingredients for just that meal I never go over 140$ a month….and i never waste food. Maybe I’m just an exception to the rule and I’m small so my body doesn’t require much.
My coworkers and I picked one day a week or typically every payday to eat out – it was usually our traditional sushi lunch or we went to Subway, sometimes McDonalds or Quiznos.
As for eating dinner out… it barely happened. When I was living on my own, it only happened once and I saved money for that. My parents and I rarely eat out and if we do my dad uses gift cards from all the Air Miles points he has. I still have a $15 gift certificate from Red Lobster when I contacted HQ and complained about the crappy service we received (it was that bad to warrant a letter to HQ).
You can create wonderful meals at home; with money being tight it actually allowed me to enhance my cooking skills at home and create amazing dishes that you would find on Food Network!
.-= Michelle´s last blog ..30 Day Challenge: No soda, day six =-.