Question

Everyone says eating at home is cheaper than eating out. They say it saves money to cook at home. Do y’all agree with this? I’m not talking about eating out at steak houses. And I know cooking at home is a healthier choice. Just looking for different opinions & suggestions because I want to start cooking at home more.  

Answer 1

Lunch example: I make chicken, veggies, and rice with different sauces every day for lunch. My lunch cost comes out to around 1. 95$ a day.  

Answer 2

In my opinion it’s cheaper if you make enough for a few days. If you make a different meal everyday I feel like it’s more expensive. Then sometimes it’s cheaper getting food out. I can get a large Chinese meal for $9 and last me 4 days for dinner.  

Comments

@ordinarily @patently this exactly. We eat different foods everyday. And it has to have meat. Which gets costly in my town.  

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@ordinarily @patently this. Especially if its just one person. In college, I lived right up the street from Burger King. I'd go get their 10 nuggets for $1. 29 and eat those twice a day sometimes for a week. Not saying it was healthy at all, but I got my calories that i needed, i didnt have to buy plates, paper towels, cooking utensils, etc. and it cost me like $20/week (I got some meals at work for free). different solutions for different situations

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I think this depends on how many people you're feeding and what. We tend to do meat-veggie-carb, which means we're not making a big recipe that feeds 8, when we're two people. If we made a different recipe with a million ingredients, then it is definitely more expensive. But meat-veggie-carb, means that we can cook just the 2 chicken breasts or pork chops, etc that we need. We buy on sale and freeze, so some weeks the bill is higher, and some weeks it's lower. This week, all of our meat is coming from the freezer, so I bought literally 8 things at the grocery store lol

Answer 3

It really depends what you get out vs make at home.  

Answer 4

I think as a family of 4, as long as we eat all of our leftovers and don’t throw away a bunch of food, it ends up being less than $5 per person per meal. We average around $2. 50 plus it’s much healthier.  

Answer 5

Yes! I always make enough so that we have enough food to take for lunches, so it's a lot cheaper for us to cook at home. For 3 of us just going out to eat is around $30-$40 for one meal. Fast food is easily between $15 and $20.  

Comments

@cockcroft use apps and coupons in your favor. I feed 6 people for 20$ at fast foods when we go. And everyone has a full meal.  

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@schlenger I'll have to look into it! We don't eat fast food often because it's just not very appetizing to me, but I'll definitely look into it next time we go!  

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@cockcroft yea it’s def a sports night kinda thing. But it comes in handy. They send coupons in mail every week in the junk mail. I just keep them in my car and download all the apps. Burger King has a coupon that has 4 (yes 4) whopper meals with the fries and drinks for 12. 99! That’s def a day saver when I’m busy.  

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@schlenger we never get coupons! I'm definitely gonna check out the apps though!  

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@schlenger . You are lucky. Only time this works for me is ifffffff I say nothing before I go. Everyone in my family has to have this or that and it adds up like crazy.  

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@cockcroft I just grab it and don’t tell them until I have it. Plus they know. We get what we have coupons for. Lol. They also have a chicken fry and fry coupon. 3 bucks!  

Answer 6

It will only save you money if you meal plan and stick to the grocery list. If you just go buy a bunch of random stuff then chances are you'll over spend on groceries and you wont know what to cook with what you bought at some point and just end up going out. That being said, it's also about what you're eating out. If you're wanting burgers for just one person with all the toppings, you wont be able to make burgers for less than what a burger costs at say Cookout, but you could make enough burgers for 4 people for less than at Cookout and then save the extra as leftovers for lunch the next day. If the goal is to save money, stay towards chicken for the main protein and keep rice and potatoes in mind for cheap carbs and then veggies are always cheap

Answer 7

Oh my stars, yes! I meal plan about 2 weeks out and knowing I have the food in the fridge/freezer keeps me from 1. eating out and 2. running to the store endlessly and impulse buying things. We are a family of 3 adults and my budget is $500 for food, toiletries (shampoo, cleaners, personal, etc. ), and all household needs too. I usually have a little left over at the end of the month.  

Answer 8

I personally have mixed feelings. On one hand I feed 6 people each meal. We can go to a buffet or a cheaper with coupons place for the same price as I cook a meal. My state is very expensive for food (for example- last night in store 8 pack thighs was 10. 29 ish a pack and one pack isn’t enough. Two too much) So once I bought the chicken and the recipe ingredients and then sides I was well into 30-40$ Now I know I’ll have like two lunch servings left over. But 95% of the time left overs get trashed. We all HATE reheated food. (Something we should work at I know) On the other hand. A buffet is right about 9$ per person in my town and I have growing starving ‍♀️ pre teens / teens. So for a few bucks over the cost of that dinner someone else can cook my food. Clean my table. And we can eat whatever we want until full. So I’m split decision. I get home is healthy and you can get leftovers out of it sometimes. But sometimes my time feels more valuable then an hour to cook plate and set and table. And then the hour to clear the table clean the kitchen and do the dishes. I love my table time. We eat together and have conversation. But we can have that at a restaurant table that I’m not doing to before or after work.  

Comments

@luckin and that’s 14 pieces! Mine was 8 pieces in the 10$ mark

Answer 9

I spend under $75 (currently trending around $50-55) to grocery shop for my husband and I, three meals a day, for a week. We can easily spend $10-15 EACH for lunch out, or $25-30 to order dinner, even just chinese is at least $20. Three dinners out OR 3 days of lunch out ALONE are more than a full week of food.  

Answer 10

It is a lot cheaper to eat at home if you do it right. You have to meal plan and coordinate your meals with the sales at the grocery store. Like if chicken breasts are BOGO, have two chicken meals or use recipes with similar ingredients so there is no waste of fresh herbs and veggies. Use simple recipes that don’t have a lot of ingredients.  

Answer 11

Cheaper at home. A plate of buttered noodles at a Greek restaurant was 7. 95 off the kiddie menu; I can buy a 16 oz package of pasta for $1. 09. My 3 yr old ate the restaurant pasta twice (there & once as leftovers). Pasta at home (EVOO + kosher salt sprinkle) lasts a full week.  

Answer 12

Yes and I only shop sales. Shop your circulars are a few stores. Like this week, I got: 3 dozen eggs 4 long packs of chicken 2 boxes of eggo minis For $17. xx this will cover main dishes and the toddlers breakfast for a few weeks. I deep freeze the meats.  

Answer 13

YES, I do. I have been cooking for myself since even college. And I HHHHHHAAAAAATTTTTTTTEEEEEEE to cook. But it is SO MUCH cheaper for me to cook then to eat out. Even when it was just me, and especially now when I have 5 of us in a family.  

Comments

I mean, can you honestly feed 5 people every single meal for $180 a week? Because that is all the money, including eating out, we spend to feed our family all week. (we rarely eat out, because its a LOT of money! ) If you can, please please please teach me your ways! Momma hate to cook! lol

Answer 14

Eating at home is cheaper for us and healthier too  I have a lot of dietary restrictions and allergies so it's also easier & safer for me too. My rules to help save are: 1) Shop your pantry, fridge & freezer first 2) meal plan 3) bulk cook and have food ready in the fridge 4) eat your leftovers or freeze 5) maximize on sales when you can & points  6) still allow yourself to eat out but maybe it's only 1-2 times every week and budget for it  

Answer 15

Definitely cheaper. Wrap any leftover meat with some cheese and salsa and sour cream in tortillas, fry in a bit of oil. Serve with lettuce and whatever. Yum!  

Answer 16

Yes eating out is more expensive. We are a family of 5 when we go to fast food the cheapest we can get away with is about $30. I can make a well balanced meal for 2 or 3 days off that price and have leftovers. Our sit down price for a decent meal is close to $100 including tip.  

Answer 17

Yes it’s so much cheaper

Answer 18

Absolutely it’s cheaper to cook at home!  

Answer 19

I feed my family of 7 for $500/mo eating at home. Going to McDonald’s or some other super cheap place, getting dollar menu items, will still cost me $20+ per meal. Let’s say the average is 14. That’s 2 items per person from the dollar menu. 14x30. We only eat out for dinner. That’s 420$. So without eating breakfast or lunch, I’ve blown my budget.  

Comments

To add. Think about it this way. If the norm is $100/person. That’s $3. 33/day. So unless your budget is super high or you’re only eating one super small meal, it’s not cheaper. I can get $1 full frozen meals from the store at least

Answer 20

Yes 100%. You can go to McDonald’s and get one meal for $5-7 or cook a meal for a family of 4 for the same price.  

Answer 21

We’re a family of 5. 2 teenage boys and an elementary aged daughter. If we go to McDonald’s we can easily spend $40-45. Cooking at home I can cook my own burgers and fries for a 1/3 of that price.  

Answer 22

I think after gas traveling to a eatery and the enormous mark up that, yes, unless your eating from the dollar menu at McDs than eating at home is cheaper. Also factor in health problems from poor diet and I would say at home is definitely the better deal . pay the farmer or pay the doctor, your choice ‍♀️

Answer 23

It’s definitely cheaper to cook at home. I shop sales and there’s no way eating out can be cheaper than my grocery bill. I’ve gotten a 2 pack of London broil for less than $8. That being said, I’ve fed my family of 6 a nice steak dinner for a total of $15. No restaurant will ever beat that!  

Comments

@vaporizer right! We had wild Salmon, asparagus and rice for $25 last night that could have easily fed 6

Answer 24

It is cheaper! We did up our grocery budget when we started eating at home more but all we did was take $20 from eating out and moved that over to our grocery budget. But overall I’d say it’s cheaper

Answer 25

Yes. We spend on average $2-$3 per serving for our meals and I buy organic, nonprocessed food.  

Answer 26

The last time my husband and I went through a drive through for a meal it was almost $20. I can cook all our meals for the week for $50-80. It does take more time, but it’s worth it! If I’m on my game, much of my prep is done on Sunday over the course of a couple hours so it makes weeknight cooking pretty quick.  

Answer 27

It is cheaper and healthier, but time consuming! I’m still learning how to make it more efficient. It takes a lot of planning in advance.  

Answer 28

Without a shadow of a doubt eating at home is more economical. I spend $150/month for one and I cook all my meals from scratch. I don’t eat hardly any processed food so that saves me a lot.  

Answer 29

Yes 100%. When we order take out, it's usually $35-40 for just 2 meals and that's pizza and burgers. If we want to order something a tad nicer it's $50. Let's say I'm feeling lazy and go grocery shopping with $50, I can feed my family of 4 = 4 meals with this amount of money and have left over for veggies, fruits and milk. When you look at it like that it's such a waste! The easiest part for me was the meal planning and grocery shopping. Prepping/cooking sucks. but you know, adulting is hard.  

Answer 30

My family of 5 going to even McDonald’s would be 25 dollars. My grocery bill for the week is 125ish for 7 days of meals plus breakfast and a few lunches

Answer 31

So for November I did a strictly no eating out month. And then December we did eat out a couple times and my December food budget was actually lower by like $50-$75. Sooooo. ‍♀️

Answer 32

I have always looked at it like you can do one or the other. If you plan to eat out dollar menus for one or two people it is not really costly. But if you are trying to feed a family it adds up also if you buy groceries and go out instead it ends up being costly

Answer 33

100%, but we eat out at places like Panera, Noodles and Company, and Chipotle where it is fresher food of higher quality. Maybe not if you're eating at McDonald's. But because the quality is lower there, I find my husband eats SO MUCH at like Wendy's or Arby's that he spends $15 on himself. I can easily make several meals for him at home for that price

Answer 34

Yes! If you haven’t cooked from home previously, be prepared to invest in spices, oils, instruments. Spices can be expensive so build slowly. I can make a weeks worth of dinners for the same amount as one night out.  

Answer 35

As a family of 6 with constantly hungry teenage boys, and needing to be GF, it’s way cheaper for us to eat at home. However- when we just had a couple of kids and they were little- sometimes it was cheaper to just eat out for sure! Especially with deals or kids eat free or whatever

Answer 36

I think it depends on how/what you eat. I am a bargain eater. It costs us a little less to eat at home depending on what we eat. To go to Wendy's we would spend about $12 on food for our family of 4. To make the same meal at home would cost us at least $15. We go to a Mexican restaurant for lunch and share chicken fajitas (with one drink and I get water for me and the kids) and it is less than $8. We add a $5 tip and it is still less than $13 and we leave full. The same food at home would cost significantly more because guacamole (or even avacados to make our own) are expensive. Plus, no clean up and time is money. On Saturdays that same restaurant has $4 meals with a drink so we get two meals (different kinds) and still spend less than $15. When we go to Texas Roadhouse on kids eat free nights we get two steak dinners for the kids and we share a meal. The meal is $10 plus a tip so we spend closer to $16 there, but since we have pulled porks and steaks the value is a little different. If I tipped 20% instead of $5 we would definitely be saving more, but I like to live generously. This meal could probably be made at home for a little but cheaper, considering the tip, but we get more bonding time when we go out. On the other hand making spaghetti at home only costs about $7. So we can eat cheaper at home, but it depends on what we are eating and how many ingredients it has. Ramen noodles cost us $2 to feed the whole family; $3 if we had vegetable. If I cook a whole real meal it costs pretty similar to the going out costs. We tend to eat more junk at home though because it is quicker, easier, cheaper, and requires less time and effort.  

Answer 37

1000x cheaper and healthier and you can have enough for leftovers for next day.  

Answer 38

Yes it is, and plant based foods are even cheaper, so you can cook healthy and cheaply

Answer 39

I agree with this to an extent. It depends how complex the dish is. I make very simple meals (veggie burgers, pasta, chickpea salad) that cost little to nothing.  

Answer 40

Eating out if so expensive! Even a value meal at McDonald's is almost $7. I can feed my family of four at least two meals with that.  

Answer 41

We spend $100-$125 per week on groceries for our family of 5. We just got back from vacation and had to eat out a lot. Each meal was a minimum of $40-$50 for our family. That equals $150 PER DAY to eat out.  

Answer 42

It’s 1000000 percent cheaper I’ve done the math . For example if I make eggs with toast and spinach for breakfast it cost me les then $1 a person I’ve made family dinners for less then 5$ a person

Answer 43

100 percent. Its $24 for my son and I at Chipotle to get bowls and chips. I made beans, rice and chicken in my instapot and made 20 bowls for about 15 dollars.  

Answer 44

It depends on how and where you shop. We shop at Costco and Aldi primarily. Our food grocery budget is about $450/mo. When we shopped at our high end grocery store, it was closer to $1000.  

Answer 45

Yes it’s so much cheaper then going out. If I were to eat out every day for dinner I’m spending atleast $20 for myself and 3 kids. That would be $280 for 2 weeks just for dinner 7days a week. I only spend $150-$200 every 2 weeks for groceries (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks) I make pretty healthy food and very little processed things

Answer 46

It depends. I save coupons from local restaurants & sometimes, if its Bogo, I can get 2 meals and make 4 from it because I generally add a salad or veggie to it to stretch it. mostly, I cook though. Just have to get creative sometimes.  

Answer 47

Our grocery budget is $115 a week, that’s $16. 42 per day for 5 people. Eating out is at least $5 per meal per person.  

Answer 48

Thats how we have saved the most money, eating at home plus avoiding food waste

Answer 49

Oh yes! When a McChicken is $2 yet I can make a better tasting one that is more filling for . 70 to $1 (depending on how fancy and sales). I may spend $10 at the store for everything but it's usually enough for 2 meals. ( Family of 5l)

Answer 50

It’s can be significantly cheaper to cook at home if you do it properly. There is no doubt it’s significantly healthier. I worked in restaurants for years and you would be shocked at what they add to foods (salt, cheap fats) to make them taste great. When you are cooking at home you generally don’t add those things. In addition you can make batch meals and freeze them. You tend to go sideways when you eat at home at the spur of the moment. Then you buy all new ingredients, some get eaten, some thrown away. You have to diligently plan what you are going to eat and make sure you eat all the leftovers. Processed food is convenient but you can save a ton by doing the labor yourself and then you have fresh food that nourishes your body and makes you feel good. You get sick less and therefore have less missed days at workin addition your kids are able to function at school more efficiently because their brains are nourished. You sleep better, you feel better. It’s a no brainer for us personally but then again I love to cook. If you hate to cook and don’t really care about your Heath but are just eating to get calories in that might be a different answer. Either way it’s also going to be regional.  

Answer 51

It depends on /how/ you cook at home, IMO. If you’re just buying frozen meals, it gets super expensive super fast. If you’re using organic/high end ingredients, that can also cost a pretty penny. If you’re meal planning, using pretty standard/cost effective ingredients and/or stocking up while things are on sale, making strech meals with leftovers or batch meals, etc. it can save sooo much money to cook at home.  

Answer 52

It does for us. In past months we have spent over $1, 000 for food. That included Starbucks and Dunkin’ (love me some frapps and bagels), eating out, fast food, and groceries, half of which ended up in the trash. Now that I’ve dropped our grocery budget drastically and we’ve stopped eating out, not entirely but I think Super Bowl Sunday was the last time we are out, we have been eating all of the food, not throwing things away because we wasted food, etc. Granted, I grew up w my mom doing Miracle Sunday’s, where she cooked all meals for the week. Growing up, we HARDLY ate out. My husband doesn’t do leftovers of most items so it’s been a LITTLE difficult but it’s working for us

Comments

@roti my husband is from Germany where his mom made he and his brother 3 fresh meals a day before she headed out for her next job (she had 2-3 while he grew up) so that’s what he’s used too. My dad commuted for like 12 years only coming home 3 days a week, Wednesday and the weekends and my mom is a school bus driver. She had to have food already for him so he could grab and go while we were at school or work. People call it mea prepping now LOL but it was just the norm for me growing up. I HATE making dinner EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT! I’m exhausted, we have a 9 month old and I work longer days M-Th. My husband is military and has a mentally taxing position but yet he would rather eat out, get fast food or make a pizza every single night! Drives me crazy! Lol but now that our little guy has a helmet and needs a bath and an hour of helmet freedom every night, it limits what time we spend out of the house hence eating at home more. Still, I get it and mannnnn is it frustrating! Lol

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@roti I’m all about crockpot meals LOL but again, that gets me plenty of lunches and dinners for the week and him a dinner LOL he ends up making his own food half the time haha

Answer 53

It’s def a lot cheaper at home! I’d be feeding 6 people fast food which costs $30- $40 easy! If I make it simple i can do Costco pizza for $20 which would be fine, but even McDonald’s costs us over $30 I just don’t see that as cheap

Answer 54

Depends upon the meal. for seafood, we eat out when there is a special. we are not good at preparing seafood and what we can buy is not great quality.  

Answer 55

It can definitely be cheaper. One meal out at fast food anymore is 10-12 for one person. I can buy a rotisserie chicken and eat for days adding in fresh veggies for sides

Answer 56

Our grocery budget is $75/week for a family of 4. With that's said, we LOVE eating out, so this tight grocery budget frees up money to eat out 1-2 times a week. Our restaurant visits usually run about $60-70 a pop. It's all about balance. Know where you can cut so that you can enjoy in areas where it counts.  

Answer 57

Yep. Rice and beans and beans and rice. No but seriously, yes, way cheaper.  

Comments

Love rice and beans!  

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@visconti670 me too  

Answer 58

Yes! I was just talking about this. I work 3 days a week 12. 5 hours and was spending on breakfast and lunch between 300-400 a month with snacks and coffee also included in that. I now make my own coffee at home in the am in a to go mug and bring breakfast and lunch saving that money because I was throwing things in the fridge at home because I wasn’t using them.  

Answer 59

It’s definitely cheaper to cook at home. We try to stay under $150 ($200 budget) a week for groceries. If we eat out, it’s an easy $50+ bill for a family of 4.  

Answer 60

Once a week I make a big batch of either a pasta casserole or rice dish with a veggie on the side. It can stretch for 3 nights of dinners.  

Answer 61

Where I live cooking at home is way cheaper than eating out.  

Answer 62

My problem is this. I work at McDonald’s. I get a 60% discount while working. I can eat for 2. 00. My husband works at Panera. He gets FREE food. So in theory I want to take lunch to be healthier. But I struggle to because it generally is cheaper to just eat at work. I’m addition to that I’m not wasting things that I bought and didn’t eat.  I suck at making food at home haha. For dinner yes it’s cheaper. Seems like we can’t go anywhere without spending at least $20.  

Comments

@argyrol the issue with that is also the quality of the food and how long it fills you up for. My ex worked for McDonalds and never took lunch to work, he always ate what was there because he had the discount. It wasn’t until he stopped working there (and therefore stopped eating the food) that he realized just how bad it had been for him. He lost a lot of weight quickly, not consuming so much salt reduced puffyness in his skin, he had more energy, he slept better. Obviously you do what works for you.  

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@uphold oh definitely. I know 100% that I shouldn’t eat it  I’ve worked there 13 years and don’t see myself leaving in the next few but maybe someday I can quit eating it I have tried in the past. But surprisingly I eat before I clock in for work at about 4pm and am not hungry again until I’m off work at midnight. So I stay full all night.  

Answer 63

Much cheaper as long as you aren’t buying potato chips, meat from the prepared foods section, pre-cut fruit and vegetables, etc.  

Answer 64

I think it depends. If you factor it in and don't buy extra groceries you don't need, then it can be doable. My problem had been we always bought food to make and then were too lazy to make it - so we ate out. Then we were spending more than we were buying. Sometimes, things like thai food or sushi seem cheaper than buying all the stuff to make it. Usually there are things I don't keep on hand for those meals. Which are then extra costs. It's all in how you manage it.  

Answer 65

It depends. For a family of 2 (daughter and I), it’s cheaper to eat out.  

Comments

@railing my dad is the same way. its him and his GF they do not keep anything in their house except for a couple snacks and drinks. They do not have to worry about other ingredients/ condiments. Neither will eat left overs so to them it is cheaper. My family of 5 we go out to eat and drop anywhere from 50 to 150 on a meal so yes it is cheaper for us to eat at home.  

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@railing it's really not though. I would have agreed in the past but I have stopped getting stuff to go for me and my son and either cooking or eating leftovers. Or sometimes just a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and I have saved tons. Try it for a month and see. Cook and eat the left overs and sometimes just something easy like sandwiches. Get to go one night a week. I bet you see a difference.  

Answer 66

I just made the most amazing soup today - I’m keto - it tastes so good One head broccoli Two zucchini’s One leek 2 veg stock cubes Water to cover Blend Season with your preference Makes 8 servings I’m freezing the rest of it Small soup carton costs €2 over here

Comments

@ardoin that sounds yummy!  

Answer 67

I enjoy home cooking it’s relaxing and peaceful for me. That’s 1st. 2nd it does save money not only today but Tomorrow too cause we are eating healthier and that means better control of what I put in my body. I do like a treat out once a month for someone to cook for me and I will order what I don’t cook at home.  

Comments

@gudgeon yesss!  

Answer 68

I would tell you it is more expensive while you are setting yourself up. If you have nothing in your spice cabinet your first few grocery trips are going to be more expensive than the ones once you have your pantry stocked up with basics.  

Answer 69

Yes! Even fast food is getting expensive. I can do grocery shopping for $50 to $100 per week depending on our dinners. Eating out, even fast food runs about $25 to $30 for one meal. At a restaurant, we can easily do $60 a meal.  

Answer 70

I keep staples like rice, veges, pasta etc and just add meat

Answer 71

Family of two, it's cheaper to eat at home if you figure it out. If you make an extravagant meal with a lot of ingredients, but only use a little bit of each ingredient I would be inclined to figure out what portion of each ingredient you used. That being said a bag salad. And two chicken breasts is a lot cheaper than going to McDonald's.  

Answer 72

I cant think of any fast food item that is cheaper.  

Answer 73

It’s been cheaper for my husband and I. We also make enough for lunch the next day. So essentially one dinner gives us 4 meals. But thats when we dont make extravagant meals with a ton of ingredients. Ours are pretty basic.  

Comments

This is what we do. It really saves.  

Answer 74

Yes! I used to think the same thing . does it really?, but I gave it a shot and YES! Stop at taco bell is almost $30 for my family then we come home and my kids are still hungry so they eat again. I feel like most my meals are around $13 dollars so I can almost make 3 meals for the price of one trip to taco bell!  

Answer 75

Yes saves my family tons especially since we are a family of 6. We eat out maybe once or twice a month if that, it’s only when we’ve had some kind of sports or something that ran late and I couldn’t cook. I’ve also managed to lose like right at 30lbs cooking at home

Answer 76

Do it! We save so much by not eating out. I will meal prep a few meals/snacks for the week on Monday so we don’t get bored of just one thing. Use Pinterest as a guide if you are lost. So many ideas and bring a list to the store!  

Answer 77

Yes specially if you have food planned for the week. There is no surprises or bad eating choices.  

Answer 78

A meal out at a decent restaurant for our family of 5 runs us 70 - 100 dollars. Our grocery budget is $150 a week. Of course it's cheaper to eat at home. Meal planning will always save you money and time.  

Answer 79

I think its a wash sometimes. We have a quick check here and you can get a sandwich for 3. 00, and Wendy's has 4 items for $4. 00 bucks. So I think it depends what you are eating. I feel like I spend so much at the market. By the time I get bagels, bacon, pork roll, eggs, rolls, cold cuts, lettuce, tomato, drinks, chips and cookies for a family of 6 for lunch I feel as if I spent at least 100. 00 and that's just for breakfast and lunch. My food bill is never less then 250. 00 a week. My husband is an old fashioned. (His Mom was italian) he wants meals at dinner, like the average person would have for a sunday dinner. On a week night I am making roast chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn etc. One time I just tried doing fettuccine alfredo and he asked where the meat was. Again his Mom was Italian-they never ate out and she was a amazing cook with only the freshest ingredients and always big amount of food.  

Answer 80

We are a family of 5. Eating out is about $50-$100 for us depending on fast food or sit down. I only have one kid that would still qualify as a child for the kids menu. So it does not save us money. That being said, if you like fast food and I love a good 4 for $4 at Wendy’s, make it work in your budget.  

Answer 81

Yes, especially if you use an instant pot. Saves a lot of money.  

Answer 82

If you are buying food on sale, stretching meats and keeping your meals simple, it can be very cheap.  

Answer 83

$150 for 2 adults in groceries a month & possibly eating out 6 times tops, not in the budget of course.  

Answer 84

I think it depends on the family size. I cut out eating out && my gas bill went up  

Answer 85

It’s definitely cheaper - especially for a family. It can feel expensive if you have nothing in your pantry, no condiments or spices. But no feel like you have to stock it all at once. You can even start with prepared meals - like a frozen lasagna vs making from scratch. Or simple recipes with basic ingredients and add to your stock over time

Answer 86

Family of 5. Fast food and sit down ranges from 50-120 easily! For us making dinner at home is cheaper. Makes eating out a treat.  

Answer 87

Of course it’s cheaper and healthier. It’s just hard making it a habit.  

Answer 88

So much cheaper. But a lot of effort and commitment

Answer 89

Absolutely, i can feed our family of 5 (soon to be 6) for about $13. 33/day by cooking at home, from scratch. And i live in a very high cost of living area!  

Answer 90

Even fast food is $15 - $20 a meal for the 2 of us. That would be $1, 260 a month, compared to $300 in groceries a month.  

Answer 91

Depends where you shop, what you cook, what ingredients you buy, where you eat out, how much you're spending. It's cheaper for me. I spent about 100 a week for family of 3. Even if we got fast food, we might spent 15 for one meal.  

Answer 92

Yes it’s cheaper. We sat down and itemized our spending over a three month period we found that we were spending about $500/month on groceries and another $300-$400/dining out and that was including drive throughs and carry out food not sit down facy restaurants because we didn’t feel like cooking. Since revamping our budget this last month. we’ve only spent $400 on groceries and have not eaten out and we have left our debit cards home and we have an extra $500 in the bank just sitting there.  

Answer 93

Definitely cheaper!  

Answer 94

110% agree! It may seem expensive in the beginning with buying ingredients but you can use up each ingredient on many different things! Go grocery shopping for a weeks worth of dinners and then tally up the bill of dinner for the same amount of nights. I promise it’s significantly cheaper!  

Answer 95

Definitely cheaper at home. I've used budgetbytes. com for years for my meal planning.  

Answer 96

Cooking is definitely cheaper, you can feed your family for the cost of one fast food meal for one person