} Of course, there are reasons why restaurant prices have inched up during a time when many ingredients on the menu have gotten cheaper. Opinions expressed on this site are the author's alone, not those of a third-party entity, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed. Percentage-wise you’ll still save by eating at home. Cooking at Home Cooking at Home If you have a family eating out twice a week at an average of $77 each time, you are spending $625 a month. Many companies featured on Money advertise with us. The ease of opening an app, clicking your favorite restaurant, and having a meal delivered directly to your door is tempting as you drive home from a … The bottom line is that cooking your meals at home is less expensive than going out to eat.You can cook the same dish at home … Learn more about how we make money. The ease of opening an app, clicking your favorite restaurant, and having a meal delivered directly to your door is tempting as you drive home from a long day of work and you just don’t feel like cooking. Top Ten Cities Spending the Highest % of Income on Takeout. Particularly when cooking for one. Food prices are a sensitive thing. Maybe you want to celebrate a promotion with a nice meal. (function() { We collected the average number of meals Americans eat out each week for each city, how much money is spent on eating out annually, and grocery costs. } Let’s look at some surprising statistics on eating out vs eating at home. Americans love eating out restaurants. It is highly unusual for grocery prices to fall, or even remain flat: The 20-year historical average for the rate of inflation in the category is 2.5%. Our content is free because our partners pay us a referral fee if you click on links or call any of the phone numbers on our site. Seattle took home the gold as the most expensive city for takeout. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. But an area with pricier groceries almost always has pricier-than-usual restaurants as well. With the dawn of Door Dash and Uber Eats, Americans are eating out more than ever. Guaynabo PR 00968, Sign up to receive the latest updates and smartest advice from the editors of Money. Find out how much you could save from eating home cooked meals rather than eating out, with our free Meal Savings Calculator. So for example you spend an average of Dh100 per day eating out or having food delivering in, you would end up spending an average of Dh3000+ (a conservative estimate). No waiting in line or uncomfortable swabs. window.mc4wp = window.mc4wp || { Still, the obvious danger in the restaurant industry is that more people will stay home as they feel it’s harder and harder to justify paying a premium to go out to eat—especially if it’s just for a quick, mediocre meal at the local diner. It’s pretty obvious that preparing meals at home is cheaper than going out to eat at restaurants. “Because restaurants are so labor intensive, labor costs are a bigger concern for that industry. They’ve gotten a little bit out of whack. Wise Use of Paid off Credit Cards? These are the cities that are spending the most on takeout and which cities are spending the least. For more information, read, You’d Actually Save Money If You Ate Like It Was Thanksgiving Every Day, Why You Should Feel Even More Guilty About Eating Out at Restaurants All the Time. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. At only $142 monthly for takeout, this is the city where your takeout habits will put the least amount of strain on your wallet. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. The actual numbers will depend on the cost of groceries where you live. While the increase is based on rising prices at restaurants across the board, a deadpan-but-spot-on “Diners Are Too Expensive” post published this week at Gawker made the case that this kind of eatery in particular is overdue for a pricing adjustment: Diners should drop the price of all their items by three dollars. so you can customize your food prep for a diet that works with your body. Just behind Seattle is Pittsburgh followed by San Francisco and Miami. Opinions are our own and our editors and staff writers are instructed to maintain editorial integrity, but compensation along with in-depth research will determine where, how, and in what order they appear on the page. ); Everyone knows that it’s less expensive to cook at home, but the effort it takes to find a recipe, make a list, shop for ingredients, and then cook is reason enough for some people to forego it completely. forms: { Either that or they hate the grind of cooking, eating at home, and packing their own lunches for work and will do almost anything to avoid all of the above. Using this number, we calculated how much people can save annually by cooking at home rather than ordering in the average number of meals. Top Ten Cities Spending the Least on Takeout Annually. The average cost per person of a meal: At home: $4 Restaurant: $13 Americans spend on average, 12.6% of their income on food. Detroit, Memphis, and Richmond were the most spendthrift cities when it came to takeout, spending the lowest annual dollar amount. This means you’ll be saving more money than you used to by opting to stay at home, and—apologies, because this is a total bummer—paying more by comparison for the convenience and fun of dining out. This calculator will also take into account the money you could make from investing the difference in costs. window.mc4wp.listeners.push( Possible solutions to this include preparing several meals for the week and making an initial investment in “base” ingredients. With the dawn of Door Dash and Uber Eats, Americans are eating out more than ever. And yet, on the backs of price decreases among supermarket staples like beef and eggs, which soared to record highs last year, groceries in general are cheaper compared with this time a year ago. As the industry publication Nation’s Restaurant News recently pointed out, federal data shows that average prices for food eaten at home in January actually fell 0.5% year over year. If you choose to interact with the content on our site, we will likely receive compensation. this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. Based on this data, we calculated the amount that people spend annually, over 10 years, and over a lifetime, estimating 60 years worth of takeout and restaurant outings. Annual Potential Savings from Cooking at Home. The ease of opening an app, clicking your favorite restaurant, and having a meal delivered directly to your door is tempting as you drive home from a long day of work and you just don’t feel like cooking. A general reluctance among restaurants to never, ever, ever decrease menu prices once they’ve been raised surely must also be a factor. Among the cities spending the highest percentage of their income on takeout were Miami, Rochester, and Detroit, all of which spent over 6% of their annual income on food outside the home. Lots 81-82 Street C Maybe it’s been a particularly tough week at work and you need to unwind. Take-out is a great option for those days when you’re working late or in a pinch, but the cost of those lazy nights adds up quickly, and generally, the options you’re reaching for are less healthy! Get updates of the most trendy news delivered to your email. You Decide. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Seattle offered the most savings for cooking at home rather than ordering out. Great article, I did not know how much we spent in takeout, it is crazy. Those costs are often left out of the dining out vs eating in calculations, and really can make a significant difference. Debt Testimonials - Encouraging Success Stories. } In an interesting twist, Cleveland, Ohio spent the highest percentage of their income on takeout annually. If you’re looking to fulfill a New Year’s Resolution to spend less and eat better, cooking at home is a great first step, and if you want to go a step further, you can, learn how your body processes foods and exercise. No waiting in line or uncomfortable swabs. Cost per homemade meal ($): Average cost of eating out ($): Number of days you eat out per week (#): Last spring, sales at restaurants and bars surpassed those of groceries for the first time since such data has been tracked starting in 1992. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Food Away from Home. The purpose of this disclosure is to explain how we make money without charging you for our content. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. So rising minimum wage and other labor costs are putting pressure on operators to keep raising prices,” Nation’s Restaurant News noted. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. Of course, from time to time, you will still want to eat out. Top Ten Cities Spending the Most on Takeout Annually. Eating out vs cooking at home: the comparison. An interesting point to note is that Seattle only averages $11 more than Pittsburgh monthly for takeout, but over a lifetime, that extra $11 really adds up. Ad Practitioners, LLC Americans love eating out restaurants. Learn why home-cooking should be your first choice and why it’s on the rise in the USA. No big deal; just fix it. Opinions are our own, but compensation and in-depth research determine where and how companies may appear. However, the same cannot be said for restaurant prices, which rose an average of 2.7%—notably higher than the overall inflation rate of 1.4%—during this same time span. Don’t let those late night pizza cravings derail you from meeting your New Year’s resolutions! This website uses cookies to enhance your user experience, improve the quality of our site, and to show you marketing that is more likely to be relevant to your interests. At a lifetime cost of nearly $8,000 more than the second place city, Seattle residents have to foot a hefty bill for the convenience of delivery. You don’t need to stop eating out altogether in order to save Is it any wonder that people would rather tap their screen a few times? on: function(evt, cb) { American adults spend about $1,200 on … By continuing to use this website, you consent to the placement and use of cookies as described in our Cookie Policy. Log in, frugal and sensible diet and weight loss mindset, Our Monthly Debt Reduction and Savings Statements, Pay off Credit Cards VS Build Emergency Fund Savings - Me VS Suze Orman. Procrastinators, It's Not Too Late to Refinance Your Mortgage and Save Thousands, Making Over $65K Per Year? Eating out on occasion won’t break the budget. Ultimately the choice is yours. 7 calle 1, Suite 204 No matter what the reason, the net result is that we’re eating out … Meanwhile, California was home to not one, not two, but four of the ten most expensive cities for takeout! If you’re looking to fulfill a New Year’s Resolution to spend less and eat better, cooking at home is a great first step, and if you want to go a step further, you can learn how your body processes foods and exercise so you can customize your food prep for a diet that works with your body. Home » Cost of Eating Out Vs. Interestingly, most of the menu items we analyzed showed a higher total recipe cost than the cost of eating out. Would love your thoughts, please comment. To find out, we analyzed government consumer data for the cities across the US.