Groceries have gotten so expensive lately a lot of people are now of the mindset that eating out is cheaper than cooking. Especially if you are cooking for one. But is that really true? Or is that just an excuse to cover up for laziness and apathy? Don’t shoot the messenger. Eating out 3+ meals a day is going to keep you BROKITY BROKE BROKE BROKE.
Nobody is saying you need to be Gordon Ramsey, or that you need to cook every meal from scratch. But if you want to tighten up that budget to save some money, or pay off debt, the kitchen needs to be your new best friend. So today’s post is all about quick, simple, and cheap ways to eat at home and stretch your dollar.
Let’s start with breakfast. If you go to Starbucks or McDonald’s you are going to spend around $10-$15. You can make overnight oats and it is even faster than the drive-through. A 42 oz container of rolled oats at Aldi costs $4.35. A 32 oz bag of frozen mixed berries is $7.15 and a half gallon of almond milk will be about $2.59. If you divvy it all up into containers, with 1/2 cup servings, for about $14 you can get about 8 servings of overnight oats. That’s around $1.75 per serving. And you still have some oatmeal and milk left over. So one day of Starbucks could have fed you for the week. Now this is bare bones and you could add yogurt, chia seeds, or a scoop of protein powder but the point still stands. 5 minutes of work every night to save you money and your breakfast is now WAY healthier.
Lunch: Nothing fancy, let’s say we’re going to Jimmy John’s and pick a 8″ sub with chips and a drink. That’ll be $13.45. Now I am going to make my own sammich. A loaf of Italian bread is $2.59. I’ll get a 15 oz pack of ham and turkey for $12.00. 11 slices of colby jack cheese is $1.85. We’ll splurge and get a snack pack of 18 individual chips for $10. A 12-pack of soda is $8. (Now I would say to drink water, but I am trying to be nice.) Let’s pretend you have mustard and mayo at home. To make 5 sandwiches is 25 cents of bread, $2.40 of meat, 84 cents of cheese, 55 cents in chips, and 66 cents for a soda. That brings you to $4.70 for the homemade combo meal. If you like lettuce and tomato, that’ll be a few cents more per sandwich. So you are saving over $7 per day over a basic take-out lunch. If you like to eat at a restaurant for lunch, that will be close to $25 with tax and tip. And I still have bread, cheese, chips, and soda left for next week. Come on people….
Let’s talk dinner. An inexpensive dinner out, that is not a drive through of course. If you are from the South, you may have heard of Cheddars. The food is good and pretty cheap. So we order the garlic shrimp alfredo with broccoli and a piece of texas toast. The entree alone is $15.29. No drink, tax or tip yet. So you’ll easily spend $20-$25 on the low end for that meal. A pound of shrimp can cost about $8 for argument’s sake. A pound of pasta for $1.85. A jarred alfredo (or you can make your own with butter and parmesan) is $1.89. 8 slices of Texas toast, $2.55. A broccoli crown, $1. 5 oz of shredded parmesan, $2.45. The ingredients will run you almost $18 and give you 4 servings at approximately $4.50 each. For the cost of one evening out, you cooked once and now have 3 servings left. Let’s say you’re really greedy and eat half instead, it’s still $9 and cheaper than your take-out lunch.
In one day of eating out, you could easily spend $40-45 vs $11. And you only cooked once.
These are three simple examples just to prove a point. If you are not cooking at home, you are wasting money. Google some recipes. Learn to use your slow cooker or instant pot. Start a stash of freezer meals. Batch cooks your proteins. Invest in SPICES. You want it to taste good! Watch some Food Network. Call your momma, or BFF, or your favorite uncle and ask them for some pointers. When you start to see that extra money piling up, it will all be worth it.
