Saving for a Goal? Try Eating Out Less Often

How much do you spend every month on restaurants and takeout? That's something I had to ask myself when I decided to make an all-out effort to pay off my student loans. This was one of my top financial goals and I knew I had to make some changes. So, I started in the kitchen.

I chose peanut butter and jelly sandwiches instead of lunches out and made big batches of spaghetti that I could eat for several days in a row. Plus, I was studying for my CFP® exam, so it made sense to stay home. It took some discipline and preplanning, but I kept my goal top of mind. That made it easier to say no to fast food and just go to the grocery store. And it worked. I paid off my student loans seven months later—on my birthday. It was a perfect gift for myself.

Going out to eat and ordering takeout has become part of our lifestyle. I see it in my own apartment building, with some neighbors even ordering in their morning Starbucks coffee. Sure, it's convenient, especially if you're working from home, but it's also easy to lose track of just how much you spend. Consider this: American households spent an average of $3,933 on dining out in 2023, or $328 a month, according to a 2024 Bureau of Labor Statistics report.

Think it's impossible to spend that much? Well, add it up. Say you pick up a $5 coffee drink on the way to work three times a week ($15), spend an average of $30 a week grabbing a quick lunch, and meet friends for drinks and dinner once a week at around $50 a pop. That's a total of $95 a week, or $380 a month. You've just beat the average.

And that's just having food at a restaurant. How much more might you spend on delivery fees and driver tips if you order in regularly and use a food delivery service? Americans spent an average of $1,566 on food delivery services annually, according to a 2023 survey by Upgraded Points.

For savvy savers, the purpose of saving and investing is to grow your wealth and fund your financial goals. Common goals could include paying off student loans, saving for a wedding, a down payment on a home, buying a car, funding retirement accounts, or even saving for a special trip.

If you are saving toward a financial goal and looking for areas in your daily spending routine to help you save more, eating out could be a line item in your budget that could help. So, how can you cut back and still enjoy a meal out now and then? Here are some things I did.

Start by realistically looking at what you spend eating out each week. If you ordinarily use a credit card, it will be easy to add up. And if you carry a balance, it will be easy to see how much you may be going into debt to eat out. Be sure to include delivery charges and tips.

Compare what you actually spend with what you want to spend to stay within your plan. If you need to cut back, there are ways to save whether you're eating in or out.

I found that when I created a weekly meal plan, it kept me from impulsively going out. Plus, I cooked larger batches of things like spaghetti, so I had ready-to-eat meals throughout the week. Stews and soups are good too. Keep your pantry and freezer stocked with staples for easy-to-prepare meals. And there's nothing easier than a rotisserie chicken from your local market.

For me, planning ahead, doing a shopping trip, and making meals in advance made all the difference. It's a lot easier to eat at home when you already have food in the fridge.

There are ways to make eating out less expensive. Go out to lunch instead of dinner. Split meals with friends. Sharing small plates or ordering something for the table are great ways to lower your cost. And keep track of the cocktails. Alcohol can make up a big portion of a restaurant's profits—and a big portion of your bill.

Ordering takeout can be a good in-between choice, but be aware of how delivery fees and tips add up. I like my food hot. By the time the delivery driver finds my apartment, my meal often arrives cold. So, when I order takeout, I usually order direct from the restaurant and pick it up myself. I bring it home, it's still hot—and I've saved myself the delivery fee and the tip for the driver.

Also, consider how premium credit cards encourage you to spend on takeout by offering credits for food delivery services. It's almost like a psychological game. Say you're offered a $5 monthly credit, and you think why not use it? But by the time you factor in tax, tip, and delivery charges, you've spent a lot more, and that five bucks doesn't really make that much of a difference in your bill.

Whether to eat out or cook at home is a lifestyle—and a financial—choice. If you have financial goals you're trying to achieve, you may need to think differently about meals and money. Consider writing down your goals and keeping them somewhere you'll see them often. It could help you make the right decisions, so you're not so tempted to constantly splurge.

Make a choice and decide to be happy with what you have in the fridge. Ignore the social media posts about your friend's fabulous sushi dinner that probably cost $50. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy eating out now and then. Instead of going cold turkey, gradually reduce the number of times you go out each week to build a habit you can stick with. Here's some extra motivation: instead of spending $200 a month on eating out, if you invested that money at a 5% annual return for 25 years, you'd have $117,624.30.

Cutting back on eating out to help pay off my student loans wasn't so much a sacrifice as it was a way to reward myself. Once I paid off my loans, it felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. Now I have more financial freedom and flexibility to spend money on things I'm passionate about. For me, that's travel. My next trip is my wedding in Bali, and now I can go on my honeymoon without the additional stress of debts hanging over my head.

So think about your own passions and what having more financial freedom would mean to you. If you're carrying a large debt like I was, the sooner you can take care of that, the sooner you get to the fun stuff. It can be tough at times seeing your friends and neighbors eating out, but making temporary sacrifices now will leave you in a better spot in the future. It will give you options. And options are power.