Guide

Is it cheaper to cook or eat out? Count it in work hours

Cooking almost always costs less money. But it also takes time, and time is what you trade for money at work. Counting both gives a fairer answer.

The basic comparison

Compare the price of a meal out with what the same meal costs to make, per serving.

Add the cooking time

If the meal takes 30 minutes to make and clean up, cooking costs 12 minutes of paid work plus 30 minutes of your own time. Delivery costs 36 minutes of paid work and no cooking.

On money alone, cooking wins clearly. On total time, they can be close. That's why takeaway is tempting on tired weeknights.

How to make cooking win on both

• Cook once, eat twice or more. Making four servings takes barely longer than one. The cooking time per meal drops sharply.
• Keep a few 15-minute meals you can make without thinking.
• Bring lunch to work. Leftovers cost no extra cooking time at all.

When eating out is worth it

Eating out with friends, on a special day, or when you're truly exhausted can be worth every minute. The goal isn't to never eat out. It's to stop doing it by default.

What it adds up to

Swapping three delivery meals a week for home cooking, at the example prices above, saves 24 a week, or 1,248 a year. At 20 an hour, that's over 62 hours of work, close to eight full workdays.