Eating out at restaurants or grabbing a quick bite at your favorite fast food place may be so commonplace for you that you never consider the cost to both your wallet and your health. After all, it’s so easy to order dinner or get a sandwich at lunch compared to making something at home. But cooking for yourself or your family has a ton of benefits that can make a huge difference in your life.
The Cost of Eating Out
The average American family, or household, spends around $3,000 a year eating out at restaurants, which includes dining in and takeout. Many of us spend much more. To break that down, imagine if you buy a small lunch each day that costs about $10 and maybe you splurge on a Friday night dinner that comes to around $100. That all adds up to $150 a week, $650 per month, and a whopping $7500 per year. You probably don’t spend that much on very many other goods or services, and your Eversource electricity rates are most likely less than all your restaurant and food delivery bills.
Financial Benefits of Cooking
As we discussed above, eating out on a consistent basis can be quite expensive. And in fact, cooking at home costs you significantly less than eating at restaurants or grabbing takeout. After all, when you eat out, you are only paying for that one meal, and when grocery shopping, you can buy ingredients for multiple meals for less. Cooking at home allows you to plan meals, and even create extra portions that can be brought to work. In fact, studies have shown that eating out is about 5 times more expensive than cooking meals from scratch.
Health Benefits of Cooking
If you’ve done the math and feel like it’s time to cut back on eating out, then you will be doing yourself a lot of good as well, as cooking at home has numerous health benefits. For one, you are in control of the menu, which means that you can make healthier diet choices. Fat, salt and sugar are the things that our pallets have the strongest response to. Not surprisingly, restaurant food is loaded with these ingredients to an extent that few home-cooked meals ever would be. Often, we are tempted by all the calorie-heavy dishes and desserts a restaurant offers. At home, you can plan out your own shopping menu, picking out lots of vegetables, lean meats, and low-fat items.
Restaurant meals usually include large portions as well, which means you are taking in a lot more calories than in your normal home-prepared meal. Cooking at home allows you to control your own portions. And by making your own lunch and cooking your own dinner, you will be able to reduce your calorie intake throughout the entire day. Overall, cooking at home makes you more conscientious about the foods you eat and how much you eat.
Cooking at home with family and friends can also help your mental health. Enjoying company, interacting with friends, and spending time with your family all have positive effects on your mood and make you feel happier, in addition to healthier and wealthier.