One of the most effective ways to cut expenses and create more room for saving, investing and paying off debts is to stop eating out. Restaurants often markup their prices significantly to turn a profit. On average, restaurant meals are sold at a 260% markup to cover various costs such as labor, goods, marketing, real estate occupancy, maintenance, repairs, and insurance.
The average meal at a typical restaurant costs $15.37, while that same meal at home would typically cost $4.31 to make. By cooking at home, you could easily save around $12 per meal which equates to more than $12K annually in savings. This doesn't even include additional costs such as tips, drinks, delivery fees, parking costs, appetizers, and desserts.
While we're not against eating out occasionally to celebrate, take a break from cooking or enjoy good food, it’s concerning that the average person carries massive debt and has very little in savings and retirement, yet spends several hundred dollars a month on marked up food for the sake of convenience and entertainment.
Source: Journey Foods
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