Eat More At Home To Save
Nobody wants to cook every night and it’s sometimes great to out to eat to get a nice meal with no cleanup required. The major problem with going out is that most restaurants don’t usually serve many healthy dishes that also taste great. On top of that, restaurants can be really expensive, even when considering fast food. Why not choose to make food at home where you know exactly what ingredients are going into the meal while saving extra money.
Whole Foods recently conducted a survey that concluded that 51 percent of adults are choosing to eat at home due to the hard economic times. An even higher percent of the respondents, 68 percent, said they have least changed their cooking and eating behavior. There is not a whole lot to shed light on times like we are in, but at least people are becoming more grounded again and realizing that we can get more quality meals at home for a fraction of the cost of getting them at restaurants.
Regardless of the current economic situation you are in, changing your eating habits ot eat more at home can make a huge difference in your life. Eating at home on a nightly basis can seem daunting to many, but you’d be surprised just how easy it can be to eat a healthy meal, while saving a little extra cash.
How To Fit In Home Cooked Meals
I’ts not always easy to fit making a meal and cleaning up into our hectic schedules. Here are some ways to make it easier to fit eating at home in our schedules.
Reduce Work Schedule
Too many people have stressful lifestyles that often lead us to eat out as often as we do. It’s become too acceptable as a society that we work much more than our 40 hour work week. This only leads us to be more stressed out and not want to make a good meal at home. Not only do you suffer, but the rest of your family suffers as well. By working less or reducing some of the major stresses, making a meal at home will become so much easier. If you can’t work less, try working some later day and some shorter so that you will have the time to make a meal at home.
Meal Planning
Planning you meals for the entire week can really make it easy to fit eating at home in our lives. People often get discouraged when they get home from work and realize that they have no idea what they want to make nor have the ingredients to make it. A great idea is plan out the meals before going grocery shopping and shop for the entire week. Surf the net and seek out healthy, yet easy recipes that you can make for the week. I find that going to my local farmer’s market and stocking up on produce for the entire week is the easiest way for me. The quality of the foods you will buy will be superior what you could find in most grocery stores and almost always stay fresh throughout the week.
Improve Your Life
Now that you’ve found more time to eat a home more regularly, it’s time to look at some ways that it can help improve your life.
Healthier Ingredients
So many times when we go out to restaurants, the only fruit or vegetable we usually get is either a potato or is fried. Also, just because we eat at home doesn’t mean that we eat healthy or spend less than restaurants. This gives also us the opportunity to eat less meat and use healthy ingredients for you meals. It’s especially easy since many of the foods at our local farmer’s markets are healthy and fresh. Buying healthy foods doesn’t usually cost more money even if it does cost a little bit more, isn’t your health worth it?
Improve Family Life
Whenever I hear the song ‘Cat’s in the Cradle’ it always reminds me of just how dysfunctional our family life has become. So many families don’t sit down to eat a meal together and parents have no idea what their kids are eating. Involving the entire family in cooking the meals and getting them to sit down to dinner every night may help strengthen the relationship we have with our families. You can also ensure that everybody in your family is eating a healthy meal.
Save Money
This may be the most important reason for many people, as the survey above suggests. It’s so easy to save money by cooking at home, especially since the average cost of a meal at a restaurant is around $25 per person. Even if that figure is closer to $5 as you would get at a fast food restaurant, you can still possibly save some money. There are so many ways you can save money by eating at home since you exactly what you put into the meal. One great way that I found to really save is to eat less meat. Try making at least one meal a week without meat. Not only is it healthier for you, but you will find that it can much less expensive to make. Also, you can save much more money on usually expensive dishes like fish, while also knowing exactly where the fish is coming from. Get creative and you will find it easy to spend far less when eating at home.
Comments
This is a huge problem for me. I’ve found that our CSA has helped. With lots of fresh, seasonal vegetables in the refrigerator, it’s a lot harder to justify eating out.
One thing that I find… will help people realize how much cheaper it is to eat at home is to write down what they spend on a piece of paper for a week.
Now… if you buy things from the super market to make at home… write down that cost… and see how much you can go on that food… If you spend a week going out for food… you will see that your money spend will easily accrue before the week is even over.
See… I find that seeing that actual numbers help people realize that it is better to save and eat at home =D
Till then,
Jean
Jean: Really great idea. I agree that most people need actual written evidence to realize just how much they could be saving.
This is something I have been doing for a while now. I find that I eat much healthier and better than I did when I ate out all the time, with the added benefit of saving a great deal of money.
It really sinks in when you break down the cost of a single meal and compare it to the cost of a fast food value meal, let alone a meal at a halfway decent restaurant.
I belong to a wholesale food club too, which is a great way to get a lot of your basics in bulk. I find that if the food isn’t outright cheaper, it usually ends up being about the same price as the store brand at the local grocery store, but is much higher quality. Well, at least the stuff I buy anyway.
My latest cooking endeavor has been to learn how to make my own bread.
I have actually considered making my own bread too as I can never find a really good loaf of bread at my local natural food store or grocery store. My farmer’s market has good bread, but during times, it tough to find really fresh and great tasting bread.
If one adds up the cost of just one fast food meal or a dinner for two meal by spending the same amount on ingredients and a good cook book or even online blog such as here you really can see the benefits for yourself.All should try for just one week and compare.
I normally avoid eating outside. My food include lot of leafy vegetables and I’m a vegan so no problem of meat. Also we have made our rules regarding eating meal together daily (dinner).
I really liked your idea about the meal planning I guess I’ll try it. Thanks for sharing.
This is definitely something I need to work on. The problem is that I get home from work and I have no desire to go shopping. It is just so much easier to go out for dinner or pick something up. Mainly I need to work on planning meals better. If I know what I’m cooking throughout the week, I can pick most of that in one trip to the grocery store.
I think eating at home is the best! We added all our receipts for one month that were for eating out, everyone should do this, it’s a shock. If you need a way to save a few hundred a month, you will be suprised how easy it can be when you eat out less. Use a crock pot or convection oven (its faster) and make it fun. My kids hate to miss family dinners, and that makes us feel like we are doing something right!
I find that I save a heap by eating at home. I also find that I can save even more if I plan my supermarket shopping and go just once a week. Stay away from the junk food aisles and try to buy quality items. Eating in has definitely got a heap of benefits for the family as well as the health.
I can’t believe how much money i’m saving by eating at home. Not just the cost of the food but the petrol too. I went on a mission to make $2 a serve meals for a couple of months and I was shocked at what great meals you can make on the cheap if you think about it beforehand. Maybe we could have a post on some cheaps eats that we all contribute too?
Im a big fan of those frozen meals that feed 2 and only cost about $4.00 a package. It’s an easy way to save money.
-Jack
Jack, hopefully you are buying the healthier kinds of frozen foods, the only thing I dislike about frozen foods are the preservatives that are in it =(
Till then,
Jean
I’m also a big fan of frozen meals like Truck Jobs, that’s cheap and good
I agree with Jean, if you do decide to buy frozen foods, make sure they don’t have as many preservatives.
It’s ok to eat an occasional frozen meal, but I think you can gain more from making a meal. Not only do you know exactly what ingredients are going into the meal, but hopefully you can get the entire family involved in cooking the meal.
Besides the cost savings and added nutrition, I find that the process of cooking, and preparing, my food connects me with the earth and makes me more aware of the overall cycle of life – and that’s a good thing!
Buying fewer packaged items is not only cheaper, but also much better for the environment. We have become very lazy and this hurts our hip pocket as well as making us fatter and unhealthier.
Inspiring article. There can never be any replacement to home cooked food.
I eat at home nearly every meal and I find I can eat healthier and for a lot less money. The easiest things I have found for when I am in a hurry are the pre-cooked chicken breasts that have been cut (I get mine from Trader Joes, but I think they have them everywhere) and I pair it with the Steamer Packs from Green Giant that are found in the frozen foods or I put them on a salad or use it as a starter for nearly any dish such as pasta, soup, etc. Since I am always in a hurry I also buy fruit that is pre-cut and other items that I can throw together without much prep time. It’s actually easier and quicker than going to a restaurant and a lot cheaper!!!
Although it takes time for you to cook, it still worth it. It’s really good to eat at home in some countries like mine which you can probably see how dirty it is when the chef cook something.