Want to save money and eat healthier? You probably already know that eating out less is one of the easiest ways. But it can be overwhelming, and sometimes you’re just craving comfort food to take home and eat in front of the TV. Learning to master the art of the “takeout fake out” can help satisfy those cravings without blowing the budget.
As I mention frequently on this blog, we strongly believe in “value spending,” which means spending money on the things you love, while trying to cut back on everything else. So, if dining out is one of those things you highly value, I would never tell you that you shouldn’t.
We enjoy checking out new restaurants in our area as well, and (pre-pandemic) ate meals out one to three times a month.
However, for the purposes of this post, I’m talking about takeout that is primarily for convenience or habit, rather than eating amazing food and enjoying an experience or the ambiance of a restaurant. Examples of this are the lazy pizza delivery call when you don’t feel like cooking or buying lunch out on a workday only to eat it in front of your computer.
Sure, spending $10 to $25 on takeout every now and then isn’t going to break the bank. The problem arises when takeout becomes a frequent habit, especially if it isn’t really adding any joy to your life. Small expenses can add up to large sums of money over time. And while it’s a nice treat when done occasionally, the more you you treat yourself the less you’ll actually enjoy it thanks to hedonic adaptation.
Related Post: THE LATTE FACTOR: SHOULD YOU GIVE UP YOUR LATTE HABIT TO REACH FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE?
Do people really spend too much eating out?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) latest Consumer Expenditure Survey, food is one of the top three categories of spending for the “Average American Household,” representing 13% of their annual budget. Of this, the average American household spent 43% of this food budget ($294/month or $3,525/year) on food eaten away from home. This includes both dining out at a restaurant or purchasing takeout.
Eating out is almost always more expensive and/or less healthy than a meal you could make at home. For these reasons, it’s one of the best places to start if you’re looking to save money.
Related Post: HOW DOES YOUR SPENDING COMPARE TO THE AVERAGE AMERICAN HOUSEHOLD?
I’ll admit it. We definitely used to spend too much!
While I can’t speak for every household, I can speak for ours. And we definitely spent too much on eating out in the past, spending an average of almost $4,000 per year (or $330 per month) on food purchased or eaten outside of the home prior to 2020! Approximately $1,000 of that $4,000 was spent on takeout or convenience food that was eaten at home or our work desks, and not all that enjoyable.
Our restaurant & takeout spending for the past 5 years:
| 2020 | $1,461 |
| 2019 | $4,441 |
| 2018 | $3,773 |
| 2017 | $3,611 |
| 2016 | $4,019 |
In 2020, we finally got serious about reducing our expenses, especially after I quit my soul-crushing job to pursue early retirement in March. We mastered the takeout fake out and spent 63% less in this category last year.
Yes, some of this decrease was due to the global pandemic, which made dining out less appealing (though made delivery more appealing). But even absent that, I think spending would have been around $2,000 last year. We made a conscious effort to reduce spending in this area, which included bringing lunch to work, purchasing less convenience food (i.e. fast food chains or other low quality takeout), cooking more, and reducing the frequency of eating out to save for special occasions or date nights.
Similarly, our 2021 budget for restaurants & takeout is only $1,500. We’re currently on track, with only $57 spent through March 9th.
Related Post: A RICH FRUGAL LIFE: 2020 YEAR IN REVIEW
The takeout fake out: Turning the “Pizza Friday” delivery habit into a family tradition
Shortly after repatriating back to US in 2015, we readopted our old American habits, and started the “Pizza Friday” takeout tradition. Though, this was really more of a habit than tradition, bred from sheer exhaustion at the end of the workweek.
After realizing how much we were spending on so-so delivery pizza and trying to eat healthier, I decided it was time to cut back on the takeout and give homemade pizza a try. And you know what? It’s actually really easy… and tasty! I just throw the ingredients in my bread machine on the “dough” setting, though it would be just as easy using a stand mixer.
Even better, it’s a fun family activity that the three of us can do together on Friday evenings. Sometimes I make the pizza myself, but most weeks Mr. RFL pours the wine and we all spend some quality time together in the kitchen making, baking, and eating our creation. Our daughter loves to help roll out the dough and add the toppings.
And thus, the Pizza Friday lazy delivery order habit became a meaningful family tradition. Now we can save money, participate in a frugal family activity, and control the quality of the ingredients we put into our bodies. It’s a triple win.
We haven’t ordered pizza chain takeout since July 2020. However, during the preceding 12-month period we spent $525 just at Papa John’s, at an average cost of $26 per delivery.
I will admit that it took some trial and error to get there. We’ve had a couple of not great pizzas during the learning curve. However, someone in the FI community pointed me to Wolfgang Puck’s pizza dough recipe which completely transformed our pizza game. We’re also exploring some gluten-free options these days.
How much can you save making your own pizza?
The answer: A lot!
Here’s a break-down of the cost of our average plain cheese pizza:
| Ingredients | Cost |
| 1 Cup – Warm Water | FREE |
| 3 Cups – Flour | $0.40 |
| 1 Pkg – Active Yeast | $0.30 |
| 1 Tbsp – Oil | $0.09 |
| 1 Tsp – Honey | $0.21 |
| 1 Tsp – Salt | $0.00 |
| 7 oz – Pizza Sauce | $1.00 |
| 1.5 Cup – Shredded Mozzarella | $2.25 |
| Total cost per Pizza | $4.25 |
| Total cost per Slice (9 slices) | $0.47 |
Our current pizza dough recipe makes somewhere between a large and extra-large pizza. If you like a thinner crust, you can divide the dough into two and make two medium pizzas with the recipe (par-baking and freezing one if you don’t need both).
For comparison purposes, a large (8 slices) and extra-large (10 slices) cheese pizza from our local pizza chain after delivery fees and tip currently costs $23 and $26, respectively. So, let’s say $24.50 for an equivalent sized pizza. Which means that making that same pizza at home saves us over 80%!
Obviously, toppings will add to the cost on both sides, but I wanted to calculate this way to show the comparison to alternatives. Additionally, the prices above are higher than what I actually pay for the ingredients – I used full price for this analysis, which I rarely pay since I usually stock up on staples when they’re on sale.
Other alternatives to takeout pizza
Not into baking from scratch? Try picking up one of the several frozen pizza options from your grocery store to have on hand when the craving hits. It’s a lot harder to order up delivery when you have an alternative in the freezer that’s cheaper and faster.
Our local grocery store often has deals for Red Baron pizza of 3 for $8, which is less than $3 per pizza. You can fancy it up with extra cheese or toppings if you’d like, but it’s not that much of a downgrade from the larger American chains which can be hit or miss in my opinion. We used to joke about whether the “A team” had been working at our local pizza chain based on how good (or bad) the pizza was that night. And if you happen to have some phenomenal local pizza joints nearby … I’m jealous 😊.
But what if I’m craving Chinese food instead of pizza?
On the rare Friday we didn’t order pizza, we usually ordered Chinese food instead. Sometimes this wasn’t on Friday, but was in addition to it, on a different day of the week when we found ourselves too lazy to cook and craving comfort food.
My all-time favorite Chinese food is orange chicken. Mr. RFL likes it, too. Ordering two takeout meals, which was enough for our family, cost $25 on average. The food was just okay. We haven’t found any great Chinese food restaurants near our new home, so this was more a convenience and craving play, than something that was enjoyable. It also used to take an hour to arrive, which feels like forever when you’re really hungry.
Then we found a simple and affordable takeout fake out alternative that was faster and tasted better than actually ordering takeout. Trader Joe’s orange chicken. When made in an air fryer or sautéed in a wok, Trader Joe’s orange chicken is actually really good! TJ’s also has chicken or veggie fried rice that is also tasty and easy to make. This is in no way sponsored, I just love these products.
Now whenever we’re craving Chinese food, I just grab those options out of the freezer and dinner is on the table in 20 min or less. I add some frozen broccoli to the chicken and/or mix some cauliflower rice in with the fried rice to make the meal a bit healthier and stretch it out most of the time. This takeout fake out provides even more leftovers than our previous takeout order. It’s also significantly healthier, with more veggies and fewer dodgy ingredients.
And the cost? About a third of the price!
| TJ’s frozen orange chicken | $4.99 |
| TJ’s frozen veggie fried rice | $2.29 |
| 1/3 bag TJ’s cauliflower rice | $0.66 |
| 1/3 bag frozen broccoli | $0.33 |
| TOTAL MEAL | $8.28 |
A few other takeout fake out options…
It takes a little time and research to find takeout swaps that are close to the real thing (or are just so much cheaper and/or healthier that you love them regardless). However, it’s well worth it! Once you find your favorites, it’s easy to whip up an alternative that both your family and wallet love.
When looking for new inspiration, I often turn to my favorite food blogs or Pinterest.
Budget Bytes is a popular blog with several affordable restaurant inspired recipes. As a bonus, each recipe also includes the average cost per meal to help you plan ahead. Although the blog features the recipes of several different cuisines, check out the easy sesame chicken and pork & peanut dragon noodle recipes if your craving Asian food.
Pinch of Yum is another food blog I frequently visit for new recipes, with takeout inspired options. The cauliflower alfredo sauce recipe from this site tastes amazing (especially, with a little parmesan and cream cheese added in), and is a much healthier alternative to one of my favorite Italian dishes. Some other top recipes from the blog that might quench your takeout cravings: sesame beef & broccoli, crunchy roll bowls, Thai noodle salad with lime peanut dressing, and date night sausage & kale rigatoni.
We have a few other go-to recipes that we love as well.
I promise once you find your favorites, and master the takeout fake-out, it’s so much easier to say “no” when the takeout urge hits.
We’ve saved tons of money since taking this approach, leaving more money in the budget to enjoy eating out at nicer restaurants when we do go out.
What are your favorite takeout fake out hacks or recipe?
I love trying new things, so please share below 😊
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