Food Cost: Getting Take-Out Vs. Cooking at Home

In the past, grabbing some take out was a perfect option if your family needed some food fast and on the cheap, because some days whether they are busy or it's impossibly hot outside, they have a convenient option to cooking.

I can still remember when fast food at most places was actually inexpensive, grabbing meals for the whole family for less than twenty U.S. dollars.

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On the other hand, preparing meals at home can also be economic for some people in various methods, for example preparing meals for the whole week to thaw and cook. It's over all healthier as well to cook at home because one can control the amount of certain ingredients versus what you get at a fast food establishment.

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Has the recent price difference between going to a supermarket to pick out food versus ordering take-out somewhere become more of an even plain?

Sofi.com has broken down some of the similarities and differences between two methods of obtaining various daily family meal. It seems both have seen price hikes as of late.

Because of inflation, grocery prices have been on the rise over the past year. The average cost of eating at home increased more than 11% between 2021 and 2022, according to the Consumer Price Index.

But more recently, the price of eating out has been rising. In March 2023, the cost of eating out rose 8.8%, while the cost of eating at home went up 8.4%. Many restaurants have raised prices because of inflation, experts say. This could indicate that the cost of eating out may cost more than cooking at home.

Although food prices have recently chilled out, Food costs no matter how you buy it might not have a difference for the foreseeable future.