Hi everyone. I went through my bank statements and added up all the charges that said UBER EATS or the 7/11 near my house where I buy my cookies chips ice cream pizza or charges like MCDONALDS and so forth and so on, and it all added up to 7383 dollars. In 2026 I haven’t spent a single dollar on takeout and I have noticeably more money. I am scared I will revert back to my old ways and buy lots of takeout so please can someone make me feel bad about spending that much? Can someone cite some statistics that show how I could’ve used the money better so I can feel really bad and not do it again? My brother told me 7383 invested last year even at $100 a week would’ve made me over 10,000. Can you make me feel bad like that?
Please yell at me. I spent 7383 dollars on takeout/uber eats/fast food/snacks in 2025
byu/Hysatirical inFrugal
Posted by Hysatirical
27 Comments
That’s more than double what I spent on food all year.
That’s crazy
It’s not just the money but your health too! Takeouts are high in salt and sodium and switching back to home-cooked meals might save you a lot of health bills in the future too, if that factors into the equation for you (it should!)
In 30 years getting a below average return you’d have $73,000 sitting there waiting for you. Gross.
Also can you imagine how unhealthy it was to consume as much junk as you did? If you’re not in great shape this was 100% the reason why. If you haven’t gotten bloodwork done recently you absolutely should.
You’re completing the trickle down economics that the billionairs aren’t.
That’s $142/ week, $20/day! Make a list of all of your favorite takeout foods. Then make a list of the groceries needed to make them yourself, from scratch, not processed or pre-made and plan a weekly grocery trip. Learn to cook, one meal at a time. There are thousands of YouTube cooking videos. Track your grocery spending, and be amazed at how much money you can put in a savings account!
I spend that much on all my food for the year. $7k goes a lot farther at a grocery store than a McDonalds.
Don’t beat yourself up TOO much (just a little). Those are meals that you would have eaten at home – but home meals cost something too. So while you spent 7.3k on takeout, that may have translated into 4k of home-cooked food.
Still not good, though. Don’t give uber your money.
That’s $20/day. If that’s all you ever spent on food the whole year, it’s not the worst thing in the world as your starting point to a new life of intentional spending.
By avoiding it, you’re probably also doing something good for your health, depending on what you’re eating now. You might have just added 10 healthy/active years to your life and prevented yourself from losing a foot to diabetes in the future. These kinds of choices can make a huge difference.
I hate to shame someone, I’d rather help them feel good about their choices now. You did what you did and now you know better. So keep doing better. Every meal is a choice for you, it sounds like. Be grateful you have a choice and you have the luxury to make better choices.
Play with this future value calculator. If you enter what you spent, assume you add no more money, assume an 8% interest rate, it’s pretty interesting to see how much it could have grown to if you’d put that money in the stock market instead.
I don’t think you should feel bad. You’ve clearly learned a big lesson, and that’s admirable.
[http://www.ebrteachersfcu.org/calc/fv_multi.html](http://www.ebrteachersfcu.org/calc/fv_multi.html)
You are someone in a day what we spend for three adults for food per day. When is time to retire, this hair will leave you broke and in terrible health.
Cut your takeout/food spending in half and invest the other $10/day
The life of an addict can be rough. It’s just one day at a time and willpower. I fell off the wagon yesterday and bought some fast food for the first time in three months. I really never buy snacks or drinks at the gas station or at the grocery store. That being said. WHAT THE F!?!?! How do you waste that much MONEY!!!!! I’m assuming you eat other food so you must be spending more than that. Get a grip DUM ASSSSS!
Look into cooking some healthy tasty meals! Tons of tutorials on cooking out there Make cooking your new hobby. Mediterranean cooking is pretty easy and delicious. You won’t miss that fast food. I’ve never had food delivered. I do take out only for food I can’t easily replicate at home once or twice a month. Things like Chinese or bbq ribs.!
I see that you’re beating yourself up but this is just a moment of learning. All learning has a leading edge of frustration. It’s HARD.
You have data now that will motivate you to make better decisions. We do not learn through shame. We learn through self compassion and willingness.
And you have the willingness, so shut up and get to it.
shame is not a good long term motivator, you need to figure out a way to make your current plan sustainable. For example you can learn to be a stellar cook so you don’t even feel the urge to eat food that isn’t yours. Maybe you can start investing or just saving a portion you normally would have spent on food as well!
Door dash and Uber eats are such a scam. The only food I pay to have delivered is pizza for when it’s a date night and I won’t be home when it’s dinner time.
Part of what OP should do is condition themselves to only order enough to not be hungry from a fast food place. Instead of burger, fries, drink, just get a burger. The other stuff isn’t adding any nutritional value and is doubling the price.
I need to yell at myself first.
I did worse.
I need help.
It’s the use of Uber Eats that kills me. If you’re physically abled, why are you paying another physically-abled person to bring food to you? Could habit or timing changes allow you to pick up your own food and save you like 30-50% on those meals?
That’s a perfect spot to start the change. This year you don’t have to spend that much. And you made it through 2025!
Wtf.. that’s more than I spent to feed my family of four all year. Even if we weren’t on a tight budget, I would never waste money like that. The mark up alone is so not worth it!
Here, I’ll challenge you: I spent $0 last year with Uber Eats and Door Dash.
Honestly I’ve been pretty terrible with money most of my life. One thing that’s helped to save money is telling myself “Your future self will thank you.”
Saving money is the ultimate self care and you deserve to be taken care of! You are the only one that will take care of you, ya know?
will feeling bad about it actually make you do better, though? i find that feeling bad/ashamed will actually ping-pong me back to the bad behavior faster. try to figure out (without shaming yourself!) why you end up doing takeout so much and work on whatever that is. i tend to eat out more when i’m stressed.
I’m frugal with my emotional energy too. Sorry this didn’t work out.
I’m not angry with you, just disappointed. I raised you smarter than this.
Do you have a car and the ability to drive? I recommend comparing a delivery app, vs calling the restaurant and picking it up yourself. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good here. You don’t need to suddenly swear off restaurants and commit to only doing your own hyper-frugal meal prep. Just start by comparing delivery apps vs calling and picking up food yourself. It’s NOT a small difference, it is an insane difference.
When you actually compare, you will see comical absurd stupid things like, “this pizza will, after all doordash fees, be $28 to get to my door,” versus “I can call the place and get the same pizza for $15 if I just call them say “i want a pizza” and then drive there and back. $28 vs $15 spent, over how many meals would you do that, over a year, over 5 years, over a decade?
Start looking at your finances. What do you earn vs what do you spend. Then be more brutal with yourself. What do you save? What sacrifices or compromises do you ever choose to make, what conveniences do you pay a premium for that you could adapt to living without? How much does this really add up to day after day, over time?
Remember, some folks really are struggling, with serious nonnegotiable expenses and limited incomes. But if you are able-bodied and spending this much on luxury food delivery year after year, and you’re worried about escaping debt, saving for retirement, buying a home, etc: think about the root cause of where your worries actually come from.
Eating out is my weakness so I can’t yell at anyone over that. Always has been.
My total eating out bill is way over yours and it is horrible. No benefit except some lazy in the moment comfort. I know it. Can’t break it. Don’t usually do delivery services but occasional 7/11 snack, regular fast food pickups and eating out at restaurants 1-2 times a week. My wife loves to cook but works too much to do it more than maybe once a week. I’m a Spaghettios and frozen pizza kinda guy. If I do that for a day or 2 I reward myself with a nice sit down lunch and budget goes back to hell.
I tell people I can’t afford a car payment but spend in a week or 2 on eating out what one would be.
Fantastic you are off to a great start on 2026 on it. Keep it up.
Imagine you and a friend flying to a beautiful destination for a week.
Or imagine delivery pizza for a year.