I have a huge problem with spending money on food from delivery service. When my paycheck hits, I pay my bills and buy groceries but I still order food from local restaurants. Sometimes, it’s from not feeling like cooking, not being interested in leftover, or just really wanting something in particular. I have never had a spending issue with anything else, but DoorDash has me in a chokehold. I’ve deleted the app several times in an attempt to control myself, but I always end up downloading it again. Are there any programs or videos I can watch that would help? Any advice from people who have dealt with this issue? Thanks in advance.
Spending on Food Delivery
byu/RaspberryWarm5123 inpersonalfinance
Posted by RaspberryWarm5123
9 Comments
Bro same here, it’s like an addiction honestly. What helped me was meal prepping on Sundays and making stuff I actually wanted to eat instead of boring chicken and rice. Also started keeping the delivery apps logged out so there’s more friction when I get the urge – those extra steps to log back in usually kill the impulse
Set a budget. Figure out how much you can spend without wrecking your finances, then do that amount. Cutting out favorite things 100% feels like punishment. Working within a budget while still allowing for favorite things feels like winning.
I bought a house and now I can’t afford it plus live outside of town. Now I cook all meals at home. Cool part is since I’m saving so much money not ordering DoorDash that I have the same amount of money in my pocket with the mortgage as I had renting with DoorDash all the time. 🤔 It’s an easy habit to fall into and VERY expensive.
Buy a snack from the grocery store you like that you will eat – eat it then cook dinner. Or eat it while cooking dinner. Fighting cravings and hunger are hard, get yourself a snack to overcome the initial impulse to order.
Second – if that fails – make a mental compromise to order pick up. Save that delivery $ and fees. And go get it. Prolonging the reward makes it a less attractive option in the future. Baby steps.
Another option, buy a grocery store version of what you want – frozen pizza or frozen Indian for me. When the craving strikes, I compromise and eat the at-home version. Frozen Arby’s brand curly fries are amazing 🤷
Watch your savings go up, or record the money you saved because it’ll help you feel good and remember your motivations. A few days/weeks of not stressing about money feels incredible. But you gotta make it a full pay cycle before you’ll notice it. Treat it like a short term experiment, not a criminal life sentence.
Go to Trader Joe’s if there’s one near you. They have prepared food that you can just microwave or fry in pan. Lots of them are also good for 1-2 people only so you will not be having lots of leftovers you don’t like to eat!
Just call the restaurant and order for pickup or delivery directly if they offer it.
DoorDash is such a ripoff, the other day I had an order for my family loaded up from a restaurant offering “no delivery fee” and it was $88 before tip (even though there is technically no $2 or whatever delivery fee, guess what, they still charge a “Service fee” of 15% for deliveries regardless).
I couldn’t deal with that price for a fast food joint, so I changed it to a pickup order. Ok that’s a bit better $76.
I called the place directly, ordered the exact same items directly from them for pickup. Went there and paid $64.
Set a dollar amount from each paycheck to be automatically deposited into a high yield savings account. For example, it could be $50 or $100.
Make sure you have enough in your checking account to pay all of your bills and do not touch your HYSA unless it’s an emergency.
Once these parameters are set up, you can spend eating out because you are automatically saving money and meeting your financial responsibilities. Good luck!
If you’re going to eat out why don’t you just go get it yourself?
Just that would save you a ton of money.
I set myself a routine so I’m allowed to get it on Thursdays after the cleaner comes ect