8 Benfits of Eating at Home – Other than Saving Money

My wife and I rarely choose to dine out – instead fixing the majority of our meals at home to eat with our children. This is one of the many expenses that we cut from our monthly budget in order to live within our means from a single income. Saving money in areas like food and entertainment expenses allow my wife and I to raise two young boys with one parent staying at home.

While we do dine out every once in a while, we limit ourselves to spending less than $50 per month in this category – which usually includes a few trips to a couple fast food restaurants for the kids and that is about it. Comparing our $12.50 weekly expenses with other families of four who spend a conservative $50 per week dining out – we are saving around $2,000 per year by choosing to eat at home!

Saving money by NOT dining out has it’s obvious advantages to put cash back into your pocket. But what are the other benefits of making a choice to cook at home instead of paying a premium to eat at a restaurant. Here are 8 side benefits that my family has witnessed as a result of eating at home.

1. Healthy Lifestyle – After saving money, the greatest benefit from dining in compared to eating at restaurants is promoting a healthy lifestyle. Overall, cooking at home is much healthier than dining out. While some restaurants now offer healthy entrees and choices, the options are limited. Food consumed at restaurants typically has a lot more calories and fat than food you have prepared at home.
2. Lower Health Care Costs – Going a step further on promoting a healthy lifestyle – eating in can lower your overall health care costs. Consumption of fatty and high caloric foods overtime can lead to diabetes and heart disease, among other health issues. If you can eat meals at home and adopt a healthier lifestyle, you are less likely to develop health conditions. Reducing the risk of developing diabetes or heart disease will actually save you a lot of money in the future on health care related costs and prescriptions!
3. Family Time – An important benefit for any family with children. Eating at home instead of at a restaurant gives the entire family time to talk about their day. If you are constantly on the run and are always eating out – you lose that quality time to communicate with your loved ones. Cooking at home gives you a chance to connect and talk about school with your children and discuss your days events with your spouse.
4. Knowing What You Eat – This is a big one for my family as my oldest son has food allergies. Do you ever get worried about who is cooking your food and are they doing something with it they shouldn’t? Maybe it is just the conspirator thinking in me – but I really get concerned about what I am eating. As I stated before, raising a son with food allergies can be difficult. Even if you can find something on a menu that does not contain peanuts, eggs, or milk – the food still has to be handled and prepared by humans. Humans make mistakes and they also do things they shouldn’t sometimes. Cooking your own food at home alleviates any doubts as to what you are truly eating!
5. Reducing Temptation – Anyone on a diet dreads dining out with family and friends. The temptation to order fried or high caloric foods is outstanding when you eat at restaurants. There is just something about eating out with others and the atmosphere at most restaurants that makes it difficult to eat healthy. While many people on a diet are able to avoid these temptations, it is better to avoid the situation entirely. Eating at home more reduces these situations where you may be tempted to order something unhealthy!
6. Increase of Energy – Another result of living a healthier lifestyle – eating at home can increase your overall energy levels. Since you are eating healthier foods, you are likely to be more active and have more energy compared with a sedentary lifestyle.
7. Education – Eating at home is an excellent opportunity to educate your children on topics about saving money and eating healthy. If you raise your children in an environment where most of their meals come from a restaurant, more than likely they will end up living that way. As mentioned earlier – dining in promotes a healthier lifestyle which is another important thing to teach your children.
8. Make Money – Not only will you save money by eating at home, you can actually make money! I mentioned earlier that we save at least $2,000 every year by eating at home compared to other families. If I took that $2,000 and invested it into a high yielding savings account or certificate of deposit – I would be earning income off of the money I saved!

I am not saying that you should never eat out at restaurants. My wife and I like to go out every once in a while for a nice relaxing meal that we don’t have to cook. However, there seem to be a lot more benefits from eating at home which always seem to win out in our household.

What other side benefits can you think of from eating at home compared to dining out?

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