I used to eat out all the time or pick stuff up on the way home, as there is a deli or takeout every few blocks. But, it got way too expensive. These were things I found to save money:
Ordering Chinese food: any entree starts out at a base rate, say $6-ish for a pint of food. It is NOT double the price for a quart of the same entree. It will be about $10 instead. So, it is a better value to get a quart and save the leftovers for another few meals. You can divide the quarts into individual size meals in quart size Ziplock bags and freeze. It's only 5 minutes in the microwave to reheat. Then you can decide which meals you want any night.
Skip the appetizers. Unless you have a crunchy craving and must have an egg roll, skip it.
Alternately, if you must have an egg roll and/or soup, order when the lunch special menu is available. They usually include and egg roll & soup or fried rice with an entree.
Delivery tip: I usually tip a base rate, say $5 for a bag of food. Doesn't matter if it's one meal or two in that bag. (I will tip more if the order is really large.) So, it's again a better value to order a couple different quarts of food for the same $5 tip (once a week,) and have more food for extra days, than have smaller amounts of food delivered (or take out) 3-4 times a week.
If you have a Trader Joe's near you, check out their frozen (Chinese) dumplings. They have about 8 different frozen dumplings to choose from.
They are just as tasty as ones from a Chinese restaurant. You get a whole bag for the same price as 6 restaurant dumplings. Toss them in boiling water and they are done in 5 minutes. (I don't bother re-frying them. Don't miss it either.) They also have great veggie spring rolls and chicken spring rolls. 10 minutes in the toaster oven and DONE. You can cook these and start eating before your delivery arrives.
For takeout: do some price comparisons. Ordering a sandwich from the deli counter may be less than picking up the pre-made take-out containers in the refrigerated deli section, which are often made that morning. Or the opposite may be the case.
Price compare different takeout places. A salad may be cheaper a couple blocks down than where you are getting your hot meal from. Place your order, instead of waiting for the meal to cook, you could walk to get the salad and be back before it's done.
Always have condiments on hand. If the pre-packaged chicken sandwich is cheaper, but you've been ordering from the deli counter or sandwich shoppe because you can order extra mayo & pickles on it, have jars of mayo & pickles in the fridge to slather on yourself. Same for salad dressings, oil & vinegar.
Subway sandwiches: again there is a base rate for the 6-inch sub. It is NOT double the price for the same 12-inch sub. So, getting the 12-inch is a better value. Save the second half of the sandwich for later. (They won't
wrap them separately as that is considered two 6-inch subs then.) If it's soggy later because of the dressing, you can tell them no dressing/mayo on one half. (They always cut the 12-inch subs.) Then put it on yourself later with the condiments you should have on hand. Some days, Subway has a sandwich that is a special price.
Salad bars by the pound: pre-pandemic, I used to load up a container with the assortment of different veggies at the Whole Foods salad bar: beets, sweet potatoes, sliced almonds, chick peas, corn, quinoa, etc., for about 2-3 salads. But NOT get the lettuce or the salad dressing from the salad bar. It is cheaper to buy a pre-packaged bag of lettuce, throw it in a bowl and then "assemble" your salad fixings on the lettuce. Also, lettuce starts getting mushy as soon as you mix it with dressings or the other wet veggies. Whereas, one bag has enough lettuce for about 3 salads and stays fresh until you assemble it and dress it.
Buy the store made, hot rotisserie chickens. They are a great value. Hot chicken meals
the first night with pre-packaged sides from the deli section. Then the chicken can be shredded and put into salads later or made into sandwiches. A take-out "plain" salad bowl
is about $5, whereas a chicken Caesar salad bowl is $8. That extra $3 buys almost
half of a rotisserie chicken.
. My son showed this to me thankful that I didn’t cook like this.
I also try not to eat a full day of store-bought, pre-packaged foods. I try to mix some with some homemade stuff that I don't salt much, to make sure my salt intake throughout a whole day is lowered.
It just wasn't worth the time. Now, I buy the skinless, boneless thighs, un-roll them, so they are flat like the breasts. I freeze them that way or bake or broil them flat and whole, the way I would a whole breast.
