Enter your eating habits. See the compounded gap between eating out and cooking.
This calculator shows the lifetime wealth difference between regularly eating at restaurants versus cooking at home — converting your dining frequency and average spend into both an annual cost comparison and a long-term investment value. It's for anyone whose restaurant, takeout, and delivery spending has become a significant line item without ever consciously deciding it should be.
Annual restaurant cost = average spend per meal × meals per week × 52. Annual home cooking cost = estimated cost of equivalent meals (typically $3–$5 per serving vs $15–$25 at a restaurant). The difference is invested at 7% annually. The USDA estimates the average American household spends $3,459/year dining out, while home-cooked equivalents would cost roughly $1,200 — a $2,259 annual gap worth $240,000 over 30 years if invested.
Food is the most controllable major expense category in most budgets — yet it's also the most psychologically resistant to change. This calculator isn't about eliminating restaurants (that's unrealistic and joyless). It's about showing the cost of the current frequency so you can decide whether the tradeoff is worth it. Many people find that cutting from 5 restaurant meals per week to 3 — while not feeling particularly deprived — recovers $800–$1,200/year in investable savings.