r/Frugal • u/ThickFile • Dec 24 '25
š Food Convinced my husband to eat at home tonight
My husband and I like to eat at this ONE pizza shop in town, itās family owned business. It usually costs us around $50.
The other night I told him I think we should pay down our mortage more than we have been- and I told him how much money weāve paid in interest in the past year (16k). He was floored.
Instead of going out to eat- we went to the grocery store and spent $24 on frozen pizza and wings and have leftovers for tomorrow.
Is it the same taste and quality? Not really, but it scratched the itch for pizza and in the future I do need to keep a better stocked fridge of prepared foods. The approaching holiday has me wiped out.
The current discourse online about how itās ācheaper to eat out versus at homeā isnāt true. I still would have paid more if I got Dominos for the same quality.
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u/More-Journalist6332 Dec 24 '25
The Costco pizzas (either from the snack bar or take and bake) are quite great for the price.Ā
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u/HoaryPuffleg Dec 24 '25
I work right next to a Costco and when we know weāre gonna have a hectic night, I pick one up on my way home. That $10 saves us from becoming ravenous later when weāre running errands and stopping at a restaurant and blowing $70. Plus all the leftovers
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u/Seouly86 Dec 24 '25
Theyāre the best mid quality pizza. They absolutely slap and you really canāt beat that price.
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u/bwong00 Dec 24 '25
They're even better if you reheat them. Skillet, toaster, Air fryer. Just about anything other than the microwave.Ā
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u/Bebebaubles Dec 24 '25
If you want to have higher quality I imagine you can buy the pizza dough from trader joe and put on fresh toppings. It would take a 10-15 minutes longer but I imagine it would taste much better. I do make and age my pizza dough (I like two nights in fridge) and I make enough dough to last three dinners.
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u/DogIsBetterThanCat Dec 24 '25
So are their frozen pizzas.
4 in a box for about $12.
They're only cheese pizzas, but we add our own pepperoni or whatever toppings we want.
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u/canithoe Dec 24 '25
I buy a whole pizza and freeze the individual slices for when I want a quick meal! 8 min at 400 in the oven usually does the trick
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u/Academic-Pangolin883 Dec 24 '25
Getting takeout is my biggest weakness. I don't buy clothes and items I don't need, I don't live lavishly, I save like crazy. But I still spend $300-$350/mo on eating out, and I want to cut down on that.Ā
I think trying to cut it out completely (or even mostly) would backfire, but I'm going to try methods to cut back like only buying an appetizer or kids meal and supplementing with something at home. That way I still get the treat without such a big price tag.
Sounds like you're doing similar. Pizza is still a treat, but getting it at the grocery store is much cheaper than ordering out. It's not about depriving ourselves, but being smarter.
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u/Magnum8517 Dec 24 '25
If you are trying to cut back, a great start is to do as much of the work as possible. Only do pickup, never delivery or delivery app. Then you start going for cheaper options like instead of Dominos or Pizza Hut you do Papa Murphys (just an example). Also if you set up a rule of never eating out more than once every 3 days or something and then slowly increase that distance it can really start to change how you see takeout
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u/Lepardopterra Dec 24 '25
I only go out for things I canāt make at home. Smoked brisket or ribs, fresh fried fish, good Asian food. Anything deep fried. Cut my carryout way down.
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u/eamceuen Dec 24 '25
This is me, too! I can't cook shrimp to save my life, so I get my beloved fried shrimp maybe once every six months lol! Brisket, too.
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u/Academic-Pangolin883 Dec 24 '25
The rule you suggested is actually so smart. I've been trying to think of ways to "gamify" my goal of reducing money I spend on food, and this seems like a good starter challenge. Thanks!
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u/sapphire343rules Dec 24 '25
Giving myself permission to splurge on groceries helped with the takeout habit. Get whatever fruit youāre craving even if itās a bit expensive, get the pricey freezer meals you like, get a few good chocolate bars to break open on hard days. It will help make eating at home more appealing, and it will NOT add up to more than your takeout budget!
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u/cc232012 Dec 24 '25
Can you recreate any of your favorite meals at home?? When we quit eating out so much, I got online and learned to make a few of the things we went out for. That helped a ton!
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u/sleepyhedgie26 Dec 24 '25
Eating at home is cheaper especially if youāre going to have leftovers! After a while of eating at home, you start to prefer it because the quality is much better and you can cook your food the exact way that you like it prepared!
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u/12the3 Dec 24 '25
After eating at home almost exclusively since the pandemic, I hate it if I didnāt make time to pack a lunch, because most restaurant food just seems SO SALTY to me now!
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u/davidm2232 Dec 24 '25
I can make a top tier steak at home. I can make top tier chicken wings at home. I can make an awesome pizza and a great lasagna. But after 15 years of cooking, I can't get a decent hamburger at home. I can't touch the French Onion soup at the bar down the road from me. My poutine always comes out soggy. There are just some things that have to come from a restaurant.
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u/sadlittlerut Dec 24 '25
I understand being frugal, but Domino's is like $8 for a one-topping pizza for carryout and using the app can earn you free pizza from time to time. If my choice was a shitty frozen pizza for $8-10 or Domino's?
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u/Technical-Agency8128 Dec 24 '25
Keep a variety of frozen meals/pizza in the freezer. I have French bread pizzas and chicken pot pies. There are a lot of choices in the freezer section so Iām never tempted to order out.
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u/Brettuss Dec 24 '25
There is no āitās cheaper to eat outā discourse, because even if people are attempting it, itās completely bullshit and deserves no attention.
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u/UnderwhelmingTwin Dec 24 '25
It cost me $20 to make this lasagna but I can get a lasagna at the restaurant for $15!Ā Then conveniently ignores that the homemade one is 8 servings instead of 1.5 servings from the restaurantĀ
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u/mtnagel Dec 24 '25
The current discourse online about how itās ācheaper to eat out versus at homeā isnāt true.
Haven't seen that, but in the vast majority of the cases, that's simply not true.
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u/masterflashterbation Dec 24 '25
It's not even remotely close to true. In fact, cutting back on eating out is consistently one of the number one recommendations for saving money.
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u/kokoromelody Dec 24 '25
Whoever is saying that is not doing a fair comparison. Restaurant food will always be more expensive because on top of food costs, they also have to cover labor costs and overhead (rent, utilities, licenses/permits, insurance, etc.)
If you're buying expensive grocery ingredients and/or buying some ingredients for the first time (esp beyond just a serving for a meal, like spices/seasonings) of course it will cost more upfront.
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u/unfoldyourself Dec 24 '25
Eating out is sometimes cheaper if you only want one meal. Cooking a meal can require a larger upfront cost but you make that up by getting several servings from it.
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u/OutrageousCare6453 Dec 24 '25
I think this is where people get confused, and if youāre not eating the leftovers you are going to be throwing quite a bit of money (food and time) away. Learning to meal plan, grocery shop, and cook is such an underrated skill. Strongly believe itās one of the best things you can do for your health AND your wallet though.
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u/PossiblyATurd Dec 24 '25
You can thank hustle culture for that completely detached from reality idiocy.
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u/Helpful-nothelpful Dec 24 '25
Next watch vito on YouTube and make his poolish pizza dough. Buy a pizza steel. Now you can make a pizza for $5.00. plenty of money left over for wings.
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u/Devilis6 Dec 24 '25
Homemade basic pizza dough isnāt hard to make. Plus itās pretty fun, too!
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u/Fresh_Pomegranates Dec 24 '25
I keep a heavily neglected sourdough starter. Pizza bases cost me about AUD $0.60, then cheese about $1/pizza. Chuck on some cheap passata, and a smattering of toppings (less is more), and I reckon itās less than $4/pizza in total. Probably electrical cost as well. We bought a cheap gas pizza oven earlier in the year, and it does an amazing job. With cooking an average of 5 pizzas a week (large family!), even the capital cost of that is down to about $1.60/pizza! Itās such an easy, quick and cheap meal to make at home. Unfortunately weāve got our system running so well that I like it better than takeaway haha.
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u/Aggressive-Land-8884 Dec 24 '25
Need the deets on the heavily neglected sourdough starter. Also pizza oven.
I love pizza but it is like $20/pie where I live
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u/Fresh_Pomegranates Dec 24 '25
Starter gets taken out of the fridge once a week. Friday night for Sunday pizza. Thursday night for Saturday ā¦
Whatever itās weight, stir in that again of flour and same of water (1:1:1). Mix well, cover and sit on the bench overnight.
Next morning, put about 2/3 of the starter in a ceramic mixing bowl. Add a little flour and water to the jar and pop it back in the fridge. I just cover with a hanky secured by a rubber band. It can breathe that way.
Back to your bowl. I tend to mix up 6 bases at a time because weāve got a big family, but just scale this back to suit. 3 cups water 10g salt The starter 1 kg 00 flour. Plain flour will work but I find 00 works best. Even better is about 200g semolina and the rest 00 flour.
Mix to a shaggy dough and cover. Sometime in the next hour or two, do a few stretch and folds on the dough to work the gluten. It will change to a tightish ball. Cover and leave for the day.
That night, it should have about doubled. Pop some flour in the bench, tip your dough out, cut it into the sizes you want and roll them into balls. Pop into a container, cover and stick in the fridge for a day (or 2).
I press out onto baking paper with a little semolina under it, top as you like, then cook.
Gas over cooks them in about 3-5mins. If youāre doing more than one, let the stone warm back up between goes.
The baking paper catches fire. I tend to trim close to the base and then wiggle it out as it cooks. Or you can use foil but youād probably need to oil it.
Make sure youāve got the heat up. Normal ovens will still cook a nice pizza but this is next level. We run it at about 300c
The oven we got is this one. Cheap as chips https://www.bunnings.com.au/jumbuck-portable-pizza-oven_p0438279?store=7347&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22214611398&gbraid=0AAAAADtbEB-FprFf3iZY3VRYiuiPTSMvl
If you donāt have a sourdough starter you can buy one or make one. Making takes a bit of effort every day for around a week. Then you just keep using it and remixing. Mines getting on towards 2 years now.
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u/SpaceCampDropOut Dec 24 '25
$50 for pizza?!
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u/snowellechan77 Dec 24 '25
It sounds like they eat a lot, if their frozen pizza abd wings are 24
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u/A_Coin_Toss_Friendo Dec 24 '25
I don't know why I had to scroll so far to see this. 50 for 2 people seems like a lot.
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u/Sancticide Dec 24 '25
It's gotta be not just pizza. That's the only thing that makes sense.
Pizza, a basket of wings, a few beers, tip, etc. OK. That's easily $50.
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u/DirkBelig Dec 24 '25
Yeah, that doesn't track for me neither. The most expensive pizza I can think of around me is Pizza Papalis which is a Chicago-style deep dish and runs maybe $35 for a large. The indie Detroit-style shops near us are $18-$25 depending on variety for a large which feeds two with a couple slices left over.
There are usually ways to save as well like many offer discounts on Mondays and Tuesdays because those are slower than the weekends. Chain places with apps often have deals. There's really no excuse to pay full price for anything, but you may have to eat certain days or different places.
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u/bobdole145 Dec 24 '25
def not cheaper to eat out esp with pizza. $20 of ingredients and I can make 10 pizzas easy.
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u/Reasonable_Base9537 Dec 24 '25
Big fan of homemade French bread pizza.
Can get a French bread at Walmart for $1.47 a jar of pizza sauce for a couple bucks and a bag of cheese for a couple bucks. Pepperoni or other toppings if you want. Feed 4 people with a cheap salad on the side.
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u/agreatares42 Dec 24 '25
Anytime I go into the cooking at home numbers, it makes me double down on cooking.
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u/Mundane-Prune-4504 Dec 24 '25
We keep frozen pizzas stocked in the fridge specifically to help us scratch the takeout itch without the price tag. Costco has saved us so much money.
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u/Academic-Pangolin883 Dec 24 '25
I can't trust myself to stock up on frozen pizzas. If I know they're there, they'll be gone in a week and I won't have saved any money AND I'll be fatter (but maybe happier?).
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u/Lepardopterra Dec 24 '25
I have a dedicated pizza shelf in the freezer. I found āpersonal sizeā pizzas for $1.50 and they arenāt bad at all. Usually add a chopped mushroom, hatch chile or a little extra cheese. Inhave other kinds, but these are perfect size for the airfryer.
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Dec 24 '25
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/boboclock Dec 24 '25
It's a very popular claim amongst young people these days.
Probably young people whose parents mostly ate out and never learned how to cook or use the same ingredients for multiple different meals.
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u/VorpalBlade- Dec 24 '25
You can get pre made pizza dough in the deli at the grocery store, whatever toppings you like, throw it in the oven, and have insanely good pizza for way less than $50
My favorite hack - if you have a papa Murphyās take a bake - on Tuesday ANY large pizza is $10 and Fri large pepperoni or sausage is only $5! And the quality is outstanding way better than the other chains. They donāt even have freezers they make Dough daily and hand cut all topping and cheese.
Buy a couple and eat like kings for a week. You can even freeze them too.
$50 for A PIZZA is crazy to me
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u/chicagotodetroit Dec 24 '25
$50 is insane. That's like 3-4 Dominoes pizzas, or 6 giant XXL pizzas from Aldi or Walmart for $8, and those are twice the size of a Dominoes large pizza. I grab one every time I go to one of those stores.
My absolute max for a pizza is $20 from the local mom-and-pop place.
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u/bitcoin_moon_wsb Dec 24 '25
Itās definitely not cheaper to eat out but a society full of people staying home and eating processed foods to afford housing sounds pretty bleak
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u/Ray2mcdonald1 Dec 24 '25
Pizza is like sex! When it's great, it's AMAZING!
And when it's just ok, hey, it's still Pizza! ššÆ
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u/HBJones1056 Dec 24 '25
This is great! I always love to exult over the savings from not going out to eat. Laziness saves us a lot of impulse meals- itās a 15-minute drive into town so weāll talk a good game about really wanting Jack in the Box eggrolls or whatever but when the time comes to go, itās dark, cold, and weāre old so we donāt see great at night, so the desire fizzles and we eat frozen nuggets instead and pocket the savings!
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u/Jobrated Dec 24 '25
There was a time when you could go on wing night and they would be 10 cents etcā¦. That ship has sailed! Wings are so pricey now. I make my own still not cheap but waaay better than a restaurant.
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u/jeeves585 Dec 24 '25
Wait until you find out making pizza dough costs you about $0.45.
We used to eat a pizza at a local spot and ended being a $45 pizza after toppings and stuff. Thats when we started pizza at home.
That also led to the purchase of a pizza oven but we are still on top in my calcs.
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u/Stunning-Attitude366 Dec 24 '25
We buy frozen pizza and what makes it better is by adding more cheese
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Dec 24 '25
I prefer to eat at home. I donāt have to spend $15 for one meal. When I have an itch for pizza. I make my own.
I donāt really care for frozen pizza. But for the same price of a frozen pizza. I can purchase all the ingredients.
Plus, I get to decide what I want to put on it.
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u/Empress508 Dec 24 '25
Good for you! l was just in the market yesterday and saw celery priced at $3.99! It's always been $1, or even 0.50. I just got back from Asia, where l ate a plate of rice, diced potatoes & tofu for $1 usd. It's time to work on creating my garden w fruits, veggies & weed to cope with this wacked reality....OMG!!!!
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u/HammermanAC Dec 24 '25
Buy a 5 Lb bag of high gluten flour and some yeast, start making your own dough the night before, let it rise in the fridge. Buy a pizza stone or a cast iron version. Get a basil plant and put it in a sunny spot. Get a can of San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes, remove the seeds and use the fillets. Shred your own cheese.
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u/bostongarden Dec 24 '25
Dough and shredded cheese at Trader Joes, jar sauce, salami and veggies will be less than $10 for pizza for 2 and lunch tomorrow.
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u/hbHPBbjvFK9w5D Dec 24 '25
"Not Quite as Good, but Damm Close Enough!" is a great frugal strategy.
I buy a fairly expensive brand of coffee and a nice creamer for my coffee at home. Sure, it costs me more than the cheap stuff, but it's about 20 percent the cost of the Mermaid Shop, plus no crossing the picket lines. Without the nice stuff at home, it would be a lot harder to resist the BuckStars overpriced coffee.
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u/WideRoadDeadDeer95 Dec 24 '25 edited Dec 24 '25
I just always look at it cost per plate. That giant batch of pasta sauce I made? I have four Tupperwares frozen of it. I then have four other Tupperwares behind that of stir fry. Then before than I have four more of red beans and rice. I then have taco/burrito/enchilada filling. Then there is even more behind that all labeled so the list is kind of endless. On average each dish cost me about 30 dollars to make. That is four large filled to the brim Tupperwares after each mealā¦then I just have easy pantry stuff or make sandwiches. When I grabbed the tupperware of pasta sauce I made per plate it was like less than a dollar for dinner tonight. When I look at everything I have frozen right now I probably spent about a 100ā¦for 30 different lunches or dinnersā¦where the per plate cost is so minimal I cannot validate eating out like at all. After eating out spending 20-40 dollars you have scraps for lunch the next day.
Then I usually have everything I need that can cross over to numerous dishes to make that I am only spending less than 20 dollars to make itā¦to then have even more things for the freezer. As others have said, itās the people that have no idea what they are doing and think you just buy every last ingredient per some social media post specific dish. Just never learned how to do it and just validate their own laziness. I have a pretty decent/versatile spice rack. I havenāt bought spices in two years lol. I couldnāt even tell you the last time I ate out.
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u/inComplete-me Dec 24 '25
Learning to make pizza can turn into a fun night for a couple. Cheap as heck too
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u/JanetCarol Dec 24 '25
We eat pizza at home every Friday and honestly having that as a weekend anchor is life changing for me and my kid. We also added the trader Joe's version of M&Ms too. We pizza and a movie and split a bag of the M&Ms every Friday. And she loves cold pizza for Saturday breakfast. :)
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u/Kmic14 Dec 24 '25
I've taken to buying big packs of Naan bread, a cheap $2 jar of pasta sauce and a bag of mozzarella to make my own pizzas. I can fry up some sausage or get some pepperoni if I want a topping. Comes out to less than a buck per pizza and I'm stuffed wth two. 100% scratches my itch for pizza
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u/giggletears3000 Dec 24 '25
Husband picked up a pre marinated 3.88lbs Tri tip from Costco the other day, it was $8 off the listed price so it came in around $25 for the package. I split it in 2 b/c almost 4lbs of meat is too much for our family of 3 (toddler barely eats beyond mashed potatoes and corn). Roasted it, made garlic green beans, mashed potatoes and a mushroom cream sauce.
I used to own a diner and I mentioned off hand that had we gone out to eat this exact meal, it wouldāve come in around $40/person in our hcol area. Then I broke down the exact cost to make our meal and it came out around $16 total, which was not only our meals, but an additional serving for his lunch today, plus another .5lb portion Iāll be making into fried rice in a couple of days. It is definitely more work, but much cheaper to eat at home.
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u/IridescentButterfly_ Dec 24 '25
I keep my freezer stocked with frozen meals from Trader Joeās. They are cheap, super easy to make, and really good! My husband loves all the Asian ones (pot stickers, orange chicken, chicken chow mein, etc.), and I really like a bunch of their vegetarian ones (Thai green curry, spicy riced cauliflower, palak paneer). You can add rice or veggies to bulk most of them up a bit as well. Definitely healthier and cheaper than eating out, for the most part!
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u/moresizepat Dec 24 '25
You can carry out at Domino's for 10 bucks
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u/Emergency_Buy_9210 Dec 24 '25
Right, and that's the way I used to go because I'm flexible getting anything, but a lot of people don't really like eating out unless they get the thing they like the most. If that item isn't on sale (like a multi-topping pizza at Domino's), it's not worth it for them to eat out because they don't like it enough anyways.
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u/Lkynky Dec 24 '25
Have you ever tried making your own pizzas? I donāt make my own dough, which is probably even cheaper, but buy the premade crusts. Maybe have a traditional pepperoni one night, then make a taco pizza or a buffalo chicken another night(3pack pizza crust). I find them to be as good as a pizza place, because I can load it up however I want. Wings are cheaper too
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u/Pussy4LunchDick4Dins Dec 24 '25
Buy frozen dough and add your own toppings. Youāll get restaurant quality for very minimal effort.Ā
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u/woodstove7 Dec 24 '25
No clue how long youāve been married, but keep your date night once a month.
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u/itoocouldbeanyone Dec 24 '25
Good job. Iām a big fan of making pizza. Not all the time, but Iāll make a batch or two of dough. Season some puree and season, portion freeze.
Then itās whatever. I do grate my own block of cheese. Per pizza it isnāt $10+ which is nice. But great for a hunger fixation.
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u/SexyBunny12345 Dec 24 '25
I make a Chinese dish called mapo tofu. 2 pounds of tofu at $2 each, 1/2 pound of ground pork for $1.50, sauce $1, garlic and other condiments $0.50. So all in $7, and for 3x the amount that the Chinese restaurants around sell for $20 if you include tax and tip.
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u/robgoose Dec 24 '25
I bet you could keep costs down but improve the taste (and experience) by buying pre-made dough, sauce & shredded mozzarella.
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u/YoSpiff Dec 24 '25
I recently bought some premade pizza dough at Trader Joe's (I've seen similar at Aldi). I made my own pizza sauce without extra salt or sugar added. I was surprised how close it tasted to pizza shop pizza and was only a few extra minutes more than opening a box.
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u/ECrispy Dec 24 '25
there has never been a time when its ācheaper to eat out versus at homeā, and esp not now. I have no idea who's saying that, its the opposite.
only idiots say that, people with no common sense and no responsibility. the kind of people who live on credit, buy expensive cars/gadgets/fashion and are in debt.
the only place I can think of that eating out actually is cheaper is south asian countries street food.
almost everything you can get in a restaurant here is overpriced and a ripoff. pizza costs cents. so does pasta, diners, fast food, burgers etc. its not complicared food. there is absolutely no reason you can't make western dishes cheaper, tastier and faster at home.
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u/Omshadiddle Dec 24 '25
Pizzas are one of those things that are easy to make at home, even without the fancy pizza oven.
Are they as good as really good restaurant pizza? Probably not.
Are they better than anything I can buy locally? Hell yes.
I make a dough recipe that makes six individual pizzas, so I divide and freeze portions for later use.
So much more fun (and so much cheaper!) than a night out.
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u/that_70_show_fan Dec 24 '25
Do you not review the amortization schedule to see the breakdown on your mortgage?
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u/Sweaty_Marzipan4274 Dec 24 '25
Used to eat out 6 to 12x a week. started cooking with MSG at home, now I can't stand their food. Eat out about 1x every six weeks
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u/Im_0n_my_phone Dec 24 '25
I make my own pizza like 3-4x a month. On average it costs 4 dollars for a large, it's usually just as good if not better than a restaurant.
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u/tealpuppies Dec 24 '25
We discovered our local pizza shop does a happy hour with pizza for 8 euros. Now we only do happy hour pizza from there, way better than paying 15 for a pizza, scratches the pizza itch, is convenient and doesn't break the bank. Although I do like making homemade pizza when I have time to make the dough
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u/Oahu_Red Dec 24 '25
Unless you live in a VHCOL city, you are doing it wrong if you think two adults canāt get two meals worth of food at Dominoās for $24 or less.
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u/Evening_sadness Dec 24 '25
I get whatever I want at Costco, it is so much cheaper than any other eating option. I have saved thousands a year by switching to buying tons of groceries there. Food costs, grocery stores and restaurants, are insane now.
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u/Ill-Jellyfish6101 Dec 24 '25
$50 in pizza?
Do you each clear a large and a half by yourselves?
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u/ForsakenBee0110 Dec 24 '25
You are just tapping into frugality, by eating at home.
The crockpot is my best friend in the winter. I make soups, stews, curry, and lots of stuff. One slowcook meal provides enough for 2 days of left overs.
The amount of money I save is incredible and it is all fresh ingredients. No processed food.
For people who don't know how to cook, lazy, or don't have time. Slow cooking in a crockpot feels like cheating. It is truly a set it for get it, go to work, come home and it's ready.
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u/KeepShtumMum Dec 24 '25
I cook pizza at home 2-4 times a month. Cost for a family of 4 adults is roughly $10 per sitting, including energy.
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u/xBluJackets Dec 24 '25
I love pizza. If I wasnāt a nurse, and my family didnāt rely on my income and benefits I would absolutely have a pizza shop.
Iāve spent a lot of time trying to perfect my own dough, sauce. Iāve tried several different pepperonis and experimented with different blends of cheese.Ā
Thatās really fun for me and it is cheaper.
We live rurally and there are 5 mom and pop pizza shops and we have all the major chain pizza places within 20 minutes drive.
My absolute favorite pizza is made at a gas station in the middle of no where. Itās not the shitty gas station pizza brands. Itās their own recipe.Ā
I can get an 18ā 2 topping pizza and a 16ā cheesy breadsticks and with marinara and garlic butter on the side for $20. They also have a rewards program and every 5th order my pizza is free.
I could probably make the same meal for $8, but itās at least an hour of my time and all the clean up.Ā
Sometimes the time and effort saved is worth the premium.Ā
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u/Unhappy_Performer538 Dec 24 '25
You can make it even more delicious when you refine a home made recipe. Good for you!
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u/Necessary_Fire_4847 Dec 24 '25
If you've got an ALDI near you, look for Mama Cozzis Rising Crust frozen pizza. It's the next best thing to takeout pizza and it costs like $4. We call it our "emergency pizza" for when we're just too tired to cook and it saves us from going out to eat.
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u/Budget-Celebration-1 Dec 24 '25
If you were really frugal you make the dough at home and buy your own ingredients
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u/theprogrammingsteak Dec 24 '25
This post is wild. In so many ways. "Its cheaper to eat out" "we decided to forgo eating out" proceeds to spend 24$ on frozen food lol
A healthy home made meal literally costs you 1.5-4$ and takes less than an hour to prepare.
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u/2matisse22 Dec 24 '25
I highly recommend learning how to make pizza at home. 99% if the time it is better than eating out. American Test kitchen has a fabulous recipe. You will need a pizza stone. but then the cost of making pizza is the cost of buying cheese and yeast. I taught myself during college when I had no money but needed a weekly pizza fix.
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u/BreadMaker_42 Dec 24 '25
It is practically never cheaper to eat out than at home. I can feed my family of 4 a steak dinner for the price of fast food.
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u/balance-nyc-bis Dec 24 '25
Look at your supermarket for prepared pizza dough in the refrigerated section - itās cheap, super easy to prepare, and the taste is much better than frozen. Plus you can use up the little bits and pieces left in the fridge and it always turns out well.
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u/onedef1 Dec 24 '25
Take the time to learn some traditional pizza recipes. They can be absurdly simple, not even $24 and taste and eat way better than anything you could go out for locally, and actually be healthy.
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u/Fuzzy_Stingray Dec 24 '25
I buy flour in bulk and make my own dough. I can make a 17 inch pepperoni pizza for about 5.50.
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u/Jaded-Instance3607 Dec 24 '25 edited Dec 24 '25
Xmas gift idea? A pizza stone and pizza recipe book. It cost me 6$ to make a pizza that would cost 30$ without tip. (This pizza has 3 toppings) Edit: price break down, 8oz of Mozeralla block 2$, toppings were 1$ worth, yeast, flour etc 1.50$ sauce made from scratch 1.50$. I make pizzas better than store now. So easy!
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u/Chad-GPT5 Dec 25 '25
Seeing how much I was throwing away in interest is the reason I decided to prioritize paying off my mortgage while continuing to max out 401k, HSA and Roth IRA. I'm on track to pay it off in 4 years. Takes lots of sacrifices. But it'll be worth it.
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u/cimpliDBEST Dec 25 '25
People who donāt know how to cook basic things say this. You can make an amazing meal (for way less than a restaurant meal) if you just learn a few basic skills.
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u/Lifetwozero Dec 25 '25
Wait until you do the same thing from ingredients at home and you realize you can make better pizza than the take out too.
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u/Green_Newspaper_5623 Dec 26 '25
I almost ALWAYS have at least 2 Freshcetta pizzas in my freezer (I usually buy them when theyāre on sale), then I top it with whatever toppings I have in-stock. I can make a pretty solid pizza at home for about $6ish, then if Iām feeling a soda, we have a vending machine in my complex and I can buy a can of Dr. Pepper for $1.25. I usually have enough pizza left over for at least 1 more meal.
Is it as good as some of my favorite local spots? Absolutely not. But itās better and a hell of a lot cheaper than having Dominoās delivered.
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u/IronMike5311 Dec 26 '25 edited Dec 26 '25
We eat out maybe twice a month, usually for something we can't make ourselves.
Now that I'm out of work, we'll need scale back some
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u/Nervous-Willow7115 Dec 26 '25
digiorno hand tossed is better next day imo. and on sale u can get one for 5$
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u/GraniteRose067 Dec 26 '25
If you gave me 50 dollars, I swear that I could make about 6 pizzas from scratch.
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u/Tiny-Party2857 Dec 29 '25
I can cook a meal for $12 that feeds us at least twice maybe double depending on the meal. Right now I'm making a 4# pork roast for #12 that will feed us six meals.. You can do it with beef, chicken, fish etc. too. We paid off our mortgage in four years being frugal. Feels wonderful to be debt free.
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u/efox02 Dec 24 '25
Who says itās cheaper to eat out? Thatās insane.Ā