A well-stocked pantry — in this economy?
Prices of items in supermarkets are soaring and some people are discovering that it’s actually cheaper for them to get takeout than it is to cook for themselves.
Young adults are taking to TikTok to complain that buying individual ingredients to cook has been making a large dent in their wallets — and are recommending takeout eateries where diners can get the best bang for their buck.
Kesira Rogan, also known as @keke.rog on the app, is one such consumer who expressed her frustrations. She told her 80,700 followers that she really wanted a steak bowl from Chipotle for dinner, but, in an attempt to save money, she opted to go to the grocery store and get the ingredients needed to make a steak bowl at home.
“So instead of spending $13 on a Chipotle steak bowl — which usually lasts me two meals — I bought enough ingredients to make two steak bowls at home for $35,” Rogan says in the video, which had amassed 1.1 million views as of Monday afternoon.
“Money saving hack,” she sarcastically quipped.
Many users took to the comments to share their frustrations, including one who matched Rogan’s sarcasm: “And it only took 3 hours to buy and cook.”
“Plus the dishes after!” another pointed out.
Another viewer attempted to make sense of the situation. “I feel like cooking at home only saves money for families. If you are only feeding yourself, it’s cheaper to eat out in most cases,” they wrote.
“And in the end it still doesn’t even taste as good,” one unrealized home cook rued.
Rogan is far from the only TikToker to have this revelation.
Angelina Carini recently claimed that getting a bowl from the fast-casual Mediterranean chain Cava was cheaper than going grocery shopping. “You cannot tell me that taking out food anymore is more expensive than going to the grocery store,” she said in a video, now with 1 million views.
Listing its myriad ingredients — enough to last her through two meals — she recalled that a “huge bowl” from Cava had cost her just around $14. “So like, $7 a meal. Why am I going to the grocery store anymore?” she questioned.
People in the comments also agreed with Carini, making statements similar to the responses Rogan received — including one parent who had a perspective on the issue. “I found this to be true as a single person! But as someone who cooks for 3 now, it’s hard to eat out with how expensive it is,” they wrote.
Another of Carini’s viewers claimed “I exclusively eat out.. it works so much cheaper than prep for one person.”
Fortunately, some singletons of TikTok have put their money where their mouth is — by sharing their recommendations for restaurant orders with the best value.
User @thedisneygirlie shared in a video with 40,000 views that many restaurants actually have kids’ meals with big portions that cost way less than meals marketed to adults.
In a separate video, she showed her followers a kids’ meal from Cheddar’s that came with chicken, rice, a side of broccoli and cheese casserole and a drink and cost $6.49 before tax.
“POV: a child free adult is dismantling capitalism by ordering curbside kids meals 5 days a week from chain restaurants bc it’s cheaper than groceries, $2 more than fast food, the portions are more than enough and the drink comes with it,” she wrote.
She shared some of the best restaurants to get kids’ meals, including Longhorn Steakhouse, Olive Garden, Noodles & Company and Cava.
The cost of consumer goods has been a hot topic in recent months, as inflation in the US had caused prices of some groceries to spike by 11.8% year-over-year as of last December.