There was no major change in our lifestyle; instead, it was a simple decision to cut down on eating out and to cook more often at home.
My husband and I both work and have stable incomes. We were also people who budgeted and tracked our expenses, and had paid off our loans, with the exception of one property, which I will explain in another story. We have 3 school-aged children, and that adds up to our monthly expenses, which are also accounted for in our budget.
But in the past years we have been somewhat loose on the budget, often times overspending. Since we were foodies, I tend to seek out good food, be it from restaurants or new cafes. Reasons for eating out range from stress eating, date nights, special events or simply a night out with the kids on the weekend. We were more than willing to spend on this category of our budget.
Another strong reason for eating out often was the convenience factor. As mentioned, we both worked, so after work we tend to dine out. This carried some validity, and we had assumed cooking would be too much work, from food preparation up to the post-kitchen cleanup. Throw in responsibilities to care for the kids, and it seemed a lot of work.
But we learned that home cooking may become manageable, as we got more experience with it, and then it came with additional benefits that we had overlooked in the past. Our kids, too, were older now and are out of their toddlerhood era. Things were more manageable at home.
So what did we do?
We went from cooking once a week at home to cooking six times a week.
Our restaurant budget was the first to go, we shaved down our spending in our dining out budget category by half. Although our groceries expenses rose up, we were saving far more than what our previous lifestyle could save.
Where we live in the city of Melaka, Malaysia, a rough calculation of dining out for a family of 5 can range from MYR40 to MYR100, and at times higher, depending on whether we wanted something fancier. Even if we dined at a basic restaurant, the food costs mounted to at least RM40 to RM50.
Versus cooking at home, the estimated food cost was usually below MYR40. On top of that, we could enjoy better ingredients such as fish and seafood at a lower cost at home, from MYR50 to MYR60 e instead of paying close to MYR 100 in a restaurant outside. Our meals at home were healthier too, as we planned in vegetables in every meal, proteins from meat sources, and we made more soups, since our kids were growing and nutrition was a key factor.
So with 5 more meals at home every week, multiplied by an average savings of MYR30 to MYR50 for one meal, that amounted to RM150 to RM200 a week saved on food, and it can go up RM800 to RM1000 a month.
In our case for the month of May 2025, we saved an additional MYR 1,300.
And what about the benefits we found from eating at home?
Since we ate most of our dinners at home, we found that the kids benefit from having more time at night to prepare for school, to play with each other, and to basically make use of their home. They were aged 5, 7 and 9 years old. They cycled in our yard, played basketball, read their books, doodled in books, or played with their toys. Instead of time spent in cars driving out to restaurants, and then waiting for food, eating and driving home, we spend the time being at home instead.
Another plus point is that we were able to move earlier some of the kids’ nightly routines, such as bathing, their school preparation, and also breakfast preparation. We then end the night with books and prayer together.
My husband and I also gained more time with the children. They would talk to us as we worked in the kitchen preparing meals, and they even helped out by making their own drinks and setting the table.
What did we cook?
Meals ranged from simple pastas, chicken soups, meat porridge, to meatballs, pita wraps, quesadillas, and when we had more time, we made pumpkin soups, roast chicken, or steamed fish. Every meal had vegetables, protein, and carbohydrates, and was balanced. The list of new meal ideas builds up as we try to avoid repetitive meals.
Although we did have more cleanup to do at the end of every meal, we get better and more efficient at it over time, and now we are in month three of this new habit, I would say all the benefits outweigh the loss of dining out.
For an example, we had a scheduled car maintenance last month, which costs us about MYR1000, included parts replacement.
Since we had saved RM1,300, we used that cash to fund the car maintenance fees, and we still had some extra saved.
After 2 months of cooking at home, we are now trying to come out with more meal prep ideas and recipes, working towards making home cooking more efficient, optimizing preparation time and effort.
Of course, we still ate out, mostly in the afternoons when we worked or on weekend lunches with friends and when running errands with the kids. We mostly limited our home cooking to mostly dinners, as this was when we had the most opportunity to cook.
All in all, it was a worthwhile endeavor, and we will be continuing this newly developed routine and habit.
I hope this sharing may also encourage you to try out cooking at home more often too, especially if you are affected by the current economy and are looking for ways to cut down on food expenses.