The average person spends HOW much on takeout? The numbers will shock you.
Takeout and dining out is one of the most common categories where people significantly underestimate their spending. People guess they spend 00–50 per month. The actual number is usually twice that. Here is what the data actually shows, country by country.
What the official data says
The figures below are drawn from official government household expenditure surveys. These are averages across all adults, including those who rarely eat out — meaning regular takeout users typically spend considerably more.
In South Africa, Statistics SA data suggests average household food-away-from-home spending of approximately R2,400–R3,200 per month for middle-income households, though this varies significantly by province and household size.
The annual number is the real shock
Monthly numbers feel manageable. Annual numbers tell the real story.
- US average: 80/month = ,360 per year
- UK average: £185/month = £2,220 per year
- Australia average: A10/month = A,920 per year
For households spending 50–100% above average — which a significant portion do — these numbers double. A US household spending 00/month on takeout and dining is spending ,000 per year on food they did not cook at home.
💡 ,000 invested annually at a 7% average annual return over 20 years becomes approximately 45,000. That is what takeout overspending actually costs over time.
Why takeout spending is so hard to track
Unlike rent or a car payment, takeout spending happens in dozens of small transactions. A 2 lunch here. A 8 dinner delivery there. A breakfast on the way to work. None of these feel significant in the moment. Collectively, over a month, they add up to a number most people would find uncomfortable to look at directly.
Delivery apps have made this worse. The convenience of tapping an app from your couch removes nearly all friction from the purchase decision, while simultaneously adding a 20–35% markup through delivery fees, service charges, and tips that most people mentally discount.
The home cooking gap
A home-cooked meal for two typically costs –2 in ingredients. The equivalent restaurant or takeout meal costs 5–0 including delivery and tip. The gap is roughly 3–5x per meal. Over a month of regular takeout habits, this multiplier compounds into a very large number.
This does not mean you should never eat out. It means that takeout spending is one of the highest-leverage categories to understand clearly — because small reductions produce outsized monthly savings compared to cutting almost any other discretionary category.
How does your takeout spend compare?
The benchmarks above are useful as a starting point, but what matters is how your number compares — to the average, and to your own income. Spending 00/month on food when you earn ,000/month is a very different situation to spending 00/month when you earn ,000/month.
See exactly where your food spend sits
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Check My Spend →What to do with this information
The goal is not to eliminate takeout — it is to make the spending conscious rather than invisible. Most people who start tracking their food spending do not decide to stop eating out. They decide which takeout occasions are actually worth the cost to them, and quietly reduce the ones that were just habit or convenience without real enjoyment attached.
That distinction — between spending that reflects real values and spending that is just friction-free default behaviour — is where most people find their biggest opportunities.
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