Most of us have been there: it’s late, we’re tired or just feeling lazy, and the idea of cooking or even going out to grab food feels like too much. That’s when DoorDash or Uber Eats starts to look very tempting. With just a few taps, and ta-da, dinner shows up at the door, no dishes, and no having to leave the house. Of course, that ease comes at a price, since delivery usually means paying extra fees, higher menu prices, and tips on top of the meal itself.
Recently, the New York Times published an article titled: “Freedom With a Side of Guilt: How Food Delivery Is Reshaping Mealtime.” The piece explores how food delivery has shifted from a prepandemic luxury and pandemic necessity to a daily habit for many Americans. It points out that in 2024, nearly three out of four restaurant orders in the US were eaten outside the restaurant, showing the shift of how normal delivery has become.
The article goes on to say that, of course, many people say they rely on delivery for convenience and time savings, even when they know it costs much more than cooking. Some pointed out that they feel guilty about the money, waste, and dependence it creates — but for younger generations, especially Gen Z (who have come of age postpandemic), delivery is a normal part of social life and a shared experience.
While the article looks at how food delivery apps are quietly reshaping daily habits, finances, our relationship with food, and the people who deliver the food, it also sparked a bigger conversation online. That’s largely because, for two of the people profiled, how much they spend on delivery was particularly notable.
The two people in particular that caught readers’ attention were Kiely Reedy, a data processor in San Diego, who says she spends $200–$300 a week on food delivery, despite earning about $50,000 a year. And marketing professional Kevin Caldwell (and his husband), working parents in Atlanta, who spend about $700 a week on delivery because of burnout from balancing work and parenting. This prompted people online to question where convenience ends and excess begins.
And once the article started circulating, people on X did not hold back. The quotes about weekly spending quickly went viral, with users reacting in disbelief and confusion:
“$700 a week on food delivery is Marie Antoinette type shit”
“The dad spending $2800 a month on food needs to hire someone to meal prep for him. Also, an air fryer does wonders.”
“it took 10 min to cook most of the dinners i ate this week. if that’s too hard, just buy ready-made stuff at the grocery store, it’s still 1/4 the cost of delivery. the convenience economy is life-ruining for people with a certain combination of incompetence and impulsivity.”
“This is rage baiting me so bad. Get a crock pot and throw some chicken in it $700 a week is fucking egregious”
“If I ever spend about 30% of my pretax income on food delivery, please put me in a financial conservatorship for my own good.”
“I don’t relate to people who don’t consider making themselves a nice little dinner as the highlight of the day”
“Doing that on a 50k salary in San Diego is insane. Don’t even have the excuse of not wanting to go outside in the bad/cold weather.”
While over on Reddit, the conversation in this thread took on a slightly different tone, with many redditors not only sharing their thoughts about the article, but also their own habits and alternatives:
“I just can’t handle the dude ordering $700 of DoorDash a week while photographed in front of a full-sized wine fridge and like $2,000 of copper cookware. There’s something about people collecting expensive, but functional items, then not using them, that drives me insane.”
“I just don’t understand this. Maybe it’s partly because I’ve never had a good delivery experience, with my food arriving cold or items being left out, not to mention the insane expense of it. I haven’t used restaurant food delivery in about five years. I do utilize grocery delivery from Walmart. It was $40-ish for a year of free delivery (via Walmart+) when I signed up. The prices of food are the same as in-store where I live, so I consider this a good deal. I get groceries about once a week, make a big pot of food in the crockpot, and eat on it all week. It’s cheaper and healthier than restaurant meals.”
“The first example in the article of a woman making $50,000 and spending $300 a week on meal delivery is wild. Just make the pasta with jar sauce! It takes 20 min max and requires almost no effort.”
“I am also confused by food delivery as a regular thing. My husband and I get frozen stuff from Costco for nights when cooking isn’t going to happen, or we drive the five minutes to our favorite Mexican place. (Although the majority of nights we cook at home or eat leftovers.) We have friends that are barely getting by financially — one is a school teacher, and the other is on disability — and they seem to use DoorDash every night. I understand not having the time or wherewithal to cook, but there are so many other, cheaper options besides cooking from scratch.”
Now I’m curious what you think — not just about how much the people in the article were spending, but about food delivery in general. How do you use apps like DoorDash or Uber Eats? Is it a once-in-a-while treat, a total lifesaver during busy weeks, or something you only open when there’s a promo code involved? Do you see it as worth the extra cost, or have you tried to cut back? Share your thoughts in the comments below!!!