This semester, I finally moved out from dorm life to an apartment off-campus. One of the biggest lifestyle changes this involved was my cooking habits, as I needed to cook frequently in order to live on my own. This was a big contrast compared to my lifestyle habits last year, where I never needed to cook. While many college students — like I was last year — rely on quick and easy meals, like takeout food, there are several advantages to regularly eating in that often outweigh eating out.Â
1. Eating in saves money
Possibly one of the most persuasive arguments for cooking at home is that it saves so much money compared to eating out. For college students on a budget, eating leftovers from the day before and spending money on whole ingredients rather than pre-prepared food means you get to spend less money per meal overall, which stacks up over time. While getting the occasional takeout every once in a while is completely understandable, eating out regularly can also put a dent in students’ wallets, especially for those on a tight budget.
2. You can control the ingredients in your dish
While the cliche argument for eating at home is that you can limit the amount of additives, chemicals, or food coloring that gets put in your food, the idea that cooking at home allows you to control the ingredients in your dish also includes the idea that you can tweak the amount of spices and condiments added to your dish to suit the taste to your preferences. When I cook at home, most of the dishes I make use soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, cooking wine, or vinegar as the ingredients that add flavor to the dish, so I can vary the amount of the types of sauces I’m putting in to change the taste of the dish to something I like better. For example, I usually prefer sour foods to sweet foods, so I like to add some more vinegar and less sugar to meat dishes such as Chinese pork ribs, which call for a specific ratio of sugar to vinegar.
3. Eating in is usually healthier
Restaurants tend to add a lot of salt and oil in their dishes, which can make their dishes tasty but not necessarily the healthiest for consumers. Eating out several times over the course of a week can definitely save time for a lot of busy college students, but, in the long run, it might have negative effects on your health. While cooking at home doesn’t mean that you have to add tiny amounts of salt to your dish or barely any oil to your pan, when you cook at home you typically indulge in healthier meals, especially because so many restaurants — fast food and otherwise — contain deep fried menu items.
4. Cooking can help you get in action
Something less talked about is the idea that cooking can be a habit that helps you maintain a sense of routine. Similar to the way brushing your teeth and washing your face in the morning can get your day started, cooking a few times a week can help you settle into the routine of taking care of yourself and producing something with your hands. I always find that after I cook, I feel just a little more productive because I immediately get to see the result of my efforts. It helps me get into a mindset where I can do more productive things.
Getting takeout can be an extremely tempting option for a lot of college students, and it’s totally understandable to give in to cravings every so often. In the long run, however, cooking regularly can be an important habit to build, as it can help save money, improve health, and be a productive habit to engage in. As many college students move forward into upperclassman positions and into life after graduation, the ability to cook well will be an important skill for many to develop.