Has anyone tried a meal delivery service?

[MatthewOU2015]

I’ve been using one for the past month and I’m starting to like it. Obviously it’s expensive than buying the food itself but the convenience is well worth it! Half the vegetables and seasonings they send me are hard to find in a regular grocery store. Since everything is prepared for me I don’t waste stuff like meats or vegetables. I find myself loving to cook different dishes every week. I only get a couple meals a week but it’s like my little treat!

[Sinyc]

I’ve been using one for the past month and I’m starting to like it. Obviously it’s expensive than buying the food itself but the convenience is well worth it! Half the vegetables and seasonings they send me are hard to find in a regular grocery store. Since everything is prepared for me I don’t waste stuff like meats or vegetables. I find myself loving to cook different dishes every week. I only get a couple meals a week but it’s like my little treat!

I used HelloFresh, but since they make you cook the food I decided to "borrow" some of their recipes and just do the shopping myself. Well worth the savings.

[Khaza-R]

No. Seems insanely wasteful how every single item is individually wrapped in plastic.

People bitch about plastic shopping bags, they should bitch about this garbage.

[Monster Hunter]

I’ve been using one for the past month and I’m starting to like it. Obviously it’s expensive than buying the food itself but the convenience is well worth it! Half the vegetables and seasonings they send me are hard to find in a regular grocery store. Since everything is prepared for me I don’t waste stuff like meats or vegetables. I find myself loving to cook different dishes every week. I only get a couple meals a week but it’s like my little treat!

my sister gets a veg box delivered from a local farm that does the service, if that counts. it comes with a whole bunch of assorted fresh veg. then she gets her meats from the local butchers and pops it in the freezer.

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No. Seems insanely wasteful how every single item is individually wrapped in plastic.

People bitch about plastic shopping bags, they should bitch about this garbage.

plastic is something we need to eradicate as much as possible. and go back to stuff the biodegrades and causes less harm to environments. metal and glass and paper packaging was perfectly fine, and didn't contaminate everywhere with micro plastics.

[Itheni]

I used HelloFresh, but since they make you cook the food I decided to "borrow" some of their recipes and just do the shopping myself. Well worth the savings.

Really? We use hello fresh.. do you think it’s. A big savings by shopping yourself

[Najnaj]

I’ve been using one for the past month and I’m starting to like it. Obviously it’s expensive than buying the food itself but the convenience is well worth it! Half the vegetables and seasonings they send me are hard to find in a regular grocery store. Since everything is prepared for me I don’t waste stuff like meats or vegetables. I find myself loving to cook different dishes every week. I only get a couple meals a week but it’s like my little treat!

You can look up Meal Prep on YouTube. Hundreds of channels dedicated to saving time and money in the kitchen by doing all the preparing and some of the cooking once a week. It will probably take you less time to do the prepping than it will take to order on line.

Having said that, I live in a very diverse city of nearly 9 million so there is nothing on this planet that I can not find within walking distance so your mileage may vary if your delivery service has things your store does not.

[Sinyc]

Really? We use hello fresh.. do you think it’s. A big savings by shopping yourself

I want to say it was $60 a week for 3 days (6 servings). So yes, there are many meals that they offer and that I enjoy that are less than $10 per serving.

[Rustedsaint]

I was thinking of trying hello fresh mostly for variety sake and that I’m too lazy to seek out new recipes by myself

[Biomega]

Just to be clear: are we talking about getting pre-made, fully cooked meals, or one of those services where you get a bunch of measured ingredients, but cook it yourself?

I don't mind the latter, in fact I find it a decent compromise. But pre-cooked meals are usually bending you over the barrel, both in terms of value and in terms of health.

In general, you'll save money if you buy stuff yourself - naturally, since that's where they generate profit. I do not in general object to paying for convenience, but you have to ask yourself how much effort you really are saving if you still do the cooking yourself. Is the amount of effort it would take for you to plan ahead and organize your meals around ingredients you can get cheaply and conveniently really worth the extra cost? For me, it isn't. I find it fairly easy to scour recipe sites for good ideas, either outright recipes or in terms of inspiration for my own recipes. I order my groceries online, and generally get about two deliveries a week. That gives me 3-4 days to plan each time round, and I do not find it difficult to come up with 3-4 meals that use up all the ingredients I order.

But to each their own. Some people don't mind paying the extra money to save themselves the thought and time. There's nothing wrong with that.

[Itheni]

I want to say it was $60 a week for 3 days (6 servings). So yes, there are many meals that they offer and that I enjoy that are less than $10 per serving.

I use hellofresh also but

Does buying it your own vs having it shipped the same? Or that much of a big difference

[Doctor Amadeus]

Nope, kind of worried about this idea of people now not even needing to leave the house to feed themselves. Fast Food Drives Thru you

[smityx]

Been ordering from pizza places for decades.

[shadowmouse]

I'm just now getting back on my feet after that infection, so I've been using one heavily for the past couple of months. The range of choice has helped me closer to eating normal meals again. They're right there on WeChat, I have it set up so I pay through Alipay, and they will bring meals from at least 10 km out. Since there are a hell of a lot of restaurants in Beijing, that gives me a pretty wide selection. It does cost extra for the delivery fee, and there is a minimum order, but I try to order enough at one time to stretch across a couple of meals and I can sometimes get a deal for ordering online.

[Video Games]

Nah i just have my groceries delivered every other friday on payday from safeway since i dont have a car. Its really nice saving time and even money since safeway isnt too expensive and they have a lot of coupons. Plus i use the honey extension and get coins to get free amazon giftcards. Finding out how to rotate money is fun.

[Coolthulhu]

There are a couple of restaurants who've been bringing me stuff home upon request before these kind of services were even a thing. They use tupperware I provide and wash, so no plastic waste on my conscience either.

[Sinyc]

I use hellofresh also but

Does buying it your own vs having it shipped the same? Or that much of a big difference

I would have to look over receipts and stuff. It's cheaper, but if you don't want to go to the grocery store and shop then Hello Fresh would make sense for you.

It just depends how much of a savings it would have to be to convince you away from a delivery service.

[Itheni]

I would have to look over receipts and stuff. It's cheaper, but if you don't want to go to the grocery store and shop then Hello Fresh would make sense for you.

It just depends how much of a savings it would have to be to convince you away from a delivery service.

Time is money friend. :-)

[Dhrizzle]

I used one called gousto when they had a half-price offer. It's mostly nice for getting the selections of spices if you don't have a decent pantry built up but overall not worth the cost and the amount of plastic packaging you get is ridiculous.

[avitush]

I have occasionally ordered delivery from restaurants that offer it, but I've never used a 3rd-party service to bring me food from a place that doesn't otherwise offer delivery.

[God Save The King]

I've tried a bunch of different services, and I ultimately settled on curb-side pick up from various local grocery stores. They have the same prices as in their adverts, and they all offer free pickup if you order enough. So I usually get a collection of good deals and drive around to pick them up.

If you're looking to save time, look into meal prepping. It's pretty easy to do. I can usually make around a month's worth of food and freeze it, defrosting it as I need it. Then add weekly veggies/fruits to the mix and have a good meal.