I agree. Even “lazy” home cooking (frozen meals, Ramen, frozen pizza) is always cheaper than restaraunts.

One of the best things I ever did for myself, IMO, was making a budgeting spreadsheet. Except for a basic =SUM() tile showing how much I’ve earned minus what I’ve spent, it’s all manual, nothing is automatically filled in and I have to really reflec and be honest to myself about every purchase I make. Everything gets logged. I don’t know how much I was spending/earning before the spreadsheet (obviously) but I just know that I’m budgeting smarter with one.