MW 3 signs your DoorDash or UberEats habit is wrecking your financial health

By Venessa Wong

'I'm always amazed and disillusioned when I see how much younger people use food-delivery services,' one financial planner says

Since 2020, usage rates for the major restaurant-delivery apps have increased steadily across generations and income groups, according to data from MorningConsult.

As Americans struggle to afford necessities such as housing, transportation, insurance, childcare and education, many households - including low- and middle-income ones - are seeing another expense creep up in their monthly budgets: restaurant-delivery apps.

For many, this tech-enabled convenience quickly morphed into a pricey habit in the years during and after the pandemic. Once considered a splurge, ordering food to your doorstep is now woven into many people's daily routines.

Across generations and income groups, usage rates for the major apps - DoorDash $(DASH)$, UberEats $(UBER)$ and GrubHub - have increased steadily since early 2020, said Anna Rose Pardue, a spokesperson for the research firm MorningConsult. People at all income levels are embracing delivery, with increases in usage coming even as grocery prices have continued to climb.

By the fourth quarter of 2025, DoorDash, the most popular restaurant-delivery app, had been used by 52% of adult households earning less than $50,000 annually, 56% of those earning $50,000 to $100,000 and 63% of those earning more than $100,000, according to MorningConsult data.

About 22% of people said they order via DoorDash a few times a week, once daily or several times per day, up from 10% who said the same five years ago. The app delivers groceries and retail items in addition to restaurant fare.

Recent media coverage of families that spend hundreds of dollars a week on restaurant delivery has sparked intense online debate, with some commentators suggesting that Americans' food-delivery habits are at least partly to blame for their affordability woes.

"I can't tell you how common it is to look at a client's credit-card statement they send me and see that a large portion of their expenses are going to food-delivery services," Bill Shafransky, senior wealth adviser at Moneco Advisors, told MarketWatch. "I'm guilty of this myself, and I'm the financial planner."

In 2024, the share of food sales in the U.S. that were racked up at restaurants reached a record high of 58.9%, while the share spent on groceries fell to 41.1%, according to the Department of Agriculture.

"I'm always amazed and disillusioned when I see how much younger people use food-delivery services," Catherine Valega, a financial planner at Green Bee Advisory, told MarketWatch.

Often, the impact is felt more by households that earn less. According to the most recent figures released by DoorDash, customers from households earning less than $75,000 spent about $31 per order (including taxes, fees and tips) in 2023, which was not significantly less than the typical $39 order for those earning more than $75,000. They were also more likely than higher-earning customers to order from DoorDash more than once per month.

DoorDash said in a statement to MarketWatch that 28% of users with household incomes under $75,000 said they use delivery platforms because getting to a store is difficult. And across users, the majority said they use the app to gain more control over their time. Frequent users can save $5 per order on average by signing up for the app's subscription service, DashPass, which costs $9.99 per month or $96 per year and waives fees on certain orders, DoorDash said.

UberEats allows users to set spending limits for family members.

Paying for restaurant delivery isn't inherently a bad financial choice - it provides a convenience that many people enjoy - but consumers should be aware of the signs that it could be derailing their financial stability, experts told MarketWatch. Here are three major things to look out for.

1. You don't know how often you actually order or how much you are spending on the apps

"The clearest indicator is surprise - reviewing a statement and finding the total for delivery apps higher than expected," said Joshua Brooks, a financial planner and founder of Exponential Advisors, a firm that works with military veterans. Many people order due to "stress, boredom or fatigue," he said, but generally, delivery should be considered a treat.

Ramit Sethi, the author of books such as "I Will Teach You To Be Rich" and "Money for Couples," said that as a rule, people who examine their spending discover they eat out three times as often as they think they do.

Read more: 'It's easy to hide things from ourselves': How a budget can keep you honest and focused on your goals

While everyone's budget for food delivery is different, "a good starting point would be no more than one time per week," Shafransky said, perhaps as an end-of-week treat or to celebrate hitting a goal.

"I politely press back on clients who tell me they don't have time to cook," Shafransky told MarketWatch. "There are other options out there that don't come with restaurant prices, demand surcharges, delivery fees and tip," such as prepared foods at the grocery store.

In Brooklyn, N.Y., the cost of a frozen pepperoni pizza at a local supermarket is $8, while delivery of a pepperoni pie from the pizzeria down the street would be $22, plus $5 in fees, plus a tip.

It's possible this gap will widen, too: The cost of food at restaurants is expected to increase by 4.6% this year, more than the 1.7% predicted rise in grocery prices, according to the USDA.

2. Your delivery fees and tips are more than 5% to 10% of your total food budget

It's not just the food that can get expensive when ordering out - the fees charged by restaurant-delivery apps can also add up quickly. "A $15 lunch becomes $24. If someone orders delivery three times a week, that premium alone could be $150 a month or $1,800 a year," Brooks said.

If the fees start to exceed 5% to 10% of a person's food budget - for instance, if more than $40 to $80 out of an $800 monthly food budget is going toward these charges - "the convenience premium starts competing with other financial priorities," he said.

More on MarketWatch: We're spending over $100 a week on lunch. How did ordering food at work become a luxury?

3. You're not hitting your saving or investing goals

Last year, about 75% of Americans fell short of their saving and spending resolutions, according to a Vanguard survey. Rising costs for necessities - including housing, transportation, insurance, utilities, childcare and education - are a major hurdle to building wealth, especially for lower-income households with little discretionary income. Restaurant-delivery apps have become "an easy, and lazy, way to fritter your money away instead of investing," Valega said.

In 2024, American households spent an average $3,945 on dining out, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics - more than the average spent on discretionary categories including entertainment ($3,609), clothing ($2,001), travel lodging ($906) or airfare ($682).

Ordering out "is now way too easy, so young investors don't realize that the money spent to have food delivered and ordered when they snap their fingers would be better off invested for their long-term financial security," Valega said.

Related: Are Americans squandering their retirement savings on dining out?

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-Venessa Wong

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February 06, 2026 11:04 ET (16:04 GMT)

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