<prompt> Human: Hi PF...Background info: 23, unmarried, and I live in the Bay Area.So, as the title says, Ive spent almost 1,500 on food for the month of April. I am one human being, although I do sometimes pick up the tab for both myself and my boyfriend when we have dinner out he does the same. My food groceries eating out spending in Mint has been above 1,000 a month since December, but this is the worst month yet. Each month, Ive set a goal of spending less on food; Ive been failing every month so far.Obviously, I eat out a lot. I eat out for lunch nearly every day, which I try to keep as cheap as possible, but in San Francisco I struggle to keep it around 10day. Sometimes its worse, like 15-20. Obviously this is one huge area for potential savings. I even grab a bagel for breakfast around 3x a week... Its 2.75 every time. I do adore bagels. Im also eating out for dinner a ton, ordering too much takeout... I signed up for Blue Apron, a service that basically sends you uncooked food with recipes, but the meals are 10each and I get 6 in a box. Unfortunately, its set up so its three two-person meals, so I often prepare them with the boyfriend or my roommate, making it basically 20meal for me. I think I need to ditch this, even though it does help me cook more. Ive been doing this 1-3 a month, not weekly. I do cook some, but groceries are so expensive here! I dont have a car, or a large freezer, so I feel like I cant really do a big Costco run and set myself up for awhile. Luckily I do live really close to grocery stores, so Ive been thinking I need to wait for a meat sale and stock up at least a little.I need a kick in the butt to help me fix this. I know this is absurd, and Im really hoping to hear advice from people whove been in a similar situation - single and needing to rein in an out-of-control food budget in a high CoL area.The social aspect: its super easy to fall into the trap of eating out all the time, especially when youre doing it to socialize with people. I eat dinner out with my boyfriend and friends, and often eat lunch with co-workers. It seems as though everyone I work with eats out every day too. Only a few bring things from home.The good news: I have no consumer debt, contribute 12 of my income to my 401k, and have been aggressively building up an emergency fund, as well as paying on all my student loans and paying rent and all that. Im not financially destitute because of this... yet. Id much rather cut this down to 800 and have the extra money to put towards savingsloan payments.Tl;dr: The title, basically. Yes, I eat out a crazy amount. Multiple times a day. Especially hoping to get advice from people whove been in this situation!Edit: Er, wow. Im really blown away by all the thoughtful and helpful responses. I wanted to post this to get an outside perspective and the push I needed to start fixing this, and I definitely got that, as well as some really good strategies for starting this process. Im hoping to see a significant reduction in this number for May. Heres my plan:Breakfast: One breakfast out a week. Otherwise, I need to just eat a granola bar or toast my own bagel in the mornings.Lunch: Two lunches out per week, three from leftovers from dinners Ill cook.Dinner: Two dinners out per week, probably on the weekends. Otherwise, cook. I think thats do-able to begin with, but should still be a huge reduction in eating outtotal food spending. Im also doing a lot of research into meal planning, thanks to all the great links to other sites and subreddits. Thank you for those! I know how to cook, but I definitely dont know how to meal plan to minimize waste and money spent, so thatll be a huge focus too.  <response>: Incredibly easy to fix. Do not bother with Blue Apron.If you live close to a grocery store and dont have the ability to carry more than a few bags, go a couple times a week.reatcheapandhealthyrslowcookingRe: breakfast - if you want to eat a bagel, buy a bag of bagels say that 3x fast 