8 Ways Meal Delivery Services Save You Time and Money

Suppose you're on a specialized diet, your work consumes over half your waking hours, or your kids occupy all your attention. These are all circumstances in which it's tough to find ample time to prepare your weekly meals, and most solutions to this problem are expensive. Takeout prices keep going up, and that's before all the fees. Most restaurants also can't meet your dietary needs. A home-cooked meal might take forever to prepare.

Fret not, though - there's a way to free up your schedule and spend less time worrying about food. Enter meal delivery services, which make meal planning much easier and all but eliminate meal prep. Below are the key benefits of meal delivery services when you're trying to save money, free up time, eat healthier, or all of the above.

1. No chopping, cooking, or cleaning

Making healthy food yourself requires lots of time and work, and regularly chopping, cooking, and cleaning can quickly become unappealing. With meal delivery, none of this is necessary. The meals that arrive at your doorstep have already been prepared from scratch with fresh ingredients. That's a step up from a meal kit, which typically involves getting the ingredients delivered but still having to cook. And it's way better than frozen meals from the grocery store aisle, which are filled with sodium and often devoid of flavor. Instead, just heat up your delivered meals when you get hungry, and leave your cutting boards in the cabinet.

2. Diverse food options for all dietary needs

Food delivery services easily accommodate any and all dietary restrictions while saving you the mental work of coming up with tasty meal ideas. For example, if you're gluten-free, you might struggle to come up with ideas that aren't based on wheat-sourced pasta and bread. With a vast menu of meal delivery options at your fingertips, you can get delicious, healthy food that lines up perfectly with your dietary restrictions.

3. Less expensive than health restaurants

Healthy meal delivery services near-universally charge lower prices than health restaurants. Instead of that $12 fruit smoothie, you can order a meal with all key macros for under $10. This adds up to solid savings over the course of a week - and major savings in the long run.

4. Trying new meals

It's easy to fall into old buying habits when you're grocery shopping. After all, when you lack the time to try cooking new recipes or the money for more adventurous ingredients, the familiar might call your name. The same old meals, though, can get boring quickly. With meal delivery services, you can choose from dozens of meals you've never tried before. That's dozens of options per day, not week - with meal delivery, a lifetime of culinary adventures awaits.

5. Skipping grocery runs

Between the long lines and often confusing layouts, grocery stores can be a burden to visit. There's also the commute there and back - grocery runs are a major time-suck. Meal delivery saves you time since you can avoid the grocery store and order all your food without leaving home.

6. Inherent portion control

Eating plans and meal prep are common but flawed solutions for saving time and money. An especially big flaw: Portion control isn't guaranteed - if you get hungry, the rest of the big batch you've cooked is still in the fridge. Meal delivery solves this issue since the portion sizes are predetermined and capped. Once you've eaten your meal, there's no more of it left.

7. Reduces food waste

We've all been there: You promise yourself you'll get more into cooking, only to be too exhausted after work or time with the kids. That means the ingredients you've bought to cook with go unused, and often, they go bad too. The result is food waste that's equally bad for your wallet and the environment - and on top of that, someone else could've used that food. Meal delivery eliminates this food waste - you get a full meal with no prep work or extra ingredients.

8. Skips meal prep

When money isn't growing on trees for you, meal prep often seems desirable - cooking from scratch certainly costs less than ordering takeout. But what if time isn't growing on trees for you either? In that case, meal prep becomes infeasible, and meal delivery becomes your best friend. At a fraction of the cost of takeout, you get ready-to-go meals that are equally delicious and nutritious. And you get it without spending hours on meal prep.

Why is Meal Village your best option for meal delivery?

Where other meal delivery services mandate subscriptions or limit your food options, Meal Village requires no commitments and offers over 130 options per week. Simply order meals for delivery whenever is right for you, then heat your food whenever it's time to eat. You'll taste the difference, too - Meal Village meals are made fresh, with locally sourced ingredients, in our Chicagoland kitchen on the day of delivery. Plus, all meals cost under $10 - a fraction of takeout prices - and you can order as few or as many as you'd like.

Order delicious, nutritious food from Meal Village now

There's no easier, more commitment-free way to save time and money on getting a scrumptious, healthy meal in Chicago. Order from Meal Village online or via phone now to experience the benefits of meal delivery - your taste buds dancing will only be the start.