By MoneyBees
See what you save by cooking some meals at home instead of eating out, from your own meal costs or SingStat's average hawker prices. Get the saving per meal, per month and per year, what each hour in the kitchen earns you, and the total over the years as prices rise.
Includes a kopi or teh at $1.44.
Your own estimate.
Saved a year
$746
$62.18 a month
Saved a meal
$2.87
5 meals a week
Over 5 years
$3,992
as prices rise
Cooking 5 meals a week instead of eating out saves $14.35 a week. At 30 minutes a meal that is about 130 hours a year in the kitchen, so each hour of cooking saves you $5.74.
Over 5 years, with meals out rising 3% a year and groceries 2.6%, the saving adds up to $3,992.
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| Aug 2026 | Aug 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Economical rice (1 meat and 2 vegetables) | $3.80 | $3.74 |
| Chicken rice | $4.23 | $4.16 |
| Fishball noodles | $4.43 | $4.30 |
| Wanton noodles | $4.59 | $4.48 |
| Duck rice | $4.80 | $4.69 |
| Char kway teow | $4.82 | $4.63 |
| Sliced fish bee hoon | $5.92 | $5.82 |
| Saba fish with rice | $6.64 | $6.22 |
| Chicken nasi briyani | $7.11 | $6.94 |
| Chicken chop | $7.93 | $7.82 |
| Coffee or tea with condensed milk | $1.44 | $1.38 |
SingStat's average retail prices across the outlets it surveys for the CPI, per plate, bowl or cup. They are averages, not the price at any one stall.
| Year | Hawker centres, food courts, coffee shops | Food to cook at home |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 1.7% | 1.1% |
| 2020 | 1.3% | 2.9% |
| 2021 | 1.5% | 1.6% |
| 2022 | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| 2023 | 6.1% | 5.1% |
| 2024 | 3.4% | 1.2% |
| 2025 | 1.3% | 1.1% |
| Year to Aug 2026 | 2.4% | 3% |
| Average 2019 to 2025 | 3.0% | 2.6% |
SingStat CPI, 2024 = 100: change on the year before. Food to cook at home is SingStat's food excluding food and beverage serving services.
You eat chicken rice and a kopi for lunch five days a week: S$4.23 and S$1.44 at SingStat's August 2026 averages, S$5.67 a meal.
Cooking the same five meals costs you S$2.50 in ingredients and S$0.30 in gas and containers, S$2.80 a meal. You save S$2.87 a meal, S$14.35 a week and S$746.20 a year.
SingStat's Household Expenditure Survey 2023 found households spent S$965.70 a month on meals out and S$455.90 on food and drink to prepare at home. One-person households spent S$410.20 eating out and S$167.30 on food at home.
Figures checked 4 Oct 2026.
Take the price of your meal out, subtract what the same meal costs to cook, and multiply by the meals you switch. Chicken rice and a kopi at SingStat's August 2026 averages cost S$5.67; against S$2.80 to cook, five meals a week save S$746.20 a year.
SingStat's average retail prices for August 2026 put chicken rice at S$4.23 a plate, economical rice with 1 meat and 2 vegetables at S$3.80, fishball noodles at S$4.43 and chicken chop at S$7.93. A kopi or teh with condensed milk averaged S$1.44.
SingStat's CPI for hawker centres, food courts, coffee shops and kiosks rose 2.4% in the year to August 2026. From 2019 to 2025 it rose about 3% a year on average, including 5.7% in 2022 and 6.1% in 2023.
Not always. One person cooking small portions can waste food, and economical rice at an average of S$3.80 is hard to beat for some meals. The calculator shows a negative saving when your home meal costs more than eating out.
SingStat's Household Expenditure Survey 2023 found households spent S$965.70 a month on food and beverage serving services, more than twice the S$455.90 they spent on food and drink to prepare at home.
The calculator shows the hours a year you spend cooking and washing up, and what each of those hours saves you. Whether that is worth it is your call.
The ingredients for that meal, plus gas or electricity, containers and anything you throw away.
Yes. Half of each CDC voucher tranche is for participating heartland merchants and hawkers, and half for participating supermarkets, so they can go towards either side of this comparison.
These calculators provide general estimates for educational purposes only and are not personalised financial advice. Results may rely on rates and rules that change over time, so verify against official sources (IRAS, CPF Board, HDB, MAS) or consult a licensed financial adviser before making decisions.
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