UNITED STATES—There are just those days that you do not feel like slaving in the kitchen. I don’t mean that literally, but I know so many people who will do almost anything to prevent from having to cook. Myself on the other hand, I enjoy cooking in the kitchen; I just hate doing it when I’m super exhausted. I tip my hat off to all the moms who work long hours, deal with the kids and still find time to prepare a meal. It is NOT easy, but this column isn’t about praising moms, it’s about preparing a home cooked meal vs. fast food.

Look, I will be the first person to admit, there are those days during the week, where the mere thought of me preparing a dish in the kitchen is NOT going to happen. Not because I don’t want to, but because I’m Uber exhausted or I don’t have the ingredients needed to prepare the dish I want. I tip my hat off to all the moms who work long hours, deal with the kids and still find time to prepare a meal. It is NOT easy, but this column isn’t about praising moms, it’s about preparing a home cooked meal vs. fast food. This boils down to smart grocery shopping. I tend to grocery shop in weird waves; I like to shop when retailers have sales. This past week I did some hefty grocery shopping and I must say I was impressed with the bargains and the food items I purchased.

Most people grocery shop in two ways: those who purchase everything at once and those who buy to make a dish. I hate to say it, but I’m one who shops to create a meal. It can sometimes be pricey, but the thing about a home cooked meal is that you tend to have leftovers. When it comes to fast food, not so much! It costs a lot more to feed a family of four with fast-food than what it would cost to cook a meal for four.

Here’s the biggest problem with fast-food: you are still hungry after consuming the meal. It is very rare to have an outing where you get full, you feel like you got your money’s worth and you’re satisfied. When you cook a home meal you tend to get satiated a lot quicker, not to mention you get a bit of preparation in the kitchen. There are way too many people who cannot cook, and are constantly relying on fast-food as their way to crave their hunger.

In doing so, more money is being spent, health is being compromised and you never have any items in the fridge. I made a pact to cook at home almost every single day this week. Is it easy? No, will I have to be creative when it comes to putting dishes together that don’t seem typical? Yes. That is the thing about cooking, it allows you to experiment. You don’t get better at cooking if you’re not challenging yourself when you cook.

If you tell me it’s possible to have a cooked meal every single day of the week, I would hands down do it all the time. Now, do we all deserve a pass once in a while to have a meal out on the town? Absolutely, but it should not become such a habit that you eat out more than you actually cook a meal. With that being said there are more cons with eating fast-food than pros. When you think about a home cooked meal you get the following: 1) a hearty meal 2) something that is way healthier than fast food 3) you get to save some money. Do you actually get those perks with fast-food? I think not.