How Many Times Do You Typically Cook Dinner Each Week? - Exclusive Survey

Even with the work-from-home revolution, there still don't seem to be enough hours in the day for many of us. In all the hustle and bustle of the day, it can be easy to forget about the eternal question: "What's for dinner?" We've all scrounged up as many quick weeknight dinner recipes as possible, and some of us have even attempted to learn the ways of the slow cooker. Still, there are nights that call for fast food or take out meals.

We all do what we have to do to feed the family or ourselves at the end of the day, but it's proven to be a costly habit. According to Forbes, anytime you're ordering out, you're spending five times as much, on average, compared to making a homemade dinner. Money Under 30 adds that even if you're careful with your money, the small additional costs of eating out will add up on you. And the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the average American individual spent $3,000 a year just on dining out in 2015.

Still, sometimes the convenience is worth the cost. Daily Meal was curious about how often most people do cook at home, so we launched a survey to find out.

Daily Meal asked 567 readers how many times a week they cook dinner at home. The results showed that most people tend to fall somewhere in the middle.

The least popular option was "never," which means that only 3% of respondents eat out or skip dinner every evening. On the other end of the spectrum from that is those who make dinner at home every day. They made up about 15% of the respondents with 88 votes. In between those two extremes was once or twice a week which made up 13% of the vote.

Our top two responses were also somewhere in the middle of extremes. The second highest response was those who made dinner about five or six times a week. This population was roughly one-third of the total. The number one response was three to four times per week which had 211 votes and was 37% of the total voting population. So, the next time that you give into the struggle and order a pizza for dinner, know with certainty that you aren't the only one.

For those who are striving to save some money and make more meals at home, there are plenty of ways to make some progress. Mental Floss points out that one of the best first steps is acknowledging that you need to make the time to cook for yourself. Things can pile up with work and family, but if you're dedicated to cooking more you'll need to make the time for it. Making a routine for grocery shopping or prepping items for the week ahead will help form good habits that will help you be ready on the busiest of days.

Vox adds that it's important to remember that you don't need to be an all-star chef to cook great meals at home. Find some simple recipes that you love (most importantly) and make them all the time. This way you can practice and perfect a few recipes, and have a go-to grocery list ready for the week ahead. Mental Floss points out that if you find yourself getting tired of these meals you can always freeze what's leftover, and find a new rotation to start again.

Real Simple says that another great habit to get into is to start making dinner a family event. Eating dinner isn't the only time to bond as a family, and having an extra set of hands can help cut down on the time it takes to bring your dinner together.