It is not unusual for students at UT to constantly feel like they are on the go. This can lead to a lot of people becoming reliant on food delivery services and make it challenging to properly budget.
DoorDash, Uber Eats and Postmates are some of the most popular delivery services, and they specifically target the young-adult demographic. Companies like DoorDash rely on 18-24 year-olds, who are 39.1% of their users.
Undergraduates’ over-reliance on food delivery services is a severe misuse of money, which is a sign of poor management. With proper budgeting and savings skills, students can learn to not waste their money on wants but use it wisely on needs.
One of the biggest downsides to using a delivery system like DoorDash is that they do not require restaurants to match their prices to the prices on the app. This means that they can charge you more than you would pay in-store if you use one of these services.
“They try to emphasize discounts and peddle this idea that you’re saving money, (but) there are very rare occasions where that will be the case,” said Dylan Richmond, who has been a Dasher for about three years. “These subscription service models nick the delivery fees, (so) you’re still going to be paying that same premium on every individual product.”
While a lot of people claim that the high fees are worth it due to the convenience, paying the markup rate is not a good trade-off. Many students fall into the trap of convenience with services like food delivery, but choosing to spend your money in that way is not a necessary expense in most cases. The difference between ordering food for pickup and having it delivered is in the cost, which is raised by the miscellaneous fees. In some cases, the markup on delivery can make your bill go up 45%.
It is easy to get caught up in the convenience factor with resources like DoorDash, where people can start to lose track of where they spend their money.
“College kids can spend up to $300-400 a month, just on DoorDash, if they’re doing that three to five times a week,” said Karl Eggerss, a principal and wealth advisor for CAPTRUST, which is a financial advisory firm. “That’s a car payment, when you really put it into perspective.”
When coming to college, many students struggle with their budgeting skills because it is their first time being independently in charge of their money use. Thus, they miss the opportunity of being able to start saving young. Creating a budget offers a clear alternative to relying on expensive delivery apps like DoorDash.
“Start early (with savings) … (even if) it’s $5 a month,” Eggerss said. “The habit of taking money from (your) checking and putting it into a savings account, … the compounding effect is dramatic.”
As appealing as DoorDash is, it is important to be responsible with your money and start to learn how to budget at a young age. Convenience is important up until the point where you are putting yourself in a harmful financial position.
Healy is a journalism junior from San Antonio, Texas.
