Despite being a multimillionaire, Suze Orman still cooks at home whenever possible—and says eating out is one of the biggest wastes of money

Suze Orman has spent decades as a best-selling author and TV host, teaching people how to invest, save for retirement, and manage their money.

She’s also built a fortune of her own, with a net worth in the tens of millions — but there’s one category of spending that has always bothered her: eating out at restaurants, which she has called one of the biggest wastes of money.

“We still to this day eat at home,” Orman said in a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal .

At the time, Orman said her wife had prepared congee rice for lunch and meatloaf for dinner.

The couple does eat out occasionally, she said, but usually not because they “want to”—rather, it’s a social obligation when they’re meeting friends.

Even then, Orman said she worried about how the bill could affect her friends’ finances.

“If we go out to eat, the deal is we have to pay because I am not going to let people, who I know don’t have the kind of money that we have, waste their money on food eating out,” she said.

Orman’s philosophy on eating out has only become stronger as restaurant prices have climbed .

Between December 2024 and December 2025, prices for “food away from home” increased 4.1%, compared with a 2.4% increase for food purchased to eat at home, according to the U.S.

Consumer Price Index .

Overall consumer prices rose 2.7% during the same period.

“Look up McDonald’s.

Look up Taco Bell.

Are you kidding me? $23, $30 just to go to McDonald’s for whatever you eat there,” Orman said.