Pizza is a great meal. It will remain at the top of list as everyone’s favorite fast food for a long time to come. Judging from my personal experience in the business, the average order for a family of four is between $19 and $25 depending on how many toppings Mom and Dad get. These prices are the amount you’d pay if you picked up the pizza yourself. Getting the pizza delivered usually will bring some extra costs into the equation. The delivery charge can range from $0 to $5 in most parts of the country. Some restaurants will give you free delivery as long as you meet a minimum price (i.e. spend $25 or more and delivery is free).

People will always get pizza delivered. Some people don’t have cars, some people don’t like to drive, some people can’t leave because of the kids, babysitters need dinner, or some people are flat out lazy. Whatever the case may be, I know I will still have a J.O.B. Now if you are trying to get out of debt or save a little money, pizza delivery can be pricey.

The Cost
I will use some real world examples to work through the cost of pizza delivery. 90% of my business is repeat customers. Meaning, I deliver to the same people every weekend. I have a Friday group, a Saturday group, a Sunday group, and a 2 out of 3 group. Gary is part of the Friday group and orders pizza every single Friday. Mark is part of the 2 out of 3 group and orders at least 2 times a weekend. Now Mark is a single guy who hates to cook so he orders a bunch during the week as well. I’m also adding Josh into the mix. Josh orders 2-3 times a month, but is a “big” tipper (usually 50% of the order).

These are real life examples and they always tip the same so I feel they are perfect for the calculations.

Once you start to look at the numbers, delivery can really add up. Especially if you order more than once a week and are a good tipper. If you’re looking to save a little cash throughout the year, I’d get take out and save the money.

Tricks of The Trade
I personally never get delivery. I do however understand the need for my services. Never get delivery from a pizza joint that has taken longer than one hour to deliver to you in the past. The pizza will not be as hot as if you picked it up. Look for a store that delivers in 30 to 45 minutes. There are pizza joints out there that will get you the pizza quicker than if you picked it up yourself. My store is usually one of those. We do everything we can to deliver in 20 to 30 minutes. Some people can even get their food in 10 to 12 minutes. It takes 6 minutes for a pizza to be cooked and 2 minutes for it to be made and boxed. If you like great service, tip the drive 15-20% If you’ve ordered before chances are that you are already known as a good tipper, bad tipper, stiffer, or good person. If you are a bad tipper/stiffer, you can expect the food to be delivered after the good person/good tipper. We make every effort to get everybody their food hot and fast, but we may come to a complete stop at all the stop signs if we are going to a bad tippers house.

There is always one thing to keep in mind when getting food delivered, “would I be happy with this tip if I was the delivery person?” It’s that simple. If you can answer that question and be happy with it, then we will be happy too.

If you really want to save money, make your own pizza. Look at the numbers above again. Mark and Gary are spending over $1,000 a year in pizza. I’ll be doing a Frugal Friday Tip about making you’re own pizza soon.

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