"It's $30 a meal, at least four nights a week." How millennials are really using food delivery apps.

“It’s hot, it’s quick and it’s easy. Why wouldn’t we?”

Dimity is one of many 20-somethings living in the city, who has a little bit of a disposable income, and not a lot of time.

She and her three other single, female housemates eat Deliveroo practically every night of the week.

In fact, it’s a novelty if one or all of them decide to whip out a fry pan and actually use the kitchen.

This phenomenon isn’t exactly new, remember Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City?

But what’s different here is these women aren’t going out for meals, they’re ordering in.

For Dimity and her housemates, their reasoning for ordering in every night varies.

“Time, effort, we hate cooking, trying to decide what to have; delivery is always the easiest option in the end,” she told Mamamia.

“We are all really busy, we don’t get in until about 7pm. We’ve tried Marley Spoon and meal prep plans, but it just made us so bored with what we were eating, so we just trust Deliveroo to hit the spot,” she admitted.

She also admits the lack of cooking talent in the house is a good excuse to not bother trying. They all have about one speciality dish and none are great.

“My mum and grandmother were great cooks, and I think I’ve been spoilt with such good food that if I make anything that’s not as good I’m just like ‘This is the worst, I don’t want to eat this, I don’t have to eat this’.”

Dimity understands she’s in a pretty privileged position.

“We’re in a lucky stage of our lives. We don’t have kids, partners, we are pretty comfortable with our jobs and salaries so it’s kind of a little bit of a luxury,” she told Mamamia.

Sidenote: things single people always hear. Post continues after video.

She’s also aware that not having to hand over actual money helps to ease the financial guilt.

But even if she was handing over $20 notes, Dimity isn’t about to go ditching her beloved app for the Coles queue anytime soon.

“When you’ve had a long day and you’re on the bus home, you don’t want to think about going to the supermarket with a million other people,” she said.

Dimity is pretty used to people telling her “omg you’re wasting money,” and her favourite, “why don’t you go and get cooking lessons?”

Frankly, she doesn’t have time.

“Until I have time, I am going to rely on Deliveroo,” she said adamantly. “But as far as my family are aware…I cook five nights a week,” she added.

Dimity and her clan are definitely not the only ones.

2018 research by finder.com.au found a third of Australians living in capital cities order through meal delivery services.

Individuals spend on average about $1,590 a year with Sydneysiders the biggest fans of online food spending on average $1,958.

Roy Morgan figures from the same year show 16.1 percent of millennials use meal delivery services in an average three months, compared to 4.5 percent of Baby Boomers.

Young, single, inner city professionals make up the largest group at 22.5 percent of users.

Alana*, 30, can relate.

She lives in Bondi, and is a regular Deliveroo and UberEats consumer.

"I spend about $30 a meal, at least four nights a week," she admitted to Mamamia.

Alana has an extremely busy job which sees her work ridiculously long hours and cooking or even food prep is something she just hasn't got time for.

If she does manage to get some time away from her desk Alana would much rather spend it surfing, or with her friends - even having a massage - anything but slaving over the stove.

"I definitely don't feel guilty," she said.

"I sometimes ask myself should I be good and eat at home to be more environmental and save money, but when I'm busy it's easier to have good food delivered," she explained.

She says getting delivery dinner is pretty common amongst millennials who work 10 plus hours a day which is the case in her industry.

"There are limited other options," she said.

In January, even Coles jumped on the bandwagon and announced a partnership with UberEats that would take their ready-to-heat menu to customer's doors in under 30 minutes.

Both Dimity and Alana say a home-cooked family dinner was a nightly ritual in their childhood.

"I just don't think takeaway was a huge thing in the suburbs growing up," Alana told Mamamia. 

That's definitely not the case now.

We're on the move towards a much more instant approach to the final meal of the day if the millennial trends of women like Dimity and Alana are anything to go by.

*name changed

How much delivery food do you consume? Let us know in the comments!