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> I'm a software developer with a flexible work schedule paid hourly, the act of going to grab the food myself and not working for 30 minutes would cost me way more than delivery costs (even cooking my own meals can be more expensive when time is factored in, compared to food price at restaurant + delivery cost (for ~2 portions prepared in 30 minutes

Off topic but I quit consulting because I had this exact realization. Sure making $1000 to fix a production outage in 15 minutes on a Saturday was amazing but it made me always think about life in billable hours to the point where I was not hanging out with friends or going to the gym anymore

A legal job I once did paid billable hours. There was something to be said for being paid for travel in off-hours, etc. But it does create this always on-the-clock mindset. On the one hand, you're basically never working for "free." On the other, as you say, you're always cognizant of the fact that you could be being paid if you work another hour.

Maybe I'm biased because I'm from an eastern EU country where hating your job is the local culture and cost of living is lower than in the USA, or because I worked like this part-time during college experienced FOMO because of it, so I learned to prioritize social events, but I never had this issue.

In fact, I'm the exact opposite - I value this kind of job arrangement, because I can earn enough money to live comfortably (and save some money) just by working 100-120 hours monthly, which gives me much more free time than working a normal full time job + I have the flexibility to take a day off (or even a week or two of vacations) anytime I want, but I still can work some weekends if I want some extra money...

Ironically delivery apps to be designed for walkable (ie non US) cities. At least where I lived in the US, driving was always very congested and adds extra time for parking and such, always at least 30 min with huge variance based on traffic. Plus you have to pay for the energy to transport a 1.5 tonnes vehicle for.. usually a single meal.

In Europe it’s an electric kickbike or scooter at most, and they can pick up the food without parking. Still, not perfect, but a lot more efficient and the margins can be lower. They don’t have to hit you with those deceptive fees and tip shaming - often it’s the same consumer price.

To me, in the US it would make much more sense to chain deliveries similar to Amazon packages. A set daily menu, heaters in the truck, and multiple stops with TSM style route. Maybe that’s too much communism but it would at least make sense logistically.

A lot of offices around me have food delivery services operating in the lobby of the building. This food delivery service will often only serve a few restaurants every day with the restaurants rotating daily. Everyone is supposed to get their orders in by some cutoff in the morning, the food delivery operator makes one big pickup for all the orders for the building, and it all gets delivered at the lobby. You get a text when the delivery arrives. Delivery is really cheap since its essentially a cost shared with potentially several people.

The one operating in my building these days is Lunchdrop, but I've also seen Foodsby offered at other buildings. On the days I go into the office I look at the menu for the week and pick what meals I might want or I'll just plan on bringing in food. I get the email with the menu for the week either Saturday night or Sunday and can then order days ahead of time.

> And because I'm a software developer with a flexible work schedule paid hourly, the act of going to grab the food myself and not working for 30 minutes would cost me way more than delivery costs

That doesn't make sense. Quite the opposite being flexible + paid hourly means that you are free to take a decent break.

Not taking proper time for a pause in the middle of a shift is both incredibly unhealthy and extremly unefficient as we can't be at 100% for long hours at a time.

Having said that anyone can prepare a decent meal in just a few minutes, there are literally tons of recipes where you just have to crudely cut stuff and throw them in a baking dish and in the oven or cook in a wok. + when you are working at home you can always eat some dinner leftovers + a bit of pan.

Your prices seems fine but I guess that is only because your delivery services are still in the pre-enshittification phase where they are competing for monopoly and actually losing money.