How much do YOU spend on food???

First off, I’ll do my standard apology for being gone so long. It ends now, I promise. I won’t go into all the things that have changed over the last few months as I’m sure those things will come up in the normal course of “conversations”. All you need to know right now is that I’m writing again. Thank you for your patience and understanding!

so. Do you have any idea how much you spend on the food you eat? I do now.

I’ll admit up front, in case you don’t know anything about me and have not read anything I’ve ever written, that I seek out knowledge because I believe the purpose of life is discovery and growth. We should all be consciously, constantly seeking methods of personal improvement, acquiring knowledge, expanding awareness, writing experiences to our life journal. One area I’ve always been knowledgeable about is diet, and I feel so honored that many people utilize me as a resource. True, I’m not an expert, but it’s shocking how little the average person knows about what he consumes vs. what he should consume, how his body responds to that consumption. I do NOT force my opinions on others, but if asked I definitely take the opportunity to share!

Where was I? I totally went down a bunny trail… Oh, diet, right. I try to prepare most of my meals at home rather than eating out at restaurants and drive-thrus. Trust me, I can grub some McDonald’s fries and Guadalajara spinach enchiladas like it’s my job, but I’d always rather eat something I’ve prepared. I know what goes into it, I can make it EXACTLY how I want without worries of spit or hair incidents (the occasional pet hair may make it in, but at least I know where it came from…), and I grew up in the kitchen so I have some decent skills. I don’t care who you are or what great argument you think you have for why you may be a crappy cook; all it takes is practice and desire, just like anything else. (Well, except singing. Let’s be honest, no amount of desire or practice will make the Twins good singers, am i right?!). I also buy organic, non-GMO (genetically modified), fair-trade, etc. whenever possible. And STILL I insist… (you ready for the point?)

IT’S ALWAYS CHEAPER TO EAT AT HOME THAN IT IS TO EAT OUT.

One of the food documentaries (no worries about copyrights, i just seriously can’t remember which one) I’ve watched in the last year had an interview with a woman who said her family frequented drive-thru’s because she and her husband both worked and didn’t have time or money to feed their 2 girls. I have several points here:

• I understand there is a McDonald’s on every corner, but I also know that if she timed it, she’d realize it takes more than 10 minutes to get everyone in the car, go to the golden arches, order, pay, drive around and get whatever item they forgot to put in your bag, drive home. In 15 minutes I can make a meal for 4. It won’t be a seven-course meal, but it’ll definitely get the job done better than the burger/fries/coke.
• How much $$ is spent on gas for each trip? I know it’s pennies but I’m just sayin… if you’re poor enough to justify feeding $1 deep-fried cow lips to your child, you’re probably poor enough to consider those pennies.
• The four people spent ~$3 each, total of $12 for a meal. Consider the FACT that those high-fat and high-sugar foods have very little nutritional content; your brain still thinks you’re hungry and stores the fat away for later. It’s like those fancy restaurants that serve you miniature culinary artwork in exchange for half a paycheck, tummy growling on the way out the door. Feel like you got a meal in either case? (say no.)

Let’s talk business. I’m trying to pay down a credit card that I’ve got a balance on simply because I forget to pay it off every once in a while. (Personal info, but I swear it’s relevant. Keep reading, friend!) So I pulled all the transaction details for the last 5 months into a spreadsheet to determine where I was spending too much, what I need to avoid for a while, and figure out how much to pay off every x # of days. Anyway, I sorted everything out and discovered that the cost difference to eat at home vs. out was even larger than I’d imagined. Actually, I hadn’t expected the cost per meal at home to be so low!!! For math purposes, I’m assuming I ate 3 meals a day for 5 months, roughly 450 meals. (You know you skip lunch on certain super-hectic days, and some Saturdays you “clean house” by eating 6 leftover meals you found in the fridge that were on the cusp of expiration. That’s just me? Oh…)

• Meals obtained from a drive-thru or restaurant
  • $1,615.60 total spent
  • 20% (or 90) of my meals fell in this category
  • $17.95 average cost  per meal
• Meals obtained from a grocery store, prepared at home or packed and prepared at work
  • $1,120.04 total spent
  • 80% (or 360) of my meals fell in this category
  • $3.11 average cost  per meal

Those are just my food expense averages across 5 months. I urge you to look into how much you spend on food, and where. Most families right now are financially less secure than in years’ past, so even if you aren’t worried about WHAT you’re eating, it’s likely that you’re actively trying to cut back on HOW MUCH you spend. And there’s a good chance you can do that by adjusting your approach to food acquisition.

Okay, you’re dismissed. Go forth and discover what your consumption is costing you. I’d love to hear back from anyone/everyone who has done similar research!!! )

~j