Tasks like "plan a menu for the week" or "go grocery shopping" are the sort of thing where it's a relatively fixed amount of time whether you're shopping/cookin

Tasks like "plan a menu for the week" or "go grocery shopping" are the sort of thing where it's a relatively fixed amount of time whether you're shopping/cooking for 1 or for 4 -- i.e. there's an economy of scale on that time. For me, given the choice of "$30 + the time to plan meals and go shopping" vs "$60", I'll take the latter. If I had a choice between "$80 + the time to plan meals and go shopping" vs "$160", that time is worth a lot more money. In addition, set all of this in a New York apartment, where the ability to maintain a well-stocked pantry is limited.