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> I was scratching my head at how so many people in the thread could possibly believe this, until I realized that they’re probably not actually cooking, but rat

> I was scratching my head at how so many people in the thread could possibly believe this, until I realized that they’re probably not actually cooking, but rather buying prepackaged meals and heating them up. I don't think that's the case. When a person can have an entire dinner meal at Taco Bell for less than $5, or jumbo hot dog + drink at Costco for $1.25 ... cooking at home is definitely more expensive. https://www.tacobell.com/food https://www.tacobell.com/food

evnix 4y ago
in Ireland, as someone living alone, I spend close to 40 euros a week. 4 euros for a kilo of ground beef 4 euros for a kilo of whole chicken 7 euros for a kilo of pork and 4 to 5 euros for fish and 2 to 4 euros for rice and wraps. onions, garlic, fresh tomatoes are around a euro for a pack that's enough for a week. 5 to 10 euros for spices but they last for atleast a month. I throw in a few frozen veggies into rice which again is euro or two. I dont order or eat out, I generally do this to eat clean healthy food but the addon benefit is I notice I save a lot more when compared to my colleagues and I generally look healthier even though I eat a lot more.
MontyCarloHall 4y ago
Buy ground beef, beans, rice, and tortillas in bulk (or even cheaper, make them yourself—it’s not hard!) and be smart about planning to use vegetables and other perishables efficiently across multiple dishes, and you’re going to be making Taco Bell menu items at home that are far superior to Taco Bell for much less than $5. Buying hotdogs, buns, and soda in bulk will probably cost ~$1.25 per meal, if not less. You can freeze the dogs and buns; the latter will still taste great after a light toasting.
- ilikecakeandpie 4y ago
  There's the opportunity and comfort cost as well though. I can definitely see how one could see spending $5 on a box they can grab from the drive thru and immediately throw away is a better choice than going to the store, meal planning, ensuring there's proper refrigerator and freezer space, making sure the perishables are used, and then also taking the time to clean the dishes used afterwards. $5 for a few minutes of effort vs spending slightly less for usually at least half an hour to an hour when off hours during the work week are at a premium can make that extra spend very attractive, especially if they're single
  - Semaphor 4y ago
    I can really see that, $5 gets you a LOT at Taco Bell (funnily enough, they refused to load any images till I switched my IP to a USA one O.o). I’m actually shocked how much you get. Here in Germany, McDonalds / Burger King (not sure what other fast food places we have) are disgusting AND expensive :D
    - ghaff 4y ago
      Cheap (and even not so cheap) "Mexican" food in particular is a great opportunity for the restaurant to bulk up a little protein with lots of cheap filler like rice and beans. With a burger, you have a floor set by a certain weight of ground beef. And, yes, while I very rarely go into a McDonald's or Burger King, my sense is that they're not a particularly cheap meal. And the better "fast casual" burger chains certainly are not.
      - jefftk 4y ago
        > bulk up a little protein with lots of cheap filler like rice and beans Rice and beans make a complete protein. You're writing as if people are getting less protein than they expected, but the inclusion of beans means they're probably not.
        ghaff 4y ago
        You're right of course. I'm just using protein in the sense that restaurants often do to mean x grams/ounces of meat, chicken, pork, or fish. But there are obviously other sources of protein.
- burntsushi 4y ago
  This is roughly what I do (in the sense that I buy in bulk and freeze stuff), but note that it essentially requires you to not only purchase an extra freezer, but also run it and have the extra space for it. So this strategy does require some capital investment. It's not much, but I have friends that just couldn't do this. (Not necessarily because of the capital required, but because there is just no space for a freezer.)
  - mhb 4y ago
    You really don't need an extra freezer to buy 3/5/10 pounds of chicken instead of 1/2 pound.
    - bitxbitxbitcoin 4y ago
      The savings really add up at that 10 pound level. Chicken quarters are still under a dollar a pound at Walmarts in that quantity.
      - mhb 4y ago
        No doubt. But in the context of this discussion, it sounds like, for even that size package, the target audience could make room in the freezer they already have by consuming and not replacing their existing stock of frozen tacos, waffles and corn dogs.
    - burntsushi 4y ago
      Oh okay, you surely know what's in my freezer. I guess my stuffed freezer wasn't actually stuffed and I didn't need to buy the extra freezer. Maybe, you know, chicken isn't the only thing in my freezer.
      - mhb 4y ago
        So you extrapolate, to the general population, your need for an extra freezer as an obstacle to reducing the cost of buying in bulk but your objection to my comment is that it is not relevant to you in particular?
- watwut 4y ago
  We do cook at home a lot, but genuinely, if I have a lot of work of just have activities with kids outside of home, it adds overhead I don't want to deal with. I am not even sure it is more of mental overhead or time overhead, but the more I am stressed at given period the less I want to deal with counting and "being smart" about buying perishables.
jefftk 4y ago
Our household spends ~$670/month cooking for two adults, two children, and an infant (all meals). [1] That's $5.50/person/day ignoring the baby, and we're not trying to minimize costs (fresh fruit and veg, meat, etc). Cooking at home is more expensive if you count the time of the cook, sure, but not if you just compare dollar costs. [1] https://www.jefftk.com/p/spending-update-2022 https://www.jefftk.com/p/spending-update-2022
- DoughnutHole 4y ago
  Yea I'm not sure how someone can claim "$5 for a meal for one" could possibly be cheaper than cooking unless you're deliberately cooking something expensive? Now maybe I'm missing some cultural context for the price of produce in the US but for €5 per person here in Ireland I could make an absolute feast. Say I make a ragu for 4-5 people, here's what my shopping list might look like (checking prices on tesco.ie): - Pasta 500g (€0.65) - Ground pork 400g (€3.50) - Bag of onions 1kg (€0.60) - 4 bulbs of garlic (€0.80) - Bag of carrots 500g (€0.60) - Celery 450G (€0.79) - Tinned Tomatos (€0.45) So for €7.39 I could feed 4-5 people and have most of the onions, garlic and celery left over for another dish. If I had the budget to get 5 people Taco Bell at €5 a head, I could cook that recipe twice over and have enough left over to buy a half-decent bottle of wine. I know scale changes if you live on your own say, but that's when you save stuff for lunches, make smaller recipes etc. And I live in one of the highest cost-of-living countries in the EU - is the situation really so dire in much of the US as to be drastically different?
  - jefftk 4y ago
    Your prices are in the same range I'd see here.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    Those vegetable prices are very cheap compared to a US supermarket--like maybe 1/3 or 1/4 the price?
    - OJFord 4y ago
      They look about right from the UK (I'd pay more for the tomatoes and pasta in particular, personally, but certainly available that cheap) - but that has been my experience in US/Canadian supermarkets, that groceries seem expensive.

evnix 4y ago

in Ireland, as someone living alone, I spend close to 40 euros a week. 4 euros for a kilo of ground beef 4 euros for a kilo of whole chicken 7 euros for a kilo of pork and 4 to 5 euros for fish and 2 to 4 euros for rice and wraps. onions, garlic, fresh tomatoes are around a euro for a pack that's enough for a week. 5 to 10 euros for spices but they last for atleast a month. I throw in a few frozen veggies into rice which again is euro or two. I dont order or eat out, I generally do this to eat clean healthy food but the addon benefit is I notice I save a lot more when compared to my colleagues and I generally look healthier even though I eat a lot more.

MontyCarloHall 4y ago

Buy ground beef, beans, rice, and tortillas in bulk (or even cheaper, make them yourself—it’s not hard!) and be smart about planning to use vegetables and other perishables efficiently across multiple dishes, and you’re going to be making Taco Bell menu items at home that are far superior to Taco Bell for much less than $5. Buying hotdogs, buns, and soda in bulk will probably cost ~$1.25 per meal, if not less. You can freeze the dogs and buns; the latter will still taste great after a light toasting.

ilikecakeandpie 4y ago
There's the opportunity and comfort cost as well though. I can definitely see how one could see spending $5 on a box they can grab from the drive thru and immediately throw away is a better choice than going to the store, meal planning, ensuring there's proper refrigerator and freezer space, making sure the perishables are used, and then also taking the time to clean the dishes used afterwards. $5 for a few minutes of effort vs spending slightly less for usually at least half an hour to an hour when off hours during the work week are at a premium can make that extra spend very attractive, especially if they're single
- Semaphor 4y ago
  I can really see that, $5 gets you a LOT at Taco Bell (funnily enough, they refused to load any images till I switched my IP to a USA one O.o). I’m actually shocked how much you get. Here in Germany, McDonalds / Burger King (not sure what other fast food places we have) are disgusting AND expensive :D
  - ghaff 4y ago
    Cheap (and even not so cheap) "Mexican" food in particular is a great opportunity for the restaurant to bulk up a little protein with lots of cheap filler like rice and beans. With a burger, you have a floor set by a certain weight of ground beef. And, yes, while I very rarely go into a McDonald's or Burger King, my sense is that they're not a particularly cheap meal. And the better "fast casual" burger chains certainly are not.
    - jefftk 4y ago
      > bulk up a little protein with lots of cheap filler like rice and beans Rice and beans make a complete protein. You're writing as if people are getting less protein than they expected, but the inclusion of beans means they're probably not.
      - ghaff 4y ago
        You're right of course. I'm just using protein in the sense that restaurants often do to mean x grams/ounces of meat, chicken, pork, or fish. But there are obviously other sources of protein.
burntsushi 4y ago
This is roughly what I do (in the sense that I buy in bulk and freeze stuff), but note that it essentially requires you to not only purchase an extra freezer, but also run it and have the extra space for it. So this strategy does require some capital investment. It's not much, but I have friends that just couldn't do this. (Not necessarily because of the capital required, but because there is just no space for a freezer.)
- mhb 4y ago
  You really don't need an extra freezer to buy 3/5/10 pounds of chicken instead of 1/2 pound.
  - bitxbitxbitcoin 4y ago
    The savings really add up at that 10 pound level. Chicken quarters are still under a dollar a pound at Walmarts in that quantity.
    - mhb 4y ago
      No doubt. But in the context of this discussion, it sounds like, for even that size package, the target audience could make room in the freezer they already have by consuming and not replacing their existing stock of frozen tacos, waffles and corn dogs.
  - burntsushi 4y ago
    Oh okay, you surely know what's in my freezer. I guess my stuffed freezer wasn't actually stuffed and I didn't need to buy the extra freezer. Maybe, you know, chicken isn't the only thing in my freezer.
    - mhb 4y ago
      So you extrapolate, to the general population, your need for an extra freezer as an obstacle to reducing the cost of buying in bulk but your objection to my comment is that it is not relevant to you in particular?
watwut 4y ago
We do cook at home a lot, but genuinely, if I have a lot of work of just have activities with kids outside of home, it adds overhead I don't want to deal with. I am not even sure it is more of mental overhead or time overhead, but the more I am stressed at given period the less I want to deal with counting and "being smart" about buying perishables.

jefftk 4y ago

Our household spends ~$670/month cooking for two adults, two children, and an infant (all meals). [1] That's $5.50/person/day ignoring the baby, and we're not trying to minimize costs (fresh fruit and veg, meat, etc). Cooking at home is more expensive if you count the time of the cook, sure, but not if you just compare dollar costs. [1] https://www.jefftk.com/p/spending-update-2022 https://www.jefftk.com/p/spending-update-2022

DoughnutHole 4y ago
Yea I'm not sure how someone can claim "$5 for a meal for one" could possibly be cheaper than cooking unless you're deliberately cooking something expensive? Now maybe I'm missing some cultural context for the price of produce in the US but for €5 per person here in Ireland I could make an absolute feast. Say I make a ragu for 4-5 people, here's what my shopping list might look like (checking prices on tesco.ie): - Pasta 500g (€0.65) - Ground pork 400g (€3.50) - Bag of onions 1kg (€0.60) - 4 bulbs of garlic (€0.80) - Bag of carrots 500g (€0.60) - Celery 450G (€0.79) - Tinned Tomatos (€0.45) So for €7.39 I could feed 4-5 people and have most of the onions, garlic and celery left over for another dish. If I had the budget to get 5 people Taco Bell at €5 a head, I could cook that recipe twice over and have enough left over to buy a half-decent bottle of wine. I know scale changes if you live on your own say, but that's when you save stuff for lunches, make smaller recipes etc. And I live in one of the highest cost-of-living countries in the EU - is the situation really so dire in much of the US as to be drastically different?
- jefftk 4y ago
  Your prices are in the same range I'd see here.
- ghaff 4y ago
  Those vegetable prices are very cheap compared to a US supermarket--like maybe 1/3 or 1/4 the price?
  - OJFord 4y ago
    They look about right from the UK (I'd pay more for the tomatoes and pasta in particular, personally, but certainly available that cheap) - but that has been my experience in US/Canadian supermarkets, that groceries seem expensive.