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| Sometimes there's nothing like a good salad |
The Cost of Salad
- Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing ($2.79): .47
- Lettuce ($1.79): .44
- Tortilla Strips ($1.99): .33
- Fully cooked Bacon (12): ($3.49) .58
- Pre-Cooked Chicken Breast ($4.99): $1.25
- Cucumber (2) ($1.96): .49
- Dozen Eggs ($1.89): .15
- Onion ($0.89): .22
- Shredded Cheese ($3.69): .61
- Total Spent: ($23.48) $4.21 Per Salad
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| These turned out pretty tasty. We have left over stuffing for wraps. |
The Cost of Stuffed Green Peppers with Rice
- Ground Beef 1 lb ($3.34): $3.34
- Green Peppers (6@.49 ea): $2.94
- Brown Rice 16 oz ($2.19): .55
- Diced Tomatoes 14.5 oz: .69
- Onion (.89@1/2): .44
- Garlic (3 for $1.00): .33
- Total: $8.29 =$1.38 per Stuffed Green Pepper
Time, Money or Health?
Bottom line is that in most cases eating out and buying frozen and pre packaged meals will be more expensive. So the next step is deciding how much your time is worth. Do you want to pay restaurant and fast food labor for cooking the food or do it yourself? For some it's worth it to spend a little more money and save time but for others the extra savings is well worth time spent in the kitchen. And it's win win especially if you really enjoy cooking. There are some really great value meal deals going on at places like Applebee's and Chili's but overall I think that dining out meal prices and the tip you have to shell out can be a waste of money. The super cheap fast food option can only take you so far health wise unless you spend more money to choose healthier options. The sodium content of all restaurants and pre made food in the frozen foods section is generally way higher so even if you find good deals it's just not something you should do all the time.
What would be the cheapest way I could think of to eat out every day without developing cardiovascular disease? I'm a huge fan of $5 foot longs at Subway and I seriously think I could eat it every day although Mj absolutely could not. If we ate one every day for lunch and dinner and spent $3.00 for their breakfast which is typically and egg sandwich type deal and coffee it would cost us about $56.00 for a week which is $224 for a month. Then, I'd have to double that because it would be for both of us. That's $448 per month provided we spent no money on any other food whatsoever which is more then we normally spend on groceries in a month. That's about as cheap is it could get but it leaves no room for extras and you are pretty limited in your food choices. It's also a lot of carbs, not that I don't do major carb damage anyways! So, yeah as much as I wish it actually were cheaper to buy food out instead of spending the time making it that is not the case so the joy of grocery shopping and cooking is here to stay.
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