I wonder how much they paid someone to make up catch phrases such as “recession pounds.” According to Yahoo News, as people tighten their spending during a recession, they “will cut back on healthy but relatively expensive items such as fresh fish, fruit, vegetables and whole grains, in favor of cheaper options high in sugar and saturated fats.”
It is certainly true that calorie dense, but low nutritious foods are cheaper than fresh fruit and vegetables. That is why sales at McDonald’s are going up. A 7% jump last year during its 3rd quarter.
A lot of my friends switched from eating out at family casual restaurants to fast food in 2008 as they found out that they are more upside down on their homes than they originally thought. My friends often do not believe that my monthly food budget is approximately $240 a month (this includes all our meals and dining out twice a week) for my husband and I.
Sometimes we even get a meal down to about $2 each because a lot of our meals center around rice and vegetables, with meat thrown in as a side. Rice is cheap. A 50 pound bag at approximately $20 which last for 8-9 months. That is how my parents raised 4 kids in the Bay Area with a yearly income of $35k. During the spring and summer, my mom would buy boxes of fruits from the farmer’s market. We can eat as much fruit as we want as snacks between meals. Junk food made its rare appearance once a month when my dad got paid.
Even living on a student budget when I moved out, my husband and I were about to keep us fed for $150 a month. The secret is that we cooked all our meals, shopped at discount grocery stores, and skip the junk food. And we rarely drink anything besides water. It was not until our food budget went up that I started worrying about my weight and have to exercise regularly. The food budget went up when we made more money and felt that we should be able to “treat” ourselves with some junk food.
I personally think that this recession is a great time to think about home cooked meals. There are many advantages to home made meals. It is good for the wallet and good for the waist. But sadly, I think we have a whole generation who does not know even how to boil an egg (my brother being one of them).
Until next time and thanks for stopping by Small Steps to Health.
Photo by: YuvalH.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
and Im not too to far off from your brother our of choice and ease and laziness (or at least as until a few years ago).
You are so right that this time of belt tightening for my family has made me far more kitchen creative and it has been a great great thing.
I did a stint (6 months) of unemployment. Towards the end, when money was very tight, I cooked all my meals at home. It seems that as indulgences go, food is a relatively cheap one (compared to wine, cocaine, skiing, whatever), so I bought high quality ingredients, especially produce, which can get expensive. Now that I’m employed, I can buy the half-decent olive oil, but I still make most of my own food.
Good article. To be honest I don’t even agree with the Yahoo article. How are fruit and vegetables relatively expensive items? I bought 2 large bananas from Asda (a large supermarket chain in the UK) last night and they cost £0.27 (approximately $0.54). This was from a normal supermarket not a discount store and the fruit wasn’t on offer, so it was a fairly standard price. I can’t think of many other junk food snacks that can compete with this on price.
@MizFit – I am glad that your family benefited from your kitchen creations.
@julie – Isn’t it odd what you can live with (or without) when you do not have any money for extras? Thanks for the comment.
@Tom Parker – Free Fitness Tips – In our early 20s, my husband and I often shopped at the local Asian groceries stores. Their fruits and veggies selection, though they seem like B grade (supermarket rejects), are still much cheaper than a lot of junk food. 2 bananas for $0.54 is cheap. That would cost about $1 in California.
I eat less when Im stressed and my grocery bill has heavily decreased since times are tight. i cook everything at home- i cant remember the last time i went out to dinner.
its bad if they are making a name for it…
Kelly Turners last blog post……Q and A: Starting Over After Baby
Excellent post Asithi!
I think it is quite ridiculous that they even keep “feeding” people the idea that “bad” food is cheaper. Many and I mean many such experiments are done by regular people all the time. Buy processed convenience food for a week or buy fresh fruits/veggies, beans, rice (to be cooked) for a week and see which bill comes out cheaper – always the fresh to be cooked food over the convenience food.
Thus I completely agree, maybe people should start thinking about more home cooking and less buying out if they feel money is an issue – it’s definitely the healthier option
Evitas last blog post……6 Optimally Healthy Breakfast Grain Options
@Kelly Turner – I am really glad that you do most of your cooking at home. It would be odd to see a personal trainer talking about eating healthy when they eat out all the time.
@Evita – I have the same conversation about with that co-worker of mine about dining out. He eats out every meal with his family. And I keep insisting that cooking for four at home is much cheaper and healthier than eating out at all these restaurants. So finally we agreed to disagree and for me to come back and have this discussion with him after I have to young kids.
So what I would like to know from my readers with young children – is it really that hard to make dinners at home with both parents working? Am I just missing something because I do not have kids? I can see getting take-out or eating out once or twice a week, but every meal?