- Norco Ranch Extra Large Grade AA Eggs (pack of 18)
- Foster Farms Fully Cooked Cracked Pepper Wings (5 lbs bag)
- Jimmy Dean Croissant Sandwiches (pack of 12)
- Romaine Lettuce (a big bag, I’m not a vegetable person so it is too much to count)
- We are lazy
- We want a break from cooking (because we are lazy)
- We do not have time (excuse for being lazy)
- The idea of cooking saving us money is not giving us enough motivation that particular night (making us lazy)
- Etc (it’s all because we are lazy)
Today, we decided to buy the ready made chicken wings and croissant because we can eat these when …you guessed it, we feel lazy. We plan to still cook healthy meals regularly, but these will act as our outlet when times are tough (notice I have all kinds of descriptions of us being lazy). Let’s do some analysis for a second.
Foster Farms Fully Cooked Cracked Pepper Wings:
This 5 lb bag cost us $13.49 today. Let’s assume that it has 150 pieces in the bag, which makes each piece cost $0.09 (13.49 / 150). Now, if you go outside to have wings (a popular place is called Wingstop), a 20 piece box will cost roughly $10. This makes each piece $0.50 (10 / 20). If again, you have twenty. The comparison of a 20 wing meal is:
|
Price |
At Home | Wingstop |
| 20 Wings | $4.50 | $10.00 |
| Coke | Free (if you can get those once a year rebates from Coca-Cola) | $1.49 |
| Total | $4.50 | $11.49 (not even calculating tax) |
Difference: $6.99 per person!
This is a very simple example obviously, I did not calculate the taxes, the cost of cooking the food at home, cleaning the dishes, nor the gas that I had to use to drive to the restaurant. However, I hope that you see the point since all these types of money saying habits add up. This might sound a little extreme to some of you, but if you ever had a co-worker retire early and you were wondering how at the time, you might want to read the article once more.
I have read countless articles to advise you to cook at home because it is healthier and you can save money at the same time. However, many of us are lazy! These types of food offer an alternative. We still plan to cook, but for the times when we inevitably will feel unmotivated, we can take these types of food as an alternative. These are perfect for lazy people like me, it tastes good and it still makes me rich by saving me money.
Promote or Save This Article
If you like this article, please consider bookmarking or helping us promote it!
Print Post | Email Post | Del.icio.us | Stumble it! | Reddit |
Related Posts
- Being in Las Vegas and not Gamble
- The Importance of Knowing You Are Spending Intelligently
- Woman Asks How She Can Marry Rich on NYC Craiglist
- How to Get Rich Quick
- On Groceries and Food Towards Our Financial and Physical Well-Being
Subscribe! (and Get a Mini-Course with Free Registration)
Follow me on twitter! In addition, subscribe to grab free amazing content or take advantage of the newsletter to have content delivered to you. For starters, a 7-part mini course to help you spend less and be happy will be delivered to you when you subscribe!(Don't worry about spam, because we hate it as much as you do!)
Twitter
Facebook
Subscribe
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Besides being lazy, I think the main reason for my family to dine out once a week is to keep the wifey happy.
Wifey not happy = stressed me = not worth the money.
J2R: That should be the advice of the century. Insightful and enough said.
You make a good point. A lot of times, I’m too hard on myself and think that if I don’t cook from scratch, it’s not worth it. But it’s HARD finding time to cook and clean up having two little ones so I think I’ll start taking a harder look at prepared foods …
Cathy: I think at the end it gets down to being flexible. There are just so many ways to save so no one should stop being creative if one way doesn’t work for them.
I like the 5 doz pack of eggs at Costco… I keep 18 pack egg cartons to empty them into so they’ll fit in the frig. Eggs are about the best protein buy there is (except beans maybe) and ever so easy to fix! I like omelets for dinner with leftover meats/veggies for the filling.
And I agree on sometimes convenience foods can save you money if it means you stay at home.
Even tho it’s only me at home usually, I still cook ahead and freeze for quick meals. Last night I made my version of hotpockets for the freezer. Took $1 worth of flour and 50cents of yeast – all the veggies/stir fry were from my garden, and the elk burger was from a hunting friend. With oil and spices, I still didn’t have $2 in all of it. ($4 if you want to figure the price of the burger). I got 20 hot pockets, 2 loaves of chive bread with the leftover dough, and 3 servings of cinnamon fry bread
That’s a lot for $2 
One bread for freezer and 18 hotpockets in the freezer for quick on the go breakfast/lunch/dinner meals! I go thru this process on a rainy weekend about every 6 wks or so. That’s how I save $$. And it’s so healthy, too!
Laziness is probably one of the reasons I DO cook ahead for the freezer
I cook when I am in the mood for being busy in the kitchen (Not very often) and then I have plenty in the freezer for quick meals without cooking! I try to cook something different each time ‘the mood strikes’, so there is a variety to chose from in the freezer.