Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

Can You Benefit from a Meal Kit?

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You’ve likely seen the advertisements for meal delivery kits and wondered, can you benefit from a meal kit? For a set amount, averaging about $7 to $12 per meal per person, the meal service company sends you a box with all the ingredients you need for three different meals with two or four servings, depending on what you choose, as well as the recipe for each meal.

Can You Benefit from a Meal Kit?

There are so many kits to choose from: Green Chef, Hello Fresh, and Blue Apron, just to name a few.  You can find meal kits that are offered for vegans, that have options for those who are gluten-free or nut-free, and those who prefer organic food only.

I’ve personally tried Green Chef, and my family and I loved the meals, but we didn’t love the price tag.  However, while regularly subscribing to a meal kit isn’t good for us at this stage in our lives, there are plenty of times that buying a meal kit is a great financial choice:

When You Don’t Know How to Cook

Can You Benefit from a Meal Kit?
Photo by Le Creuset on Unsplash

Unfortunately, more and more kids are leaving the nest without knowing how to cook.  If your cooking consists of boxed macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese, and eggs, a meal kit service might be perfect for you.  Not only will you get to eat tasty, nutritious food, but using the kit week after week will slowly help you learn to cook.  Eventually, you’ll be able to cook on your own, without the meal kit service.  Knowing how to cook is a skill that is priceless.

When You Would Go Out to Eat Instead

When I worked full-time and my husband was a full-time student and we had an infant, we went out to eat much more than we should have.  We wasted thousands of dollars because we were just too tired to go grocery shopping regularly and figure out what to eat.  In this case, a meal kit would have saved us so much money.  While meal kits are more expensive than cooking from scratch and buying your own groceries, they are cheaper than going out to eat for a meal in a nice, sit down restaurant.

When You Need A Healthier Option

If you eat out frequently or dine on delivered pizza or Chinese, a meal kit may be perfect for you because it’s likely healthier than the food that you’re currently eating.  I found Green Chef to be very healthy; each meal had a lean protein and a variety of vegetables that were of different colors.  Another bonus is that the meals are already portioned for you, so you won’t overindulge, unlike restaurant portions.

Can you benefit from a meal kit?  Only you can answer that.  A meal kit service isn’t right for everyone.  Certainly, choosing your own recipes, grocery shopping, and cooking for yourself is a more frugal option.  But not everyone cares about frugality when it comes to meals.  There are times when a meal kit subscription is the perfect option.

Have you ever subscribed to a meal kit service?  If so, which one?  Were you happy with the food and recipes that you received?

Think You Can’t Afford the Paleo Diet? Ways to Make It More Affordable

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The Paleo diet is gaining popularity, and it can be a good choice for people who have to avoid gluten whether because of a gluten intolerance or Celiac disease.

Sure, if you’re gluten free there are many great options available like gluten free pasta and breads, but those can be very pricy.  Sometimes it’s cheaper to just avoid those kinds of substitutes.

Long Term Savings from Following the Paleo Diet

If you’d like to follow a Paleo diet but think you can’t afford it, keep in mind a few things:

1.  A Paleo diet can lead to weight loss.

The savings here won’t be immediate, but over your lifetime, the savings is significant.  I began following a Paleo diet last September, and in the 9 months since, I’ve lost 75 pounds.  All of my numbers for cholesterol, blood pressure, and sugar count have improved.  I know I’ve saved myself on medical expenses in upcoming years than if I hadn’t taken the weight off.

As another point, I don’t know how many hundreds of dollars I spent on Weight Watchers over my lifetime.  With a Paleo diet, I eat until I’m full, and I don’t get hungry again for several more hours.  There’s no struggle, so weight loss is easy, and I don’t have to count calories or points or pay for the latest weight loss fad.

Making the Paleo Diet more affordable2. You’ll save hundreds by not eating out.

Of course, you can eat out on the Paleo diet, but we just don’t eat out as much.  We’re easily saving at least $200 a month on meals out.  Now we go out to eat only when we’re traveling or for birthdays.

3. You won’t spend money on processed foods.

You might think chips and candy and other processed foods are cheap, but when you buy them in quantities that most Americans do, they add up quickly.

So, keep in mind these initial savings once you switch over to a Paleo diet.

How to Save Money When Buying Paleo Groceries

If you do decide to follow a Paleo diet, here are some ways you can cut costs on groceries:

1.  Buy your meat directly from the farmer.

Ideally, you’ll want to buy grass fed and pastured meat.  We buy 1/2 side of grass fed beef from my cousin’s husband.  We get ground beef, steaks, roasts, etc.  The meat averages about $5 a pound.  There are also several grass fed and pastured suppliers near us, and we stock up whenever they have meat on sale.  We have a deep freezer to keep all the meat.

2.  Subscribe to a CSA.

A CSA (community supported agriculture) allows you to buy organic produce straight from the farmer.  This year, for $850 we subscribed to one that gives us 1 and 1/9 bushel of vegetables a week for 19 weeks.  There are enough vegetables each week to feed our family of 5 copious amounts of vegetables and some extra for us to freeze and use in the winter.

3.  Grow a garden.

I like to grow things that are expensive to buy in the winter like collard greens and kale.  We blanch them and freeze them to add to soups in the winter for an extra nutritional punch.  However, grow anything you like to eat that grows well in your area.

4.  Buy produce on sale and stock up.

If you live near a farm, consider going to the farm and picking the produce yourself.  Last year we bought 50 pounds of organic blueberries.  We froze 30 pounds and made jam and jelly with the other 20 pounds.  It only cost us $130.  However, within 8 months we ran out, so this year we plan to buy about 80 pounds to last us through the year.

Likewise, Whole Foods recently had organic grapes on sale for .99 a pound.  I bought 25 pounds and froze them so we’ll have grapes and grape smoothies in the winter.

Initially, buying Paleo food can seem more expensive.  However, there are many future costs you are eliminating by eating a healthier diet.  In addition, there are ways to save, especially if you’re willing to buy in bulk and preserve your food.

If you’re following a Paleo diet, how do you save money on groceries?

World Diets: A Week’s Worth of Groceries

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Ok, so I saw this post over at FStoppers about What a Week of Groceries Looks Like Around the World, and I couldn’t help but mark it for a second look, and eventually an article here.  Click on that link and go take a look.  Look at what each picture contains and then come back and see if you come to the same conclusion that I do.  I’ll wait.

Done?  Ok, first, let’s talk about some “givens” that I found to be somewhat ironic, simply because they also could be considered stereotypes.  I’ll start at the top.

  • Mexico: OMG, you guys like Coke!  
  • Germany: First thing I noticed was all the beer and wine right up front.
  • Italy: Lots of the expected breads and pastas
  • Japan: Fish, noodles, and rice.
  • Mali and Chad: That’s it?

Obviously, there are some things that we expect.  Countries like Mali and Chad that we’re hearing about starvation or near starvation like conditions in sometimes have an obviously lesser pile of food.  Japan is notorious for it’s high-fish diet.  And Germany.  Germany!  I suppose I can’t expect much else from the country of Octoberfest.

A couple of surprises.  I’m a little bit surprised by the lack of sausages in the Poland picture.  For the number of Polish sausages we eat here in the states that is.  (Ok, that’s kind of tongue in cheek.)

Now, let’s see if you noticed the same thing I noticed.  Every single country on that list eats way more fresh food than the American family.  Seriously. Look at that picture.  There’s a little section of it that’s got some produce (a couple of tomatoes, some onions, and some grapes), and another small section of fresh meat.  That’s it.  The rest looks to be processed and packaged foods.  The only other countries that appear to even be close are Canada, Great Britain, and Australia.  Which is funny.  In an ironic sad way.

All four of those countries are usually lumped together as “first-world” countries.  We’re rich!  We have everything we could ever want!  And somehow, every other country on that list eats better than we do…  Heck, let’s look at Mexico.  Most Americans tend to think of Mexico as a drug addled, gang run, hovel.  But, look at that food!  Fresh herbs right off the plant!  A whole table of fresh fruits and vegetables!  Same story for India, Bhutan, Guatemala, and Equador!

Why is it that we all think that produce is so expensive, but we’ll gladly pay $10 for a large pizza?  Or $10 for a burger and fries?  It also makes me wonder just how much of that food those people grow themselves.  It’s not that expensive to start a garden.  Heck, even a container garden will do.  We’re just getting ready to plant out our second season (see season one’s results) of container gardening.  So far, I’ve spent about $2 on seeds.  Buy a few pots, get some soil, and plant some plants.  Fresh produce!

I’ve gotten a bit ranty, but it amazes me how poorly we eat in our “rich” country.  You’d think we’d be smarter than that…