Enidigm
3536
Yea if you can buy partial ingredients that’s a huge savings. Sliced cheese? Like $3.50 for a package. I love grocery stores carrying big jars you can take and buy by the oz. Red pepper flakes? I don’t want to spend $6 for a bottle. I can buy some for $0.25 from the jar.
Seeing the replies while I was writing that and checking prices, etc. Yeah, you do have to have whatever condiments handy but they don’t really go bad, and go a long way. That said, I don’t really use them, besides the balsamic tomato jam I make during the season. That shit is tasty.
You can get some really nice specialty select sliced cheese for 2.50 at Aldi. And that is the good stuff. Smoked Gouda, or Aged Sharp Cheddar.
I usually just buy the garden variety brand, because, with a good cheese cutter, you just need a good quality block of cheese.
https://www.aldi.us/en/products/dairy-eggs/cheese/
https://www.aldi.us/en/products/dairy-eggs/cheese/detail/ps/p/emporium-selectionsmoked-gouda-and-white-cheddar-d/
Although, cheese is one of the things I miss about not living in the Netherlands any more. That and Milk. American Milk just is not as good.
Oh and Chocolate. Garbage cheap chocolate in the US. You can get good chocolate in the US, but European Cheap Chocolate is so much better. Like Milka.
I think Don is basically right restaurants traditionally do spend about 25-30% of the meal on food.
They are going to get discount of maybe 25-35% compared to what you and I pay for food, possibly less if you shop at Costco, Sam Clubs. I know a lot of restaurants here buy stuff at Costco like Romaine lettuce, condiments and even hot dog and hamburger buns. However, primarily what you are paying for is labor when you eat out. So you should be able to eat cheaper at home, I think the pandemic proved that to many Americans.
The story changes considerably when you talk about fast food. They operate on thinner margins, they have really low labor costs, lots of automation, and buy such huge quantities I suspect they pay well under 50% of normal food costs.
In theory, I guess I could possibly make 4 crunchy tacos that cost $5 at Taco Bell at home for under $5. But I had have to be really smart shopper to do so and it would value my labor at $0.
Back on topic, poor people in food deserts aren’t being stupid or lazy eating fast food. It is almost certainly smart economics.
I am right. This is literally what I’ve been doing the last 25 years of my life. If your restaurant is running FC higher than 30%, you’re fucked. If it’s lower than 20, you’re probably a bakery (technically my world these days).
Good to know that the CNBC show “The Profit” and Bar Rescue agree with an expert, that’s where I learned the number ;-)
Thrag
3542
It’s partly because of the difference in the typical pasteurization method. Try getting what in the states is called ultrapasteurized milk. It will be more similar to milk in the EU. Or even better grass fed ultrapasteurized milk.
I knew about the different process, but I did not know about ultra pasteurized milk. If I see it, I might give it a chance. Thank you for the heads up @Thrag.
On the other hand, I should really be drinking more water.
So Enidigm, based on your posts, do you pretty much exclusively eat out?
If I ever decided that I can’t make stuff at home for less than eating out, just based on ingredient costs alone, you bet I’d be eating out ALL the time. Why put in the labor and such if it’s actually costing you more to do your own dishes!
Thrag
3545
Some counties have shelf stable milk that is irradiated rather than pasteurized. It’s also delicious compared to regular American milk but in a different way. Pasteurization removes a lot of flavor. The UHT or ultrapasteurization cooks the milk at high temp long enough some of the sugars caramelize (or something, not sure if it’s technically carnalizing) and it gives a bit of a sweeter nuttier flavor. The irradiated milk hasn’t been heated at all and has a richer flavor for it that I assume is closer to the raw stuff.
The problem with saving by cooking is that you have to know how to use the ingredients in multiple recipes, because if you want something weirder in a burger or pasta or whatever you either buy a pricier small package, or you risk eating the same thing for a while. Or figure out how long it keeps in the freezer and have the space available. Plus, you really don’t eat much, some things can take a fair bit of time and effort to prepare for what you eat if you’re a putz like me. And some things are much better fresh, although there’s often a few tricks to learn there.
Personally, I found it’s a matter of having the will to try something when I have a bit more time and patience so that you can repeat it when you don’t, but I haven’t learned much.
Enidigm
3548
No, but I can’t walk out of the grocery store without spending $40. It feels like some times I’m spending $40 a day at the grocery. It’s not quite that bad, but a $5 burrito at lunch is about at cost for me. I tend to eat meals that don’t have leftovers and lots of foods like strawberries go bad in about two days at home, so there’s a lot of food churn if I buy a lot of fresh food in advance.
If you’re interested in optimizing more, I suggest looking at recipes that do well in the freezer. Burritos (or at least breakfast burritos) are a great example. You can buy in relative bulk, make like 5-10 of them, eat one, and freeze the rest; they do well reheated out of the freezer. As others have pointed out, it’s likely you can get ingredients for 50% or less of the cost of eating out, and that’s not factoring in tip and already factoring in economies of scale. Pastas, grilled chicken breast with root veggies, and soups/stews are other examples of foods that freeze really well. Ideally, you have a big enough freezer so that you can freeze multiple dishes so that you can rotate. This not only saves costs, but also labor since cooking 10 servings usually takes just a bit more than cooking 1 serving.
At least here in the SF Bay Area, where labor costs are high, I find that feeding our family of 4 at home is usually 25% the cost of eating out, particularly once you consider tip and tax (CA doesn’t tax groceries but does tax prepared foods).
Yes indeed, but not immediate costs.
The easy way now is often the unhealthy way, but it is easy, and delicious.
Alstein
3552
This might explain why I hated American milk as a kid for years after getting used to British milk.
ShivaX
3553
It’s also one of those paradoxical things where the more money you have, the less it costs you in the long run.
If you can afford to buy a lot of meat at once and then store it, the price of meat drops through the floor.
Anything you can buy that keeps or you can make keep, saves tons of money.
Imagine moving into an apartment with an empty fridge and empty cabinets.
You want a burger. You have to buy quite a lot of stuff to get there. And have the time to do it on top of it.
As they, rightly, say: being poor is expensive.
Houngan
3554
Very true. I have the luxury of waiting for sales and then storing large amounts, as well as having the money to buy said amounts. I can pick up an entire brisket for 24 bucks when Kroger has them on sale and make a dozen or more pounds of the best meat on the planet, as far as my taste buds are concerned. Brisket from a BBQ joint runs about 12-15 a pound and mine’s better simply because I can keep it whole for longer.
Good discussion overall. It’s a whole confluence of factors that keeps you eating poorly when you’re poor. You have less time, either because you’re a student who is busy, or you’re working and you’re busy. With the little time you do have, there is definitely the perception that buying ingredients will lead to more waste, and that buying fast food is cheaper, and is certainly more convenient.
I definitely completely ruined my own health when I was out in Seattle from 1999 to 2006. And it was because of a combination of all those things that led to that. If I could talk to my younger self from 1999, I suppose here’s what I would tell him:
- Get a Costco membership. It’s expensive and a huge cost up front, but you’ll end up saving money.
- When you buy basic ingredients like onions, peppers, etc., the biggest obstacle to cooking yourself is the time it takes to chop them. Don’t worry about it. Chop them when you feel like doing it, and put them in the freezer in ziplock bags. That way when you need chopped peppers for a recipe, you have them available on demand.
- Don’t drink soda and eat tacquitos. Yes, it’s super cheap at 7-11 and you get a full meal for $2 every day for lunch, but just pack your own lunch every morning and take it with you, and drink water.
- Don’t super size it. Believe me. You’ll watch a movie in a few years that will explain it better than I can now, but don’t eat fast food, it will ruin your body.
- If a tomato is squishy, throw it away. Seriously.
- Think of all the money you’ll save later in life on medical bills by following this advice!
Scratches head, stares blankly into empty space.
Youth as the saying goes is wasted on the young.
