When is the last time you compared the price of those confidence foods that you probably buy, without even thinking about, to the do-it-yourself alternatives?
Every time we purchase pre-sliced or conveniently bagged snacks, we are throwing money away. Let’s take a look at the 3 top convenience foods that most of us are overpaying for…
Chopped Lettuce
A head of lettuce costs around $1.50. Compare that to those pre-sliced bags of lettuce priced around $3.00. You are basically paying $1.50 to have someone else wash and slice your lettuce. Let’s say it takes you 3 minutes to wash and slice up a head of lettuce. That works out to around $30 an hour to have your lettuce cut up. I’ll tell you what, you buy the lettuce and I’ll cut it up for you for only $15.00 an hour. Deal? Think of it this way… you will save $1.50 by cutting the lettuce yourself. If you buy one head of lettuce a week, you will save close to $80 a year!
That’s Nuts!
Prepackaged, “individual”, single serving size nuts… Peanuts, Cashews, Almonds or mixed nuts are usually package in 1-1.5 oz. packages, for a price of about $1.00 each. …so you can figure that’s $1.00 an ounce. You can get a 16 oz. jar of peanuts for 5 bucks (more or less depending on where you shop) That works out to about $0.33 an ounce. Again, a considerable savings. If you are really a big nut eater, you can go to one of the warehouse stores like Sam’s or Costco and buy your peanuts in even larger quantities at an even bigger savings!
The King and the Clown
We all like to hit the drive-thru at our favorite fast-food joint, and those $1.00 menus seem like a great deal, but what is the convenience of that fast food really costing? …we’re talking about the cost to your wallet, forget about the cost to your health, that’s a discussion for a different time.
According to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a pound of ground beef costs an average of $4.24 per pound (I’m sure you can find it cheaper… and more expensive). Let’s say you make 4, quarter-pound burgers from that pound of beef, that’s $1.06 for the burger. A package of 4 hamburger buns will set you back about $3.00, that’s $.075 for the bun. So you have $1.81 invested in your “quarter pounder” (made from real ground beef by the way). Compared to $3.79 for a Quarter Pounder from McDonalds. …You are spending almost $2.00 more for the convenience of eating an inferior burger!
…this little math problem will hold true for every fast food “restaurant” or any food item that someone else prepares for you. You will pay a premium for the “convenience”.
We all know in the back of our mind that we’re paying extra when we buy convenience items and making wise food choices is important for families on limited incomes, but before you decide if the price of convenience foods is really worth it, do a little math and find out just how much that “convenience” is costing you!
If you find yourself struggling with debt or would like to find out about becoming debt free, call Debthelper at 800-920-2262, or visit @ www.debthelper.com.
