I
recently sat down with one of my clients for our final check-in
session. She originally came to me for a weight loss program armed
with one rule - she didn't want to cook. I explained that although it
is not necessary to cook to be healthy it is certainly easier. So we
came up with some eating in and out options...she primarily chose the
later.
Then gas prices went up and the stock market went down
and she, like all of us, reprioritized. She found that she and her
husband were spending about $50 a day eating out. Now, this isn't
extravagant eating. It's more along the lines of Starbucks breakfast
($5), deli lunch ($8), take out dinner ($12). Now, multiply that by 2
people and over one month you are looking at $1500 on food! By
replacing those eating out options with eating in they were able to
save over $1000 a month on food alone.
Now, this is two
people and they replaced almost all their meals. Let's do the math for
the average single person only eating in during the week...
The
Eating In food is based on all organic, non-bulk, non-sale, and then I
added a little for good measure. The Eating Out prices are pre tax,
tip, and 100% correct according to the nice people I spoke with at
Starbucks, Subway, and Thai Time.
So even with the buffer, and only modifying your eating during the week you are looking at a $300 savings per month. That is enough to treat your friend to dinner at the Prado and still walk around with $200 in your pocket.
Oddly
enough I'm not even going to go into the nutritional benefits of the
simple switches above, but they are even more substantial than the
financial ones. Instead I'll tell you how my client's story ends. She
and her husband are having a blast cooking and spending time together,
she is moving towards her weight loss goals, and she mentioned
something about a new Wii in their future!
