How much should you be spending on meal prep?

Prologue

How many times have you heard or said,

“It’s too expense to eat healthy!”

After today, you will see that is untrue. Eating healthy and planning out your meals is not as bad as you think. Not only can you afford it, but that you have to be able to afford it. The long term health problems associated with poor eating is costing you tons more.

Planning

The biggest reason people spend more than needed on food, is because they don’t have a plan. Shopping usually looks like this:

You go to make food and realize that you are out of something, again, and start to make a list. Usually this list is in your head and is also on top of everything else you are trying to accomplish for the day as well. 

Once you finally get to the grocery. You are in a hurry, have a screaming child, stressful day, or a combination of all of the above and then some. 

You make a mad dash for the things that you can remember. This means that you grab the closest and easiest thing to get to because you still have 10 things to do, it’s 6:33 PM and you have to drop off one kid to go and pick up another. 

When you do arrive home, you are beyond tired, you just want to stop and sit down but now it’s dinner time. 

You grab that easy box or pan of whatever and in a few minutes mouths and bellies are full and you have you your first bit of silence in what feels like days. 

The kids are finally in bed and you collapse from exhaustion and still don’t have a complete list of the things you need for the next day,week, etc. 

Now, if this sounds like you, then raise your hand. 

This is what life looks like when you don’t have a written down plan to navigate life. Life is NOT going to slow down.

If you are telling yourself, ” It will get better once soccer is over ” or ” Once the spouse is home, things will calm down” you are sadly mistaken.

When one thing is over, the next one starts. Always and forever. You have to make a master plan.

There are two other articles written on how to create the perfect meal and another on how to master the meal prep. Take a look at them to get a great detail on how to nail this. 

The cost of NOT eating healthy

Before we get into the financial cost of healthy eating, I wanted to speak a bit on another cost. The most important cost in your life, is the health and wellness of that life. 

Going to the doctor all the time, taking prescriptions and always being sick, is no way to live. 

Now think about the money spent on that doctor visit. Then gas to get there. The medication. Don’t forget the time off from work. 

The average cost of an insured person is $300 dollars and $6,000 for an uninsured person, who visit the hospital. 

According to a study by Kaiser Family foundation, the burden of medical debt affects 63% of people that make $100,000 or less per year. Some are never able to recover financially after becoming sick. 

This doesn’t not take into account that a weak immunity system leads to a breakdown in other parts of body. Like making bones weaker, which could lead to a broken bone during a simple fall. It could be straining your back when picking up something off the ground. 

This list could be endless, so I’ll stop right there. I want to make sure, however, that I emphasis the real cost that is associated with not eating better before we discuss the cost for the food itself. 

The cost of eating healthy

On average a couple spends $625 per month on food. Out of that, 43% of that is spent on going out to eat. $268 is spent on eating out. That is a lo of eating out. 

If you were to take even half of that and add it to your grocery bill, that would be more than enough to make due. 

When comparing the difference between healthy food and unhealthy (less healthy) the price is not that much different. 

“People often say that healthier foods are more expensive, and that such costs strongly limit better diet habits,” said lead author Mayuree Rao, a junior research fellow in the Department of Epidemiology at HSPH.

According to a 2013 study, a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, and nuts—cost significantly more than unhealthy diets (for example, those rich in processed foods, meats, and refined grains). On average, a day’s worth of the most healthy diet patterns cost about $1.50 more per day per person than the least healthy ones.

For a family of four, that means $180/month. 

I understand this isn’t chump change, so bear with me a moment.

The average person spends, $3 per day of startbucks. 

How many times do you buy something just because it’s on sale? How many times do you go out to eat and how much do you spend while you are out? When the bought that last phone case or outfit, did you really need it?

Wrap it up B (chappelle show reverence)

Okay okay I’m wrapping it up now.

I’m not one to with hold things, because you have to feel fulfilled in life.

What I’m saying is, there is more in budget than you think. And if you were to sit down and look at what you spend your money on, you will see that you do have the money to spend on your health. You just have to make it a priority.

I promise, if you invest in yourself, and take care of your body, it will return the favor 100 fold.

Check out this 7 day free meal plan to get some ideas. Look up our top notch habit program to learn how to put everything together and maintain it for life.

Healthy eating is possible. Now, go make it happen.