It's no secret that food is expensive in NYC. Probably more expensive than anywhere else in the country. My boyfriend and I don't go out to dinner without spending $100 or more, and sites like Midtown Lunch that focus on cheap options end up profiling a whole lot of street vendors who offer neither ambiance nor service. Even when we order in, we easily spend $40 with tip.
So I tried to go grocery shopping Monday night. I stuck to the outside aisles for fresh ingredients like they tell you to, venturing into the other areas only for condiments and a box of cereal for my carb-lovin' boyfriend. I bought:
green peppers
red onions
whipping cream
unsweetened almond milk
turkey breast
chicken breasts
dark chocolate
cream cheese
hot dogs
butter
baking cocoa
cereal
eggs
herb salad
bacon bits
spicy ranch salad dressing
mayonnaise
mustard
And do you know how much my bill was?
EIGHTY-EIGHT DOLLARS. And that doesn't include any of what I'll spend on lunch at work this week.
Clearly that's cheaper than the $40 my boyfriend was spending on us every night, but it's still oppressively high, and now it makes sense to me that people talk about being too poor to afford eating well. When I was at my poorest, which was naturally in college, I was living on all-carb Pasta Roni. (Not ramen, mind you, because I had class.) And I was buying it in Ohio, where everything is so inexpensive it hurts me to think about it now.
And of course my immediate thought was that I could buy a whole lot more clothes and ebooks and movie tickets if I stuck to cans of Chef Boyardee. I don't want to have to choose between eating what's good for my body and saving money, because I'll almost always make the wrong choice.
This is also a problem for me when it comes to eating out. With everything being so expensive here, I want the most delicious thing possible for my dollar. When I see a salad costing $12 right next to a breaded buffalo chicken sandwich with fries for $10, it's an easy choice. And even if that sandwich is $14 instead, it's well worth that extra $2 for me to get the dish I'll really enjoy, even though I know the salad's much better for me in the long run.
Every meal is a decision to change my life, and it's never an easy one.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
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Lucy · 763 weeks ago
And your right - the price of eating better is way too high. It's a shame really.
plumpdumpling 64p · 763 weeks ago
A friend was telling me the other day that Americans make far more money than people in other countries yet spend as much as 10% less on groceries. I was shocked . . . and then I found out it's because we spend all of our money in restaurants.
Kim · 763 weeks ago
plumpdumpling 64p · 762 weeks ago
I don't know anyone who doesn't buy lunch every day, but I work with all men. Is that not common here and I just didn't know it?
Grace2882 · 763 weeks ago
Do you have an aldi's near you? I love their cream cheese and cheeses. I also stockpile my meat from there as well. I prepare a weeks worth of breakfasts on the weekend and then just drop my breakfast into my lunch bag and eat it when I get to work. I also take my lunch. Today I had leftover steak from this past weekend, sliced cucumbers, a low carb yogurt and piece of low carb sugar free coconut cake. Look at this cake and tell me what you think. http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn18/Tolepb/DS...
It takes planning but you can get your grocery bill if you play around with it a bit. I would be happy to help you.
Tracey · 763 weeks ago
plumpdumpling 64p · 762 weeks ago
I did find that FreshDirect will deliver the same foods for about $30 less than I spent at the grocery store, though, so I might have to start using them.
I also spend most of my time at my boyfriend's apartment, and he has one of those classic Manhattan apartments with only a half-refrigerator that doesn't freeze things, so bulk meat would never work for me. Ohhhh, New York.
Bachelor Girl · 763 weeks ago
(Breakfasts consist of energy bars and yogurt, not eggs and bacon. We're too lazy to get up in time to make and/or eat breakfast before work.)
Then again, I imagine homemade lunches are a little trickier if you're a low-carb eater.
plumpdumpling 64p · 762 weeks ago
The problem is that lugging a lunch on the subway every day is annoooooying. I need one hand to hold on and one hand for my Kindle, and I'm not into the whole back-breaking giant handbag thing. I sometimes bring a bag full of stuff on Mondays to last me through the week, but that means I have to, you know, actually lug it around and make people mad on the subway because of the space it's taking up. If I could just toss my lunch into the back seat of my car every morning, it'd be a different story.
Clearly, we should all just work from home.
Tracey · 762 weeks ago
I do think low carb lunch-packing can be easy in some ways, but it's still not as simple as throwing a sandwich, a soda, and a Little Debbie in a lunch sack the way Dan does most days. Except for cheese sticks and packets of nuts, there aren't very many pre-packaged options for us.
plumpdumpling 64p · 762 weeks ago
I had meatball parmigiana from a local place for lunch today and felt totally bad about it (even though it was delicious OMG), because like you, I don't want to start adding in BFC-approved items until I've dropped some tonnage.
Tracey · 762 weeks ago
I think where I get in trouble most is when I let one bad meal turn into a BUNCH in a row, because I start thinking that it will be so long before I can have these delicious things again that I have to get my hands on a bunch of carby stuff before I go back to being perfect. But that's also when the weight goes on and when I start feeling physically awful.
As long as I can get right back on track tomorrow morning and stay there for a few more days, I think I'll be okay.
Tracey · 763 weeks ago
I know supporting the Mom and Pop stores is the morally sound decision, but I can't help myself. When I have 4 giant grocery chains within driving distance, all with a combination of everyday low prices, store savings cards, cheaper store brands, double coupon days, and/or price-matching, I can be sure that I'm getting the lowest price possible for everything I buy.
Eating fresh and healthy food is still more expensive, though, especially when you're buying it for one person. The lack of preservatives means that things go bad quicker than you can finish them, which feels wasteful. And it's hard getting used to heading to the grocery store multiple times a week for more fresh stuff instead of stockpiling cheap non-perishable items you know will last over a year in the pantry.
plumpdumpling 64p · 762 weeks ago
Even without the money-saving, the selection of those huge stores is such a draw for me. Even if I can buy the cheapest of the 10 natural peanut butters, I'm happy. But when there's only one option for natural peanut butter, and I have to pay it or go without, that hurts me.
I think it's actually easier to motivate myself to go to the grocery store more often here, since I'm out walking anyway and the store's only a block out of my way. (Although by the time I'm within a block of Kamran's, I'm either sweaty from the heat or shivering from the cold and just want to go home.) I really just need to get into the habit of using the stuff I buy instead of getting enticed by the idea of ordering burgers and letting my stuff go to waste.
mkmkmk · 760 weeks ago
also, park slope food co-op: for health-conscious money-savers, it's a no-brainer.
plumpdumpling 64p · 760 weeks ago
Funny that I wrote a post called "Worth the Hassle to Be Healthy" after this and am still making excuses.