What cooking from scratch really costs you each week

The price is not just groceries

Say a week of home cooked meals costs you $60 to $80 in groceries. That feels cheaper than a prepared pack, and in dollars it often is.

But groceries are one line on the bill. The others are quieter.

Five hidden costs

• Shopping. Planning, driving, parking, checkout. That is 45 to 90 minutes for many people.
• Prep. Washing, chopping, portioning.
• Cooking. Standing at the stove or waiting on the oven.
• Cleaning. Pans, boards, containers, counters.
• Waste. The half bag of spinach, the bunch of cilantro, the chicken that did not get used in time.

None of these are scary alone. Together they can eat a Sunday.

Do your own maths

Try this over one week. It takes five minutes and uses your real numbers.

1. Write down what you spent on groceries for the meals you cooked.
2. Time yourself on shopping, cooking and cleaning. Be honest.
3. Add up what you threw out.
4. Divide by the number of meals you actually ate.
5. Decide what an hour of your time is worth to you.

Where a prepared pack fits

A Health On Top 10 meal pack is $159.99, about $16 a meal. A 5 meal pack is $85.99, about $17.20 a meal. The meals are cooked to order, weighed and ready in your fridge. You collect them on Monday or have them delivered across Kamloops on Sunday.

It is not the cheapest way to eat. It is the way that gives you your week back.

Mistakes to skip

• Counting only groceries. Your time and your waste are real costs.
• Buying for ambition. If you do not cook on Wednesday, the vegetables will not either.
• Comparing with a perfect week. Compare with your real week.

The short version

• Cooking at home usually costs less in dollars and more in time.
• Shopping, prep, cleaning and waste are the hidden costs.
• Test your own week with a quick tally.
• Use prepared meals for the weeks when time is the problem.

Quick answers