Why is food so expensive? We consume it and then in another few hours, we’re hungry all over again. Frustrating cycle, huh. When Gino and I were still in college and working part-time jobs, we spent our senior year living in the apartments and had to make all of our own food instead of sourcing from the university cafeteria.
We lived on $200 a month for groceries and tried to find ways to make more than the same 5 meals. But when you don’t have 1) time, 2) money, and 3) the justification to buy a whole jar of dijon mustard just to try out one new recipe, you become very limited with what you can make. Ultimately, this means the frozen food came out and our diets were repetitive and unhealthy.
Enter EveryPlate. This isn’t sponsored, but this is just to raise awareness that sometimes a subscription box can actually save you money. I feel like we’re all somewhat under the impression that subscription boxes are a luxury, or to some people, a scam. But when we sat down, did the math, and also conducted some research, we learned a few things.
- Firstly, no one should be surviving on $200 a month for groceries, apparently. Can it be done? Yes. But painfully. After some research and comparison, I found that most couples our age (without kids, living in LA, etc.) are spending an average of $400–$800 a month on groceries. That’s not even counting eating out. Of course, we’re newly married and newly-graduated, so money isn’t exactly falling into our wallets these days. But knowing that our monthly grocery/meals budget could be extended closer to $300/month seems reasonable to us.
- Secondly, in this case, a subscription box is actually saving us money. We’re able to eat a balanced diet without having to run to the store every week, and we’re able to try new recipes, flavors, and types of food because instead of having to buy a whole jar of dijon mustard that will never be used again, EveryPlate will just supply us the amount we need for that specific meal.
- Lastly, we’re cutting down on food waste. Besides wasting money, wasting food is also just super burdening. It’s wasteful when I have to clean out the fridge every week of bags of spinach, meats, or produce that we never got around to finishing. With EveryPlate, every meal is perfectly portioned out, which means less waste and smarter spending.
Given these factors, we’ve stuck with EveryPlate (the daughter company of the more elite and well-known Hello Fresh), and we’re really liking it so far. The pressure is off to decide what to eat for dinner. Meals are fun to make during date night. We chop and cook ingredients together and put on some John Mayer (basic, I know). Cooking isn’t some tedious, painful task anymore. Fewer runs to the grocery store (we only go now to get the basics, like drinks and other staples). All in all, a more balanced diet and two happier people.
To put it into perspective, if we had gone to the grocery store to buy all the ingredients for meals we’ve tried through EveryPlate, we would be spending closer to $450+ a month. We’re only spending $240 a month for EveryPlate, and then we have room left over for other lunch and breakfast foods we source from our local grocery stores.
It’s a win-win for us.
Here’s the point of all this:
Do your own research. Find out what you care about –– whether it’s locally-sourced produce, ethical packaging, cutting down your budget, having a balanced diet, etc. I know people will make decisions based on the values of their lifestyle: it’s natural to do that. So find out what is important to you and then find a way to make it efficient, fun, and good for you!
While EveryPlate works great for us, we know it’s not for everyone. But we’d highly recommend it for people who are able to sit down and really consider what is actually saving them money.
Here is to saving money, having healthier and more inventive lifestyles, and also taking the time to consider the possible misconceptions that we might have about certain services or products. Had I known a subscription box would be saving me money, I would have taken that path a long time ago.
xo, rachlv.
