In the UK alone, food costs are associated with nearly 10% of our weekly expenses according to the latest report by the Office for National Statistics.
According to this report, out of the average £554.20 we spend every week, £58.00 are headed towards food and non-alcoholic drinks costs. The chart below shows that our food and groceries is the fifth most expensive item in our expenses list.
Looking a bit further to the right of this chart, Restaurants and hotels are sixth. And here is where the fun starts. We wouldn’t be expecting the Office for National Statistics to present us with anything but the numbers, however we would expect someone to point out how insanely high this number is!
for every fiver you spend, 1 of it goes through your tummy
So, the total spent on Restaurants and hotels is approximately £50 per week. If you are a data geek like me, you might want to download the full report and you can find out the true number of what we spend on food every week. These £50 per week, include around £39 on takeaways, restaurant meals, drinks and canteens.
In this case, allow me to say that the true total amount of money spent on food would be close to a round £100!
Yes, this means that for every fiver you spend, 1 of it goes through your tummy.
Takeaways and lunches at work are eating up your finances
From personal experience, nearly half of people I’ve worked with over the past few years, buy their lunch from a nearby outlet. Greggs, McDonald’s, Subway, M&S, you name it. Don’t get me wrong, I love a cheeky trip to any of them from time to time but the harsh reality is that this is money wasted down the drain if it’s spent there every day.
A lot of people including me, treat such trips as a treat or an emergency stop. A treat if I’m really stressed about things and want to cheer myself up or if I’m in a good mood and want to let go of worrying about eating all my greens for a day. The emergency stop would occur if for any reason, I wasn’t able to cook the night before.
By taking control of what you eat, you can better schedule 1/5 pounds you spend each week.
It turns out, the reality isn’t as such. On average, what we are spending on convenience food is quite close to what we are spending on fresh ingredients.
Taking control of your life starts from the kitchen
Apart from the positive effects on your health that a home cooked, healthy diet could have on your life, it is quite possible that the same effect could ripple down from your six pack to your wallet. By taking control of what you eat, you can better schedule 1/5 pounds you spend each week.
It really annoys me when so many experts on personal finances turn around and say “Limit the amount of takeaways you eat each week”.
Well, most people don’t see the benefit of cooking for themselves and maybe they’re right at first. This is, after all, a free transaction. People are willing to pay a little more for food, in exchange for all the time required to prepare, cook and clean, schedule their shopping and do it. And, in extreme cases, I totally agree that this a perfectly reasonable argument.
But if you think that your food bills could be a little bit lower or that your diet could do with something a little bit different than sausage rolls, you’re at the right place.
If you want to be able to do that, you need the following basic skills
- Counting (ingredients and adding costs)
- Reading (recipes and labels at the supermarket)
- Motor skills (for putting the ingredients in pans and pots)
Think you tick all three boxes? Then you can learn how to cook. Basics, at first and time will work to your advantage. You can only get better at this!
So, yeah, this is going to require some effort on your behalf at first. But the reward of taking back control of your life, is priceless.
The next step
Well, instead of starting to watch videos by Gordon Ramsey or Jamie Oliver on YouTube before you get yourself working in the kitchen ask yourself the following questions. These are the same questions I asked myself before I started cooking, many years ago!
- What are your favourite foods?
- How would you like to make them better/different?
Once you’ve got them, find out how you could make them at home. Let’s get started then!
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