Show notes for episode #9
In this episode, the Mechanic, the Accountant, and the Economist discuss how to take a bite out of your monthly food costs. We’ll sample a few new beers as usual too. If you found this podcast you’re probably familiar with the FI/RE movement that has grown in popularity recently. Here at the FI Garage, we’re all on the path to FI, however, we consider the RE part optional.
Beer #1 – Magic Hour Grapefruit Gose – Brewed & Bottled in Victoria, BC by Vancouver Island Brewing [0:47] Interesting Article [3:11] A lot of Canadians seem to have stopped investing to pay down their debts by Rob Carrick of the Globe and Mail
How to Save on Food Costs [6:40] Meal prepping and having quick to prepare homemade food available [7:39 & 23:47]Some go-tos: Chili, Chickpea Curry, Pasta or rice dishes, Thai Red Curry
Leftovers and freezering
Buying in bulk [11:18]Costco
Knowing what you are buying costs [12:40]
Shopping with a list [12:55]
Per meal costs [14:00]
Time savings of cooking [15:02]
Having staples in the house and making a one-off meal in a hurry [15:30]Some go-tos: Tuna melt, Breakfast for dinner, Salad, Mini-Pizza [16:55]
Growing fruit/vegetables/herbs [19:15]Aquaculture garden
Being conscious of your food waste [22:26, 24:47, & 49:45]Planning to reduce waste – using recipes with similar ingredients
Using the whole vegetable
Proper food storage
Avoiding pre-packaged food [25:33]
Meal Prep delivery services – pros and cons (the one the Economist tried) [26:40] Expensive
Lower-cost alternative to eating out
Building a habit of cooking at home
Expand your recipe base
Reduces food waste
Expensive Add-ons
Not buying meals out, delivery, take-out, and convenience foods [30:04]
Food delivery services – Marketplace Video [33:20]
Shopping for deals [45:20]Cauliflower Alfredo
Beer #2 – Twisted Stalk Blackberry Helles – Brewed & Bottled in Victoria, BC by Vancouver Island Brewing [35:12] Deep Dive [38:18] How much does it cost you to eat out for lunch every day at work? Let say you buy lunch out for $10 per day every day and that bringing your lunch each day would cost you $5. In most cases, people spend more than this and would be able to make lunch at home for less but we will use these numbers to keep it simple.
This means that by not bringing your own packed lunch it is costing you an extra $5 per day or $25 per week. Assuming you work 50 weeks a year this means you’re spending an extra $1,250 per year because you choose not to pack your own lunch for work.
This may not seem like a lot but let’s take an investment of $1,250 per year over a 30-year career earning a modest 5% per year return. When we plug this into a compound interest calculator we get an ending value of $84,725. Looks like those lunches out are costing you a little more than you thought.
With 9% return instead (closer to the annual return of the S&P 500 over the past 90 years) this increases to $183,963.
Now for something more realistic: we make lunch for an average cost of about $2.50 per day and the most people in our city spend closer to $15 a day on lunch the real cost of lunch may be closer to $12.50 per day or $62.5 per week. This would be $3,125 a year and would hold a future value in 30 years at 9% of $457,408. It’s amazing how something as simple as deciding to pack your own lunch can have such a significant impact on your future financial situation. The value of $457,408 in hours at a $40 wage rate is 11,435 hours of working time, 1,429 work days, or 5.5 work years.
Is this the Latte FactorTM [42:17]
Stupid Money Move [47:22] How Much Money Are You Throwing Away Each Year
Reading List
The Mechanic’s Chocolate Problem [13:33]
The Latte Factor (Book by David Bach)
The Latte Factor Explained (Blog Post – guest post via Modest Money)
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