With the easy accessibility of fast food these days, you may be wondering if it is worth your health and budget. The debate between budget and the effects on your health regarding food has been going on for decades. Having to choose one or the other can be an arduous process that may strain your wallet or on your health.
The decision between fast food and grocery shopping depends on a couple of factors. How many people are eating the food, and what you are eating? These two factors can help settle this debate with a little bit of research. Ultimately if you are only feeding one person, fast food can be a cheaper option. But when feeding a family, grocery shopping is less expensive per portion.
To save on your budget and be healthy, you need to determine the factors that underline your decision making when eating. Read on to determine the factors in the grocery store and fast food debate and how you can decide for yourself.
Grocery Store vs. Fast Food: Budget & Health Considerations
When deciding on what to eat, the two decisions made depend on the healthiness of the dish and your budget. Both of these things can then be weighed against time. Time is a fickle factor that can affect your decision-making process when it comes to food. Each criterion can help you choose between grocery shopping and fast food.
Health
When looking at food choices, most people take the healthiness of the dish into account. Calories, fat, and ingredients play a role in what people consider when choosing what to eat.
If you are trying to lose weight or make healthier eating decisions, most experts recommend eating homemade meals to know what is going into your food. You will have a lower level of processed foods in your diet and monitor your caloric intake.
Fast food has gotten better in the last two decades to include nutrition information for their dishes to help people make healthier decisions. One of the best things you can look for is a recipe made with fresh ingredients. Fast food places like Chipotle or Panera use fresh ingredients in their dishes and are healthier options than other fast food places.
Making a meal at home is the best choice if you decide solely based on your health but being aware of the healthy options and calorie counts when eating fast food is a good second.
Budget
Sometimes grocery shopping can seem like an expensive endeavor. The cost of groceries and then having to cook for yourself can be daunting and seem ineffective. But before turning to the advertised budget-friendliness of fast food, you need to take a couple of things into account.
Grocery shopping can save you money per serving depending on what you are cooking. This can be particularly helpful if you are shopping for a family or meal prepping. By buying ingredients for a meal and then cooking it at home, you can save money on ingredients, possible fuel usage, and delivery service fees.
Shopping for one person can be a complicated process. A trick to avoiding an expensive shopping trip for one person is to use the same ingredients for multiple meals. This makes sure you are using up your ingredients, and you will not be throwing away money. Planning your meals ahead of time is critical for this!
Fast food can seem like a cheap option for dinner, but it can be expensive when looking at the cost for each portion. This is especially true if you are buying food for a family. Buying hamburgers for a whole family can be more expensive than buying the individual ingredients and making them yourselves. If you are buying fast food for one person, it can be cost-effective because you are only buying one portion.
It is easy to order food through an online ordering service and delivered in today’s world. But as far as budget goes, the online companies can add fees that can make the meal more expensive than going out and picking it up yourself.
Budgeting for food can seem difficult in the easy accessibility of the fast-food era. Still, sometimes it can be more lucrative to buy groceries rather than eating out for every meal!
Grocery Store vs. Fast Food: Time Considerations
Fast food is a very tempting option due to the quickness and accessibility you can get and eat your food. Making a dish can seem to take forever, but you can make a few things to make the time go quicker.
Between all of your obligations, your time is precious. When deciding on grocery shopping for your meals, this can seem like a time-consuming process. But with technology, you can order your groceries and pick them up from the store or have them delivered. This will cut down on the arduous process, and you can have healthy foods at your fingertips a lot sooner.
When choosing what you will eat for the week, you can decide to make more uncomplicated meals. Some cookbooks and recipes are built around shorter periods. By meal prepping, you can also make some of the meals ahead of time and speed up cooking throughout the week.
Fast food can be a quick solution to satisfy hunger. If you are in the mood for fast food, you have a lot of variety to choose from. The variety and healthy options can make fast food a viable choice when you have run out of time.
When it comes to the battle of time, fast food is the winner, but you can make grocery shopping a more comfortable option if you choose to make meals that require less prep work or your meal plan.
Shopping on a Budget
When shopping, there can be a couple of ways to budget and utilize the variety of healthy options a grocery store provides instead of convenient, fast food.
- Meal prep: Before going to the grocery store, you should plan out your meals for the week. This will help you to create a list and stick to it.
- Don’t shop when you are hungry: This will cause you to be a more impulsive shopper and pick-up food you may not need.
- Use a grocery service: Using a grocery service to shop for your groceries will save you time and stick to your grocery list.
- Buy generic brands: Buying the store brand can be a lot cheaper than those of name brand items.
- Don’t Buy Junk Food: Besides health benefits, not buying junk food can save you money in the long run. If you buy many of these items, you will become used to them and buy more.
These options can help you make more budget-friendly shopping trips and help you to determine if fast food or grocery shopping is better for you.
Which is Better Grocery Shopping or Fast Food?
Ultimately it depends on you. Grocery shopping is the healthier option but can be expensive depending on what you buy. Fast food can be cheap and fast but can lead to health problems if consumed too often. What matters to you will help you to determine the right path for you.
Conclusion
The debate of grocery shopping vs. fast food will be ongoing for years. Technology has made food more easily accessible on both sides of the argument. Now that you have all the facts you can decide for yourself!
Sources:
https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/menus/how-much-can-you-save-by-not-eating-fast-food.htm
https://www.foodnetwork.com/healthyeats/2012/06/does-healthy-food-cost-more-than-junk-food
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/19-ways-to-eat-healthy-on-a-budget#TOC_TITLE_HDR_16