January 2021: Summary and Observations

Since we dropped (at least for the moment) our meat box delivery, the average evening meal cost has dropped about 20%, without appreciable drop in quality of meat.

This month we did four take out lunches and three take out dinners: Japanese Bento Box, Chapli Kebab Meal and The Country Deli Skirt Steak Dinner.

The averages for this month:

  • Lunch prepared at home $2.30 ($2.95 in December)
  • Lunch eaten or purchased outside the home: $8.67 ($9.48)
  • Dinner eaten at home: $4.56 ($5.81)
  • Dinner prepared in a restaurant $17.20 ($15.44)

Normally the monthly variations are small, but this month, evening meals are down about 20%, largely attributable to the move away from the Keller Crafted Meat Box.

Our most expensive meal of the month was the Bento Box and Ahi Tuna at $20.44 per serve.

This month, lunches at home cost 27% of the cost of eating lunches prepared outside the home. Our evening meals prepared in the home are 26% of the cost take-out meals.

Had we purchased every lunch and prepared none it would have cost us $268.77 per person in January. We actually spent $62.14 for lunches at home plus $34.56 for lunches purchased or eaten out:  $96.80 in total.

If every evening meal cost us the same as our one this month, it would be $533.20 We actually spent $130.45 for dinners at home and $51.61 for dinners out, or $182.06 in total.

We saved about $520 by mostly eating at home, and we have a lot more control over what we eat.

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