Love how even the examples make no sense, Like $130 for a week and a half is what like $12 a day? Like what even is a fancy soda or drink in this example? and for a 10 or 11 day stretch $35 on protein bars is the cost of a coffee a day. Hell I wish I could feed myself for only $12 a day.
"Gen Z, meanwhile, said they often choose high-quality snacks and beverages, which makes for expensive grocery bills.
One 23-year-old Gen Zer told Business Insider by text that he spends about $130 on groceries for a week and a half. "Fancy sodas and drinks" and "random snacks at Trader Joe's" account for the bulk of the bill. He also said he spends about $35 on protein bars."
From the article it doesn't seem like anyone failed to recognize sarcasm. It mentions how times are tough so the "splurge" target is much more mundane and low-cost.
The author of this article would just love my friend. Total trendsetter. Last I saw her, she had this bald look going, looked sick af. But I guess it's super trendy to splurge on drugs now. How last month she spent like 90% of her paycheck on some new type of chemotherapy pills? Like whoa, bitch, leave some for the rest of us. You know? Typical Cancer.
“Younger generations spend more on groceries than on other categories”
Maybe because the price of groceries and rent has gone up so much that there’s nothing left for anything else? I thought when the price of foods starts going up, that’s when societies typically start seeing riots as people are basically at the end of their rope at that point.
Man they really tried telling us that rent or mortgage should only be 30% of your monthly income if you have a really nice place and then turned around and got confused that we are complaining that even if you make $100,000 in most cities that still puts rent near 50% of your take home paycheck.
And now food is taking up more of the rest of a paycheck. But hey we just complain to much as the younger generations I guess because there is never anything to fix. It's all perfect except for brown people or lesbians or some shit.
But the prices aren't impossible yet and people aren't starving just not eating well.
I splurged on spring onions last week even though I knew I was only going to use half of them before they started withering and turning slimy. I know I am a typical wasteful millennial, and promise not to buy any more spring onions until next month.
Get a jar and put the spring onions bottom down and add a little bit of water every couple of days dumping any left as needed and they should last for weeks.
That or you could wrap them in paper towel and a plastic bag. I also don't cook with them often enough but make a couple dishes that really need them.
You can also chop them up and put them in an ice cube tray, cover with water and freeze. They won't be crunchy, but they're fine for cooking (if you don't cover with water they turn black and dehydrated and are gross when thawed).
With the cost of groceries these days this is the only feasting many can afford. (And I would say there are a lot more dystopian concerns then business insider)
People, learn from your ancestors.
I know this sucks, it really does, but our cooks from 100+ years ago had figured depression era cooking in a food scarce world and it does help to add those skills and recipes to your ammo against starvation.
Every country has truly poor cuisine too so there's something for everyone. And potato flakes sold in the box should be your friend.
Mexican: try chilaquiles and enchiladas can be made with lots of different ingredients for cheap
European: Eggs tomatoes and cheese (it's polish depression dish and one of my favorites), shepherds pie, and potato cakes (can stuff them or add chicken and peppers)
Pasta: imitation crab and veggies white wine pasta. Trust me it's delicious and cheap as hell, I recommend as a splurge get raviolis to serve on.
Soups: egg drop, bean, heck a nice pumpkin stout stew can be cheap and let you use cheap beef.
Rice: I mean base staple by nature but cook it with broth or spices, fry an omelette for on top like in Japan and add garlic and carrot. Don't be afraid of pokebowl type meals of just what you have in the fridge thrown on top like shredded chicken and cabbage but try to save some budget for nice soy sauce or garlic chili oil.
I am also a huge proponent of quick risotto since it also uses lots of cheap ingredients well. Mushroom and miso is amazing.
Good luck out there, and if you struggle with cooking it's ok. We all do and we all ruin a dish eventually.
P.S. buy rotisserie chickens and use the whole thing by after cutting off the meat throw it in a pot with celery carrots and onion, salt pepper, bay leaf, cover with enough water to submerge it all and you have chicken broth for a week and meat for a couple days. My grocery store even sells the day old ones for half price in a cooler next to the fried chicken.
These have tripled in cost in the last 5 years here. I can cook (enjoy it as well) and I think a lot of people commenting can as well. The issue is the tips you are giving don't change the base cost of ingredients. Rice and beans for example have doubled in price here, flour went from $2 to $12, Veg of any sort has at least doubled and eggs are no longer cheap. This year they are calling for a drought and I don't know if I will be able to grow as much veg in my garden.
The example in the "article" is a bit over $10 a day, that is not eating out or over spending. The only food still cheap is junk.
Yup. It's bad and you have to work with less ingredients. It doesn't change my tips just makes it harder to buy then on a whim and you really need to stretch them.
Eggs are cheap compared to other ingredients still. Even if they are not dirt cheap. I don't think I can get that much weight of protein for a similar price in anything else other than tofu. And I leave out telling people what veggies to use because honestly it's whatever is in season and cheap cause it's bad and gonna likely get worse.
They are suggestions of dishes that can be made with few ingredients for those that have to get calories and with the knowledge that unfortunately premade food is often even more outrageous. And even inflated costs comes out cheaper.
I'm aware of how much the price went up cause I have been making these dishes the whole time and what was once just general frugality has become necessary cost savings but it works.
The article is bullshit and from a stupid perspective, but also breaking down pricing from the whole dish to per person serving is very different. And you can stretch more filling foods into more servings.
Oh no. I provided thoughtful tips and recipe suggestions in a place where people are complaining about finding ways to afford dinners.
but people just want to be mad so downvote the also poor person trying to help.
Man I like Lemmy more than reddit but it's still filled with some of the most irrational emotional people.
I know people just want to feel seen and seen as hurting but walk and talk. Do 2 things at once and stop punching each other because it feels good, you'll end up alone.
Why are you replying to your own comment? Why are you upset people want a discourse anyway? I doubt not thanking you for your pandering tone deaf comments would be considered the actions of "irrational emotional people".