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January 25, 2019

Being Mindful in My Way… About Money

It’s the beginning of the year and for me, I’m focusing my mindfulness on how I nourish my body as well as my wallet. Yet, as time goes on, these are the two areas that easy to slip-up on when I get stressed or have a busy day. Simultaneously, I can falter in both resolutions as the two of them have a common enemy: eating takeout.

The number of people preparing meals at home is constantly decreasing. In the late 1970s, people rarely ate out, with home-cooked meals making up 82% of people’s caloric intake annually. Moving into the 2000s, people’s intake of home cooking shrunk to only 68% and with the introduction of food delivery services such as GrubHub and UberEats, that number is surely shrinking even further.

According to recent research, people consume fewer calories and make healthier food choices when they eat food they prepare themselves versus takeout. Not only are they consuming more calories when they eat takeout, but they are also consuming fewer nutrients and vegetables according to the study.

There’s no question that eating takeout on a regular basis is detrimental to a healthy diet, however, how much does ordering takeout really affect your (or my) wallet? The short answer is: a lot. One study found that Americans spend up to $2,520 per year on ordering food. It sounds like a lot, but honestly I don’t want to add up my own receipts… I’m not certain, but my 2018 total could be worse.

Since I have goals of eating healthier and being better about saving money this new year, I’m going to try cutting out takeout. Or at least reducing it my setting a max number of times I can order it each week or month. Plus, it’ll force me to grow as a cook, and will mean healthier fuel for my body.

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