Unpopular opinion: meal prepping on Sunday actually made me spend more money on food

I used to be all in on the Sunday meal prep hype. Every weekend I'd hit the store and buy a bunch of ingredients to portion out for the week. But after six months of doing it, I noticed my grocery bill went up by about $40 a month. The problem was I'd buy these big packs of chicken or produce for the recipes, then get bored halfway through the week and order takeout anyway. So all that prepped food just sat there or got thrown out. Last month I switched to just buying stuff day by day based on what I actually feel like eating. Now I spend less because I'm not tossing half my fridge every Friday. Has anyone else had the same problem with the Sunday prep thing?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_kim3d ago

Think you hit on something bigger here. We treat meal prepping like a productivity hack but forget our moods and cravings change day to day. All that upfront cost assumes we'll stick to the plan, but life has a way of messing with those plans.

scott.grace3d ago

You're right that our moods change day to day. I had the same burnout after three months of this. @the_kim nailed it when you said the problem is we assume we'll stick to the plan.