Tue 1 Sep 2009
Should I Go Back To My Old Ways?
Posted by RichSlick under Money Management
[3] Comments
During my unemployment, I made some cut backs on my normal spending and since I’ve started work again I’ve partially returned to my old ways. The biggest change is going to shop at Costco again for a variety of reasons: they have the best snacks and drinks that I take to work.
The biggest question is whether I should return to a healthier lifestyle. One of the most dramatic changes I made was cutting back from ultra lean ground beef (the 94/6 kind) to a higher fat 73/27 kind. I have to admit, the fattier meat tastes so much tastier and less expensive but so much cheaper. I think the price difference is $3.99/lb for ultra lean to $1.72/lb for fattier beef.
I saw a news report on a woman talking about not being able to justify $0.88 for bell peppers because a double cheeseburger at Wendy’s was $0.99. “Which would you buy?” she asked the interviewer, a double cheeseburger for your family or two bell peppers? With over 300k of income, I never wondered about that until I was unemployed and uncertain about the future. Despite currently working, I’m still uncertain about the future and on the one hand, if I don’t support the lean meat producer they may go under yet on the other hand if I do support them I may find myself unprepared for the next round of layoffs. What to do?
September 1st, 2009 at 9:07 am
My thought is that you should go for what you prefer taste-wise and health-wise over the cost in this factor. I am not sure how much ground beef you purchase, but I doubt it is enough to make a significant dent in your savings/earnings goals.
If, for your family, you prefer the cheap stuff fiscally as well as from other standpoints, there is no reason to artificially prop up the lean ground beef industry. Survival of the fittest should be the name of the game for capitalism
September 1st, 2009 at 3:50 pm
you do realize that the lean meat producer and the not-so-lean meat producer are the same right? comes from the same cow, just different cut of meat. If the meat industry is not selling as much lean meat then they just mix it with fattier meat to make higher fat ground beef.
You haven’t supprted the “lean meat producer” over the past few months, why would it make a difference now?
Mercedes
September 1st, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Not necessarily, I buy organic lean meat from Costco vs. the grocery store. I guess I should have made that distinction in my post. I presume they are different cows from different areas.