this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2026
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money is just a figure of value. your time is valuable. if you work 14-16 hour days (including commute time), time spent outside of work, "working" is not resting.
the amount of people I've seen burnt out as they spend all Thier time outside of work with habits that don't value their own time, just Thier wallets is rediculous. Money will be spent either way, spend it on things that don't result in you being burnt out at 25 and struggling worse.
so spend more on subpar cold food instead of learning skills like.... cooking in order to save time to.. relax or ???
also, you know order food is actually more unhealthy for you. higher fats, sugars, sodium etc... which inturn makes you feel more burnt out, and tired (and gain weight) which then using your justification means you need to conserve time so order more food. rinse repeat.
I see it as a compounding issue of poor health, caused by crap food, causing poor energy for your body then justifying the poor energy by thinking not doing a super simple task of... cooking...because it'll cause more burnout so just order food.
honestly.. I don't see your point. if anything I see you justifying the problem instead of just fixing it at the root issue... the food.
I swear, every one of you must live in a big city and work part time jobs.
my day starts at 4am and ends at 9pm. I have 1hr and 41 minutes between work and commute, to cook, clean, relax and prepare for work/sleep M-F every day. I often sleep 6.5hrs a night, as any longer means I don't get any time to relax after work and do anything other than eat and go to bed.
you keep using possessive terms to imply that "spending money on prepared and delivered food is lower value". when it's not /always/ the case.
it's incredibly frustrating as while I can relate, when I did live in CBD and commute by PT. Grabbing fresh produce, meat, cheeses, grains and pasta was easy. as it was all right there on my way.
but I still spent more than delivery. time shopping, added commute time for added layovers between trains and then the 20minuts of prep and cook time. the 1+hr spent on that, is still less than ordering a healthy meal from a local restaurant. delivered in 8 minutes or less for $12 delivery fee.
sure I could go super cheap and make bargain meals... but that was never the point of any of this.
I said it's not any cheaper to make it yourself, if you count your time involved. I was implying the same quality meal... unless your ordering junk food, which why TF are you eating garbage anyways, I don't see your point...
I'm seriously wondering if half of you are in some midwestern US town with 3 restaurants, and a supermarket. which is NOT the expierence of most of the world.
I do not live in the US, and even where I live, which is a tiny suburb, 1.5hrs direct from the city, I have over 40 restraints to choose from, but only 4 supermarkets in a 38km radius.
amazing you do lots and work hard.
I will always deny and refuse to accept that ordering 1 meal, with absurd delivery fee, tip etc will be cheaper then buying food in bulk and cooking it. you will never be able to math it so it looks cheaper. it won't ever happen regardless how you try to spin your 'time that isn't ever spent actually earning to offset the cost of paying absurd costs for 1 meal vs 4-5 days'
also, your parents never had this issue. your grandparents never had this issue. it seems to only be people from 2000s+ that are somehow deadset on justifying their time somehow is so valuable that shopping and cooking food is worthless/pointless. enjoy spending double if not more on food and complaining it's never enough income.
lol American clearly. gosh, buying in bulk would be amazing. closest to that is Costco, but when you calculate subscription cost, travel involved, and price compare individually it's rarely cheap (I live more than 2h from closest one).
buying in bulk is rare. most things are 1-3 servings at most, even pasta. I used to live in the states and genuinely miss the availability of bulk sizes of some things. meats being a big one. that's simply not a thing here and the price per kg of meats doesn't make buying and storing any cheaper as the price is pretty stable per month. it just goes up month after month...
my grandparents didn't pay $7 for milk and $6 for eggs. they also lived on veggies and butchered meats that were cheap. I have the privilege of remembering my grandparents being around and doing shopping with them when I was young. a month's groceries was $40 and 80% of that was meat and cheese. which I would help them repackage and freeze that very night.
the last few years before they passed they were unable to make by and my parents would often have to share food with them. I don't think many people realise how much things have changed in that regard.
my own parents are now suffering and eating far worse than when I was growing up with them. so I don't think that your point is universal.
I think you have overlooked something. my parents worked 8h days and made 4x what I do relatively to inflation. my grandparents worked 6hour days and made 6x as much as I do relative to inflation. I'm also much older than 2000+ lol
It's not that shopping/cooking time is worthless, it's that sometimes you have to choose between that and essentials, like sleep and relaxation.
I refuse to be like other people my age and rely on copius amounts of alcohol, to offset the stress of life. my time and money is valuable, and if I want to spoil myself on a healthy weekly dinner that saves time, and energy (and often money in my case), to maintain my mental health and /save/ me money as a result. I don't see your point.