What's a "cheap meal" to you?

[elainesj]

i took a recent 4 day trip with a friend and my 2 kids and we stopped at a grocery store on the way out because she said we could save on eating out. I had told her I had lunch and dinner all planned for already and all we had to worry about was bringing our own breakfast. I did mention that I was being careful with my budget for the trip and was doing stuff like bringing instant oatmeal for my kids to eat in the room.

We ended up walking out with $40 of snacks, fruits, veggies, etc. I just about died. (especially since I footed the bill)

Granted it was for 4 of us (my friend, myself, and my 2 kids). But I just about had a bit of a heart attack watching her merrily going through the grocery store grabbing stuff. I should also add my friend is in a very tight financial situation - to the point where she didn't have access to cash for a few days. At this point though, I think we both thought she would be footing her share of whatever she bought so I figured she would be careful with her money.

Her idea of a cheap meal to eat in the room was:
Kielbasa and cheese pitas.
Kielbasa - $7
Baby bell cheese - $5
Mini pitas - $3
TOTAL= $15
er....I could take us all to McDonald's for their cheap burgers and spent $8 for the 4 of us.

Am I the only weirdo to think of food costs in those terms?

To me it felt like she THOUGHT we were saving money buying that but I kept a running total in my head and I KNEW we weren't.

Then there was a case of clementines, a bag of grapes, a carton of strawberries, and a carton of cut up veggies. I had no problems with the fruits and veggies. It was good to have fresh fruits and veggies. although we bought way more than I would normally have bought.

*EDITED TO ADD* What I am trying to ask is: what is a "cheap meal" in your head and how do you calculate it? I tend to add the whole meal up in my head and compare it to other meals. example above or I will say to myself, I can fry up a half dozen eggs for $2, add a carton of strawberries on sale for $2 and there's breakfast for 4 for $4. Or else I will tell myself to find a place to eat that's about $10 pp. Does anyone else add up food costs this way?

 

[Swimalie]

$15 for 4 people is pretty good to me. Think about how much more nutritious the meal was that you made vs eating at McDonalds. To me, you can't put a price on lack of grease. To go with "healthier" fast food, it would be Chick Fil A and that would easily run you more than $15 for 4 people.

 

[An_Island_Girl]

Well... a cheep meal is so different for everyone. When I saw just the title of this thread, I though you meant eating out, and thought if we can get our bill in at less that $100 per meal (before a nice bottle of wine), that's pretty budget for us... 2 Adults 1 child.
If I was to cook on vacation, I think I'd average about $40 per meal for the 3 of us, depending on the protein? We're not a McDonalds' family though, as we like to eat organic as much as possible... that in itself drives up our food bill though.

It sounds like you need to have a conversation with the other family, and quickly!

 

[DawnM]

I am confused.

Did you volunteer to pay for all of it? If so, why did you let her pick whatever she wanted to add to your cart?

If you didn't volunteer, I would have been more inclined to grab what I picked out and put it on the belt and then stick a divider stick up and say something like, "The rest is yours!"

Dawn

 

[daisyduck123]

A cheap meal for us in WDW is eating at Beaches & Cream.

We do not/have not, ever had a meal in our villa. We do the DP & have a TIW card, & eat TS meals every day at dinnertime.

We have counter-service for lunch & Beaches & Cream (or Hurricane Hannah's) is probably the cheapest we've done.

 

[leight]

I can't ever imagine spending that on breakfast for my family except at a resort! I don't particularly think that kielbasa is a very nutricious breakfast and you could have gotten sausage mcmuffins from the dollar menu at McD's for cheaper. I agree with you- although I would encourage buying fruits to help bridge a nutritional gap at breakfast -this was a bit more $ than I would have been willing to spend.

 

[vicki_c]

Could it be done cheaper or healthier - sure. But $40 is not for one breakfast like some seem to be reacting to. You said you were there for 4 days with 2 adults and 2 kids. That doesn't seem like much money to me, unless I'm misunderstanding the original post. $10/day to feed 4 people breakfast.

I think the Beaches & Cream comment is so funny - we went in there a few trips ago and it was $86! But that was burgers & fries for 4, plus we each had a dessert. I can definitely eat cheaper than that at WDW!

 

[juliebean]

I would have bought a lot of other things besides either the kielbasa or the McD's honestly. It so easy to be thoughtful about meal planning and spend less than $5-$10 a meal, even on vacation - if you choose.

It sounds like you have a couple of issues though - who's paying, how your friend does or doesn't spend her money, what you are eating...

We vacation with friends every year and the deal is we alternate paying for the house and food. It's not at all even - the rent is way more, but it evens out over the years.

 

[Marionnette]

i took a recent 4 day trip with a friend and my 2 kids and we stopped at a grocery store on the way out because she said we could save on eating out. I had told her I had lunch and dinner all planned for already and all we had to worry about was bringing our own breakfast. I did mention that I was being careful with my budget for the trip and was doing stuff like bringing instant oatmeal for my kids to eat in the room.

We ended up walking out with $40 of snacks, fruits, veggies, etc. I just about died. (especially since I footed the bill)

Granted it was for 4 of us (my friend, myself, and my 2 kids). But I just about had a bit of a heart attack watching her merrily going through the grocery store grabbing stuff. I should also add my friend is in a very tight financial situation - to the point where she didn't have access to cash for a few days. At this point though, I think we both thought she would be footing her share of whatever she bought so I figured she would be careful with her money.

Her idea of a cheap meal to eat in the room was:
Kielbasa and cheese pitas.
Kielbasa - $7
Baby bell cheese - $5
Mini pitas - $3
TOTAL= $15
er....I could take us all to McDonald's for their cheap burgers and spent $8 for the 4 of us.

Am I the only weirdo to think of food costs in those terms?

To me it felt like she THOUGHT we were saving money buying that but I kept a running total in my head and I KNEW we weren't.

Then there was a case of clementines, a bag of grapes, a carton of strawberries, and a carton of cut up veggies. I had no problems with the fruits and veggies. It was good to have fresh fruits and veggies. although we bought way more than I would normally have bought

$15 to feed 4 people a meal IS cheap, IMO.

I just spent close to $40 at the grocery store this morning and what did I get? Two pounds of strawberries, a pint of blueberries, 3 pounds of bananas, a pound of margarine, 4 boxes of Trail Mix Crunch cereal, two bags of cherry essence prunes and a 5 ounce bag of pecans. And aside from the margarine and the pecans, which I got for tonight's salad, everything else will be consumed by my just husband in a week or less. And it's not the sum total of what he will eat! (No, he's not a large man.) My point is that if you want to eat healthy food, you need to pony up a few Andy Jacksons.

As long as the food was eaten and not tossed out, I don't see anything on the list that was extravagant. If the amount of food and the cost was an issue for you then you should have spoken up in the grocery store. But it sounds like your family ate the things that you bought so I would just chalk it up to experience and remember to make sure that I was more emphatic about how I was going to spend my money on a shared trip.

 

[elainesj]

At that time we both thought we would split but she asked me to spot her as she didn't have the cash that day. By the next day, I told her not to worry and that I would cover that just like I covered everything else. I knew money was very tight for her (to the point where she didn't even always have $20 to spare).

This was a "budget" trip and I guess it just drove home to me that when I talk budget, it's not the same in other people's minds.

and no, I don't consider kielbasa particularly nutritious LOL - I would consider that similar to eating at McD's! And like I said, the fruits and veggies were fine by me...although I would gravitate towards whatever is on sale and she just grabbed whatever she saw - VERY different shopping methods! $40 for 4 days of breakfast and snacks to eat IN THE ROOM just seemed a little much to me.

Overall, it didn't matter really. Spent quite a bit more on the trip than I had planned for - but I was happy I was able to take my friend out for a good time. She rarely gets to do trips like that these days.

E

 

[ajk912]

Yeah, I would have picked up a bag of whole wheat bread for $3 a jar of pb for $2, a box of squeezable jelly $2. The clementines are still fine, so what, $4 a bag? Add in a couple boxes of nature valley granola bars, so $5, and a can of cashews, $4. Yeah, I just "spent" $20 and my money went a lot farther.

It might be best to make a shopping list BEFORE shopping with her, and say you guys are going to stick to the list you agreed on.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

when we grab food for the room for breakfast @ WDW we typically buy yogurt or greek yogurt, bananas, apples and granola bars. We spend about $20 for breakfast items for the 9 or 10 days we're there.

 

[luvmy3]

At that time we both thought we would split but she asked me to spot her as she didn't have the cash that day. By the next day, I told her not to worry and that I would cover that just like I covered everything else. I knew money was very tight for her (to the point where she didn't even always have $20 to spare).

This was a "budget" trip and I guess it just drove home to me that when I talk budget, it's not the same in other people's minds.

and no, I don't consider kielbasa particularly nutritious LOL - I would consider that similar to eating at McD's! And like I said, the fruits and veggies were fine by me...although I would gravitate towards whatever is on sale and she just grabbed whatever she saw - VERY different shopping methods! $40 for 4 days of breakfast and snacks to eat IN THE ROOM just seemed a little much to me.

Overall, it didn't matter really. Spent quite a bit more on the trip than I had planned for - but I was happy I was able to take my friend out for a good time. She rarely gets to do trips like that these days.

E

If you break it down, its $10 per person per, 2 of them adults day for snacks and breakfast, I think thats pretty cheap. Sure you could have gone cheaper, buying fruit on sale, or splitting a box of cereal and some milk but I dont think $40 is outrageous for what you got for the amount of people it was supposed to feed.

 

[Swimalie]

and no, I don't consider kielbasa particularly nutritious LOL - I would consider that similar to eating at McD's!


E

We only eat turkey kielbasa, which is quite a bit better for you nutrition wise than McDonalds or beef or pork kielbasa.

 

[bdcp]

A cheap meal for me is one I don't have to shop for and cook

That said, there are more nutritious things you could have bought as well as not as expensive. If you were paying, it wasn't her decision either.

 

[Amyhoff]

To me, if I'm on vacation, I will spend a bit more on foods for our room. I might splurge on an item that I really want, that I might not purchase at home. I just feel like if I'm spending less than I would at a restaurant, I'm saving money. I like meals to be special on vacation... even when I'm trying to save money.

I think the problem is that your friend asked you to pay for her "splurges".

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

For me cheap meals in the room would mean eating for less per person than it would cost per person in a restaurant. If you spent $40 for 4 people and the food lasted 4 days that is $10 pp for 4 days or $2.50 pp per day. Pretty cheap when you break it down like that. One coffee out would cost that much. What would really annoy me in your situation is my friend who was completely broke but felt completely comfortable shopping on my behalf with MY money. I would think that if she was asking you to cover her the least she could do is let you do the shopping and eat whatever you bought. She was in no position to select anything in the grocery store let alone expensive fruits and veggies. That was for you to decide and why you just allowed her to take control like that I do not understand. At least you all had a good time because it is things like that that can really ruin a vacation and a friendship. Hopefully lesson learned.

 

[DawnM]

BTW: We spend aprox. $125 per week for groceries, which comes to $17 per day for 5 of us.

Now, I realize that this is because we shop a certain way (shop the sales for the week, buy ingredients rather than prepared meals, etc...).....and I would allow more for a vacation meal where we needed something we could cook more easily.

So, I guess overall $15 for a meal isn't that bad, but I still would have bought snacks on sale only.

Dawn

 

[MomToOne]

I'm with the OP, I think $40 is too much for breakfast and light snacks for a few days. But I'm totally cheap

I would buy a box or two of (store brand) cereal or some instant oatmeal. Some travel-friendly fruits like apples and grapes. Some granola bars or something similiar for snacks. Maybe a bag of mini carrots. And I'd call it good. I could definitely get out for under $20. Probably even less. I usually feed myself and my 10 year old daughter for a week on about $40, all three meals everyday plus 2 snacks for her. I do it mostly by meal planning, buying store brands, buying fruits and vegs in season and NOT impulse buying a bunch of junk. Most of the items the OP purchased would never have made it into my basket - those things are all waaaay more expensive than other reasonably equivalent options.

I would have told my friend "that's too expensive, how about xyz instead?" But I'm to the point in life that I just don't care so much about what other people think of me!

 

[NotUrsula]

I don't think that it's outrageous, but it would seem that the sticking point is meat.

If we are on an active vacation, there are two things that I insist on for in-room breakfast supplies: decent orange juice, and MEAT. If we don't have cooking equipment I normally get lean ham, and yes, it's normally about $9/lb in resort-area supermarkets. I need that protein to be able to put in a really active day, so I buy it, because getting a breakfast with meat would cost me at least $9 per meal if I eat it in the hotel's restaurant. (Turkey would be lower in calories, but it doesn't keep as well with iffy refrigeration.)

Our usual "grocery-stop" bill is around $60 for our family of four for a five-night trip. That includes cereal, baked goods, milk, OJ, deli ham, fresh fruit, some soft drinks, a box of cookies in lieu of dinner desserts, a roll of paper towels, and a bag of pretzels for snacking. I bring my own ziplocs, paper plates and plastic cutlery from the giant boxes at home.