Unpopular opinion: is meal prepping actually cheaper than cooking fresh every day?

Last week I spent $45 on ingredients for a 5-day meal prep and ended up throwing out two portions because I got sick of eating the same thing by Wednesday. But my coworker in Portland swears she saves $20 a week by prepping versus buying fresh each night - so is it really about saving money or just knowing your own habits?

2 comments

2 Comments

simon_davis21d ago

Ugh same thing happened to me. I tried doing those big Sunday meal preps and by Tuesday I was staring at the container like "I can't do this again." I feel like it only saves money if you actually have the willpower to eat the same stuff every day, which I clearly don't.

the_henry21d ago

Honestly, I used to be one of those people who swore by Sunday meal prep and thought everyone else just wasn't trying hard enough. Tbh, I even got a little smug about it on here a few times. But after reading your post and thinking about my own week, I'm starting to realize that pattern really does get old fast. Ngl, I think I was just able to power through the boredom because I was too stubborn to admit it wasn't saving me that much money or time. So yeah, you definitely changed my mind on this one.