My neighbor grilled me over using instant potatoes in my budget soup

I was telling Dave from apt 4B about my go-to cheap meal, a potato soup that costs like 2 bucks for 4 servings using instant flakes, and he laughed so hard I thought he'd choke on his soda. He went on this rant about how real potatoes are cheaper per pound if you buy a 10lb bag from Aldi, and he showed me the math with a crumpled receipt from last Tuesday. Now I feel like I've been cheating myself out of 50 extra cents and a bit of texture for months. Has anyone else gotten schooled on a 'hack' they thought was foolproof?

2 comments

2 Comments

val9494d ago

I must be the only person who learned the opposite lesson. My husband spent a whole evening lecturing me on how my from-scratch mashed potatoes cost three times as much as his boxed ones when he did the math on gas, butter, and my time fussing with the peeler. Now I keep a box of flakes in the pantry for nights when I don't want to wage war on a sack of spuds.

veraj534d ago

Oh my gosh, yes, yes, yes. My husband did the same thing to me about my homemade chicken noodle soup. He sat there with a calculator and broke down the cost of the whole chicken, the vegetables, the herbs, the time I spent simmering it for hours. He said it was a "luxury item" compared to a can of Campbell's. I was so mad at first but then I realized he had a point for busy weeknights. Now I still make it from scratch on Sundays when I have the time and I don't feel bad about it. But I definitely keep a few cans in the cupboard for those days when I just can't deal. It's like having a backup plan you're allowed to use.