Do you remember that really cool recipe you saw on tv the other day? Well, it could be a lot more expensive than you think. It’s important to calculate the total cost of the food you’re making before you get to the grocery store.
You may have recently found a really great recipe. Maybe it was while flipping through the pages of a magazine or maybe it was on the food channel, or possibly, it was your mother-in-law. Whatever the case is, you’ll need to know whether it’s worth it or not before you start shopping.
The colorful descriptions of how the meal looks and tastes don’t say anything about all of the associated costs. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the total costs that you need to calculate.
How Many Portions Will You Need?
This is the most important thing to take into consideration. You may be cooking for yourself, or you might be cooking for a dinner party of 10 people. Take a look at the recipe and see how many portions it is designed for. You will need to take the recipe ingredients and add or subtract them depending on whether you want more or less of it.
For instance, you may be perfectly fine paying $6 per person if it’s just your small family. However, $6 person can get expensive for large parties, so you might want to find a cheaper option.
What Ingredients Will You Need?
Now that you’ve figured out how many portions, take a look at your ingredient list. The easiest way to calculate cost is to go to a grocery store’s online website and look up the ingredients and amounts that you will need of each of them. Some may be more expensive than others, or you may be able to substitute certain more expensive ingredients for cheaper ones to adjust the cost.
How Will You Get The Ingredients?
This cost shouldn’t be left out. This is essentially your personal labor or the labor of the person who you send to pick up the ingredients. Factor in how long it will take them to drive to the store, shop there and then return home. Then factor in how much gas will need to be used and what, if any, tolls that you will have to pay on the road. In some cases, it might add up to another $10 on your final cost.
How To Get The Cost Per Person for a Meal
Now that you’ve gotten all of those ingredients and have the receipt in-hand, add this number onto your other expenses. Then take the number of guests that you’ll be having over and divide the food cost by the number of people. Then you will be able to see how much money’s worth of food that each person ate.
Final Thoughts
Now you know how to calculate the food cost for a recipe, you should take time to record this number every day for every meal. Over the course of a month or so, you’ll have enough data to figure out exactly how much money that your family is spending on food each month. This can be incredibly helpful for budgeting purposes, and can even get you a great tax deduction at the end of the year.
Founder Dinis Guarda
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