Getting More Than You Bargain For

We all like to get our money's worth. Sometimes we get even more and it's not always all good. One area that this idea stands out is with food.

Over the years, my wife and I became very accustomed to eating out and using convenience foods. "Time is more valuable than money", as I used to convince myself. We would pay "small" premiums so as to save time spent cooking and cleaning up after meals. "Who has time to make a sandwich when I'm working so many hours?" The excuses start to catch up to you.

As we are trying to make a dollar last longer, we have looked more critically at the choices we make. Now we are eating out very infrequently and coming up with cheaper, healthier, more enjoyable alternatives.

On one business trip, I was sitting in a chain restaurant deciding what to have for dinner. As I was watching what I eat, I was thrilled to see a heart icon next to several dishes. Wonderful! A "heart-healthy" meal! I narrow down my choices to one great sounding dish, then look at the dietary details. To my horror I read the following: "Sodium - 1200mg". Just great. So I won't have high cholesterol, but I will die the death of a slug on the sidewalk.

I once was prescribed a treatment by a doctor that had me taking in 900mg of sodium. At least that had a skull and crossbones and a very clear warning that if I didn't drink a whole bathtub of water I would surely perish.

I read the details of every dish. I'm convinced they were trying to shorten their waiting list by killing off their customers. They must have had a commission deal with the funeral home next door.

Since then, I have become fanatical on reading labels at restaurants, when available, and on processed food packaging. Read enough of this stuff and you find one common thread. The food service industry, generally does not care about your health, as long as they can produce a food product that has a look, feel, taste and smell that will sell more product than their competitors, at less of a cost.

Let's say it again - most food purveyors are not ultimately concerned about your health.

To add insult to injury, I'm paying a premium for all this convenience??

Let's end this with a couple of quick comparisons:

- A meal out for my family of four, will cost between $40 and $120. For $40, I could buy four 1-1/2" filet mignon steaks, salad, fresh vegetable and a decent bottle of wine. Hmmm - that sticky table at T.G.I. Fridays or home?

- Coldcuts/sandwich meats at every supermarket or deli by us are going for $9-$10 a pound. For around $2 a pound we can buy fresh turkey breast, or roast beef, cook it and slice it, then freeze small portions for sandwiches over the coming weeks. For years, we were paying 5 times the cost, so that we could get the extra benefits of convenience, extra sodium, preservatives, artificial flavorings, artificial colorings and texture enhancers??

Nobody is going to be your advocate except you. Take the time to realize what you are buying. Make healthier, more cost effective decisions. Your life, and how you live it, are riding on it. An additional benefit to all of this is that we are teaching our children to live better, healthier lives, with less.