How ADHD Adults can Stop Eating their Financial Futures

You have a food problem. Let's face it. Why else would you have clicked to read this blog post? In this blog, I will call you out (you need it), explain why it's hurting you so badly, and offer some solutions. 

I have a serious question for you. Are you eating your financial future? Are your weekends and even weeknights spent devouring freshly prepared delights brought to you by your friendly DoorDash delivery boy?

And do those freshly prepared delights cost about forty bucks each time? And do you do this about five times a week? So, is the incredible mouthfeel of the food you want, whenever you want, costing you about $200 bucks per week? Is your monthly  DoorDash (or GrubHub, Uber Eats, or your local Italian joint) habit causing nearly $800 to part ways with you each month?

We haven't even talked about the money you spend on groceries. I get to see a lot of ADHDers' bank and credit card statements, and I routinely see folks spending $700 or more per month on groceries. Altogether, we are talking about an expense of $1,500 per month. And this is not unusual for a household of three or fewer!

What is your food habit costing you?

It is costing you somewhere around $385,000. If you invested half the amount of money you spend on food per month and earned 8% on average over the next twenty years, then that is how much money you would have turned the simple (but difficult to do) act of spending less on food into. What would an extra $385,000 do for you? Think about that for a moment. Paint a vivid picture of how your life would change if you could create that wealth simply by solving this one issue. The freedom, peace of mind, reduced stress, reduced relationship troubles, better ability to care for family and loved ones, and so much more could be at stake. 

Okay, you understand your problem and what it costs you. But you've tried meal planning for and cooking more, but it never lasts. You inevitably fall back into old habits. You know it's hurting you, but you do it anyways. You wish DoorDash prices would magically get cut in half; you wish you didn't have the maddening yet fleetingly brilliant condition of ADHD, at least regarding your finances. 

If that's you, I hear you. And I understand. This is an incredibly hard habit to change, but it is worth it. 

Ideas to get it under control

Meal Kits (the kind you have to cook)

I have tried many meal kits over the last few years, and they can effectively reduce your food spending. They are not cheap, but if you are a DoorDash regular, then they are likely far less expensive than your current average cost per meal. The problem with meal kits is that you still have to cook, and it is not uncommon to end up ordering food and letting your meal kits go to waste. If that is you, it may be best to avoid the meal kit option. However, if you find the meal planning habit hard but enjoy cooking, the meal kit may be for you. Here are my favorites.

Tovala

Tovala is the meal service I currently use, and I love it. This may be my long-term personal solution to keeping my food spending sustainably lower. Tovala is the most unique meal service out there because when you get Tovala, you also get a special countertop oven. Then the magic begins. You get meals that take one minute to prep, you put the meal in the oven, and then you use the oven's built-in scanner to scan the QR code on the recipe card and press cook. Twenty minutes later, you have a freshly cooked meal that is quite delicious. 

This is brilliant because you get the best of both worlds. You get the fresh cooking and reduced sodium intake that comes with traditional meal kits and the convenience offered by pre-cooked meal kits.

I believe this could be my long-term solution because, through using Tovala, I have learned how simple it is to make tasty dinners from scratch. In other words, so many Tovala recipes can easily be created using just a couple of ingredients from the grocery store. Once I have a handful of my favorite recipes from Tovala, I plan to reduce the amount of actual Tovala meals I order per week and have the ingredients on hand to make virtually the same meals for a fraction of the cost. If you go with only Tovala meals,  dinner for two for a month will run you around $640. If I've sold you, you can stop reading and try Tovala. 

EveryPlate

If you are serious about saving as much money as possible, then EveryPlate is the ultimate meal kit. With servings coming in at around five bucks, you could order seven meals for two per week for $70. Add on $10 shipping, and you are looking at $320 for a full month's worth of dinners. Then all you have to do is shop for quick and easy lunches and breakfasts, and you could potentially come in at $500 or less per month on food. Another meal kit service at a similar price point is Dinnerly. I tried Dinnerly many years ago and found it to be satisfactory. Check out this article for other meal kits on the more affordable spectrum.

Gobble

I had a three-month run with Gobble that my wife and I enjoyed. While Gobble is far more expensive than EveryPlate, it has a distinct advantage that will help you stick with it.  Gobble meals come with many of the ingredients pre-prepped. This means that instead of chopping up and mixing the ingredients to create the sauce for a dish, the sauce is already prepared. It ends up making the cooking of the meal feel less burdensome. The meals are delicious, as well. Coming in at $12 per serving, a month's worth of dinners for two would run you about $720. If you can make sacrifices on the rest of your grocery shopping, you can still keep your monthly food spend under $1,000, which may still be much less than your current habits. Of course, you could also get fewer Gobbles and buy quick and easy meals from the grocery store for the rest of the nights to keep your costs even lower! Other meal services focusing on cutting down prep time include Sunbasket, Fresh and Easy, and Hungryroot (we tried Hungryroot and enjoyed it). 

Pre-Cooked Meal Kits

My meal kit journey started with the type I have to cook (EveryPlate), moved to the type that had many ingredients pre-prepped (Gobble), then took a turn for ultimate convenience with the pre-cooked meal services, and then I realized I was eating way too much sodium, so I went to Tovala. Regardless of sodium intake, some delicious pre-cooked meal services are out there. And for whatever it is worth, there are low sodium options in this category - I just gravitated toward the less healthy options. This is a category I have explored extensively, so let's get into it. 

CookUnity

CookUnity is utterly delicious.  CookUnity has a unique model where chefs around the country create each meal, and the meals are prepared at local kitchens around the country. This is the closest thing to takeout you can get from a model delivery service. This means that the meals are often very rich and packed with sodium. However, they have many different options based on health and preferences, so you can certainly narrow your selections down to choices aligned with your health goals. I used CookUnity for about six weeks and ultimately stopped because, after a while, eating food this rich makes you feel a bit bloated. However, I think CookUnity deserves a place in the rotation. I plan to mix it in here and there. CookUnity meals come fully cooked; all you have to do is throw them in the oven.   The more meals you order with them, the lower the cost. If you covered dinner for two for a whole week, it would run you around $700 per month. 

Factor 75

Factor 75 is a pre-made meal subscription focusing on healthy options, with keto diets a particular focus. I got Factor 75 for a few months and thought it was very good. It feels like clean eating. They come fully cooked and a sinch to prepare in the microwave or oven. Factor 75 is not the cheapest, with meals costing $12.49 per meal if you order eight boxes. To cover dinners for two for an entire month, it would be $11.19 per meal or around $630. Factor has delicious add-ons that are very pricey, so if you go with factor, be careful with the add-ons!

Freshly

Freshly was the original pre-made meal kit that I tried. It was good. It comes in a bit more affordable than the other pre-made meal kits, with meals coming in at $9.58 per meal if you order at least twelve is the most you can order per week so that you could cover dinner for two for all days of the week but one for $459!  Fresh meals are as simple as heating in the oven or the microwave. 

Discount Grocery Stores 

Another idea to try and minimize your food spending is to do your grocery shopping at a discount grocery store. My personal favorite is Lidl. Lidl is expanding around the country, so be on the lookout! Stores like Lidl and Aldi can save a  lot of money, and I believe they are extremely underrated. Not only are products (particularly Lidl and Aldi brands) sold at prices far below standard grocery store prices, but there is not a large fall off in quality. I find many of Lidl's products as good as the name brand. 

Perfect match for our ADHD brains

Shopping for your groceries at Lidl or Aldi is a perfect match for us ADHDers. This is because it is always a surprise. They constantly have new fun food items, especially regarding seasonal selections. Further, they have the "fun aisles" in the center of the store, where it is a treasure hunt to find new shiny objects at incredibly low prices. If you can divert your impulse to spend on stupid stuff to the center aisle at Aldi or Lidl, then you will get ahead of the game long-term do the extremely low prices. 

Last year I bought a perfectly fine pair of hedge clippers for $15 bucks, a large wooden toy train set for $40 (similar quality and size from Melissa and Doug is over $100), a Belgian waffle maker for $20, and a full size, fully functional wooden guitar for $50. Oh, and a twenty-four case of bottled water is only $3.29. I save $50 bucks on the water a month buying their bottled water. 

There is no shame in shopping at Lidl or Aldi. It is, in fact, a badge of honor as far as I am concerned. It means you value your money and a good deal. It brings me joy to see a decked-out Tesla, Benz, or Lexus parked in the parking lot of Lidl. The last time I was at Lidl, I saw the new electric Ford Mustang. It looks beautiful, and I know that guy (or gal) knows to spend their money on what's important. 

Conclusion

We have a food spending problem. We have ADHD. This means it is not as simple as recognizing the problem, making a plan to meal plan and cook, executing the said plan, and voila, problem solved. Nope. And never let someone tell you otherwise. They don't understand! We have to game the system a little bit. Depending on your personal situation and how entrenched you are in food overspending, you must decide how drastic the measures you need to take are. If you make a good income and can afford some luxury, consider playing around with the pre-made meal kits that are expensive but far less than the average cost of a meal ordered. Consider a discount meal service such as EveryPlate or Dinnerly if things are tight. If you are okay with spending a little extra at first, give Tovala a shot and see how easy it is to make delicious meals with barely any prep or ingredients. Then you must go to the discount grocery store, buy the ingredients, throw them in your Tovala, and have a delicious meal for very cheap. If none of this seems appetizing, then you will continue to throw your money away on food that only gives you a temporary good feeling but is damaging your finances and, let's be honest, probably your health. I'm not here to judge, but I am here to tell you the truth. We all need to hear it. Get out there and make a change!

If you have any interest in exploring working with me, where you'll have a human being helping you stay accountable to your plan and who helps guide you to and through the realization of your financial goals, click the link below to explore what it is all about!