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Time For Money

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HistoricFoodie View Drop Down
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Joined: 21 February 2012
Location: Kentucky
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    Posted: 31 March 2012 at 14:23

On another thread (http://www.foodsoftheworld.activeboards.net/the-cheapest-elegant-dish-youll-ever-make_topic1943&SID=4cz746bd8131ab932fbf2f7zd9c42zdf.html) I used the phrase “trading time for money.” Somebody asked me privately what that meant.

Simply put, it’s a way of being frugal. If you have a lot of time on your hands, you do something yourself instead of buying it.

A simple example would be using condensed cream of (blank) soups in a dish. Putting aside quality issues, the fact is, those cans are expensive. So, with time to spend, instead of using, say, cream of mushroom, you make a béchamel sauce and add some sautéed mushrooms to it. The flour, butter, and milk used for the basic sauce cost pennies. And, while mushrooms can be pricy, they’re still cheaper than buying the condensed soup---particularly if you watch the sales.

The fact is, though, there are always quality issues. And if you’re concerned about those, you’ll opt for the control doing it yourself provides.

When manufacturers do cost accounting they convert everything to unit labor costs. That’s the only way to compare apples and oranges and get a meaningful figure. I’m not suggesting you do the same with your food budget; that would be a little obsessive. But you should learn a lesson from the practice: Anytime there is increased labor, the cost of an item goes up, barring distinct differences in product quality.

Basically, this brings us back to swapping time for money. Next time you’re in the market take a look at the prepared stewing beef: All that meat cut into the right sizes and ready to go. Well, somebody had to do that cubing. And that somebody had to be paid. Compare the pre-cubed stew meat with, say, bottom round, or chuck, and ask yourself if the price difference is worthwhile, compared to you cutting the meat yourself---especially since the pre-cut is done from ends and scraps, which means it’s usually fattier and of lower quality.

The ultimate in this is chopped beef. If you really think they’re using top quality meat, better think again. You’re almost always better off grinding your own for both cost and quality reasons.

In almost all cases, it is less expensive to do it yourself.

The original thread that sparked this discussion was all about trading time for money. I use a little bit of money to buy on-sale items, then invest a bunch of time converting those items to useful products. While chicken was the subject, the idea can apply to all sorts of ingredients.

Have you seen the corn they’re selling in the markets right now? OMG! 35 cents an ear. An ear! Come the summer, they’ll be all but giving it away. That’s the time to stock up on corn and other in-season produce. Then you spend some time prepping and processing it, to eat all year round. In this regard, btw, dehydrators and pressure canners can be invaluable. And if you don't have a deep freeze, you need to look into them. They pay for themselves faster than any other kitchen appliance.

Time for money. It can effect all aspects of food. There's a mini-mart chain, around here, that provides this money-saving tip in its ads: Instead of spending $3 or $4 for your morning coffee, they suggest,  pick it up right here for only 99 cents.
 
Frankly, the very idea of paying $3-4 for a cup of coffee is repugnant. But 99 cents as a cost saving step? I guess they never thought about you making your own morning coffee, at about 22 cents per mug.
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