Most NYC Startups are now one month into the entire team working from home. It’s been an eye-opening experience from a cost perspective. First of all, dining out really is a big waste of money most times. Having lived on groceries and cooking most days, it’s incredible to think one nice meal at a restaurant can easily surpass two weeks of groceries.
I know because of my Chase Sapphire dining records. The last time I dined outside was Tue, March 10th, 2020. It was reasonably priced for a 3-course meal and glass of wine, at $85 a person. Prior to that, Tony’s Di Napoli for $30/p, and Fogo de Chao at $61/p on Feb 25th, 2020. For Fogo, we had a coupon, and as much as we all love filling up on mountains of beef, it’s in the category for “nice, but not budget breaker”.
Dining on Groceries
For past few weeks, we have been eating well AND losing weight at home. A typical Amazon Fresh or Instacart, order is $50, but can last a week; two if we really stretch it. A slice of toast with peanut butter consists of my daily breakfast (once in a while I’ll mix in “special K with real berries”). The wife sticks to a fried egg on toast with a little spinach and dijon. Total cost, $1.25 a person? And that’s only because we splurge for the brown, organic grade A eggs.
For lunch, today I’m having 12 saltine crackers from Whole Foods, dipped in a can of tuna (the Japanese type from Sunrise Mart is much more tasty than your Bumble Bee in water). Pair that with two squares of 85% Cacoa Lindt dark chocolate, and you get a total cost of $3.00.
I drink lots of tea, about three bags throughout the day each infused 2-3 times (it lowers caffeine intake while providing more essential water). Call that $1.50 in cost, because I go for Tazo instead of Twinnings / Lipton.
Dinner can be more tricky – drumsticks are always a bargain (makes me realize what a markup Bonchon charges). But if you want a non-chicken protein, it will get costly. Ribeye and salmon probably can’t be had for less than $12 a pound, and even split two ways, that eclipses the other meals. We will throw in pastas and veggies on the side, for a total cost of $5-10 a person.
Why Dine Out?
Ok, even if you aren’t practicing extreme frugality, one Fogo can still counter multiple days of cooking at home. And in a moment of true cost savings, it’s possible to have breakfast all day every day, keeping it reasonably nutritious for $3 a meal.
But dining out is supposed to be an experience. You are paying to rent the venue and expertise of the chef and staff. You are adding a memorable night to your life, so they say. I guess when I dine out in the future, I will ensure that it’s actually more enjoyable than my home concoctions. Too many times, I prefer the food I make at home!
Delivery In?
Now we move to the next weird category. Delivery is not supposed to be much of a budget breaker, but these days I’ve seen Doordash bills approaching the same $70 mark for two people. And here the experience is almost always non-existent. The only experience comes from feeling I was ripped off when I eat the mediocre food.
Fast Takeout
It all makes me wonder if the fast takeout category is the sweet spot. I’m not talking about 99 cent pizza or McDonalds (although they have merits). Expand your budget to $12 meals and you get plenty of variety – Sophie’s, Panera Bread, Bento Boxes at Zaiya. It’s not the cheapest, but you should never tire of the options. Why pay $35 for something just as enjoyable as $12?
Office Space?!?
Anyway, this was a long-winded way to get back to the office space topic. Now that we’ve all worked from home for a month, does it seem like having an office for everyone is a huge waste of money?
