Many people would say that buying convenience food is too expensive. I would say that most food is expensive. Here are some reasons why I think convenience food has it’s place even in the most frugal of homes.
- Couponers can buy convenience foods as cheaply as our other foods by combining sales and coupons
- If only one person is eating, then cooking a store bought meal for 1 that cost $.75 is just as cost effective (if not cheaper) than cooking a meal for 4 and saving the other 3 portions.
- These products often simplify clean up
- They can replace the need for fast food restaurants and the environment that goes along with them.
- Ever tried to cook in a hotel room for a week? Convenience food is a must here, especially if you want any time to actually enjoy your stay.
Now, having convenience foods at the ready in your fridge or freezer can be a temptation to, well, be convenient. My suggestion is that you keep them towards the back of your fridge or freezer so you only put them to use when you really do need them. There are so many extra things in processed foods that are unhealthy when consumed regularly, so that’s another good reason to keep them tucked out of sight.
If you are a cook everything from scratch kind of person- I commend you. Friends and family would prefer that I not 
But perhaps you could still use some free mac & cheese and brownies cooked in the microwave in their packaging on a busy night.
This post was originally published on September 9th, 2010.
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