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paycheque
(quokk.au)
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this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2026
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I watch my coworker go through the same problem every two weeks. He sits there refreshing his bank app waiting for that paycheck to hit so he can afford some Doordash. Like, dude, if you're going 24+ hours without food, maybe it's a good idea to start buying groceries instead of paying a double premium.
fun fact. if you include your time cooking and calculate the effort and mental strain involved, giving in a financial value... it's not like that $8 premium is saving you anything...
eggs cost $12 in some places still. groceries are not cheap.
Doordash doesn't operate where I live but the last time I ordered any from a food delivery app while traveling it was a premium of about $30 per plate over the cost of home cooking. I feed my family of 4 on a grocery budget of about $500/month and that's without really trying to be frugal
It also doesn't take a ton of mental effort to boil some water, toss some noodles in, strain it after 5 minutes then pour a jar of spaghetti sauce in, which for a household of one can easily make up 3 meals, and costs about $5. Toss a freezer bag of veggies (less than $1) into the microwave and you've got enough veggies to pair with multiple meals too. Too much veggies in one freezer bag? Cut it open, pour your preferred quantity into a microwave safe bowl with a lid and you're golden
If one can afford to eat out I'm not going to criticize them for eating out or ordering delivery on a lazy day, but if they're draining their bank account because they never learned to cook something basic that's something they should probably take the time to learn
You’re doing math wrong to justify shitty decisions.
oh I am? so your time has no value?
there is this bridge I want to build and since you have so much free time and don't value any of it, why dont you help me. since I'm providing the materials making it free, it shouldn't be a issue, right?
The value of anything is relative and only definable against that other circumstance.
Please allow me to introduce you to the concept of “opportunity cost.” Turns out you’re just using faulty logic to convince yourself that a burrito taxi is saving you finite resources.
This entire conversation is frustrating for a few reasons: it’s increasingly common (particularly in online spaces), it adopts the trappings of a logical conclusion while eschewing the necessary underlying frameworks and requirements of intellectual honesty and consistency, and it stems ultimately from a purposeful and willingly architected delusion.
That's not what they're talking about. Time is still a straight line. In the time it takes to order Doordash, sit and wait, and eat, that is still time ticking by. What are you doing in the meantime? Watching TV? Reading a book? Playing a game? Still using time. That time could instead be spent cooking. I struggle sometimes to cook meals for myself and my partner but when I do I have fun. I'll put music on in the kitchen, my partner joins me and we have in depth conversations, and we make something that we need to survive (rather than a bridge, as your example).
Yes, if you choose to factor in the labour of making your own dinner into the cost of that dinner, it might end up a wash. But in terms of actual dollars when people are stretched thin enough in their wallet as it is, it's free to just make your own dinner with what you already bought.
I'm likely making frozen perogies for us tonight. I already bought everything for them. We already have the perogies. We already have oil. We already have green onions and sour cream. That's just things that already exist and money spent, most of which just exists here in perpetuity. I bought the perogies a week ago. The sour cream around the same time. Oil is just a pantry staple so it's always here. So in reality, when I make dinner tonight it costs me, tonight, in terms of dollars, absolutely nothing. No money spent. Just vibing in the kitchen making perogies.
were you planning on earning income during the cooking time? if not... wtf are you calculating a loss is cooking time.
super annoying when people say time=money but they spend most to that time on their ass watching tv.. like sure, you could have made money but you were not going too so don't compare time spent as a loss because... you weren't gonna do shit anyways.
also, it's so you don't die... so ya know... that also outweighs whatever you think is more important
money is just a figure of value. your time is valuable. if you work 14-16 hour days (including commute time), time spent outside of work, "working" is not resting.
the amount of people I've seen burnt out as they spend all Thier time outside of work with habits that don't value their own time, just Thier wallets is rediculous. Money will be spent either way, spend it on things that don't result in you being burnt out at 25 and struggling worse.
so spend more on subpar cold food instead of learning skills like.... cooking in order to save time to.. relax or ???
also, you know order food is actually more unhealthy for you. higher fats, sugars, sodium etc... which inturn makes you feel more burnt out, and tired (and gain weight) which then using your justification means you need to conserve time so order more food. rinse repeat.
I see it as a compounding issue of poor health, caused by crap food, causing poor energy for your body then justifying the poor energy by thinking not doing a super simple task of... cooking...because it'll cause more burnout so just order food.
honestly.. I don't see your point. if anything I see you justifying the problem instead of just fixing it at the root issue... the food.
It's still way cheaper to buy groceries and make food rather than order door dash
it's way cheaper to buy a bag of self rising flour, and active yeast, make your own bread. and grow your own potatoes endlessly from making seed potatoes from half of every potato you harvest.
but litterally that my point, your talking a $8 difference depending on your region between ingredients and prepared. -- delivery fees vary wildly, I've gotten $40 worth of food with a $4 delivery fee... then a few months later ordered a single pizza to share that costed me $50 and a $18 delivery fee, because it had 3 toppings and was Sicilian style...
It's fascinating to me how you managed to contradict your own argument with this comment, that it's actually more expensive to order out than it is to buy groceries and even factoring in 'labour costs' to make your own dinner.
We literally do that. You can grow potatoes in dollar store plastic pots. You can make your own bread and just let it rise while you sit on your ass. There are so many small things anyone can do anywhere to save money. My partner and I drink every day and it's expensive. So next week we're starting a home brew to help cut alcohol expenses.
I'd be extremely surprised to see $12 eggs anywhere, at least not as the cheapest option. To be honest, it sounds like you don't actually buy groceries very much if you think that. As of last week at my local supermarket, eggs are $2.50-$5.00 for a dozen, depending if you opt for the organic options or not.
But yeah, this just reads as a flimsy justification for bad habits. Cooking is quite simply cheaper and always has been. It is not difficult to make filling meals for $1-3 a person (staples like rice and beans are especially cost effective), which is far, far cheaper than ordering takeout from anywhere.
Groceries absolutely have gotten more expensive and it is a problem, but there's no world in which that problem is improved by ordering Doordash or the like all the time.
your litterally commenting on your local area. my local area "large" (which are tiny) range from $5.80(cheapest, store branded, 12pack) to $11.40 (regional mega farm brand, 12pack). [for posterity, there is premium free-range for $14].
local supermarkets stock around 8 cartons of the store brand and are sold out by noon. they often are frozen in storage to extend shelf life, and as a result have terrible taste. I've stopped buying them, unless I'm baking something.
rice per kg is the least effective regionally. it has to be brought in from overseas, it's not grown here. however, it is still quite inexpensive per volume. $32/kg for jasmine.
for a hearty meal of 2 veggies, a protein, and a starch, the cheapest I can achieve locally is $13 for 2 servings. if you include my 20-40 minutes of prep, and 12 minutes of cook time. that makes the meal "cost" me around $31.
time spent cooking, is time not spent doing hobbies, reading, learning new skills to gain better employment or simply relaxing.
I'm not advocating for door dash every night, that's insane. but 1-3 times a week pays for it's self, if you consider your own value as part of the equation.
Cooking shouldn't take much effort or be mentally straining. And unless you are going to be making money instead of cooking than you shouldn't be giving it a cash value. $8 is a lot when when you need money.
You could get at least a full day of food out of $8 if you shop right.
Most things that "shouldn't take much effort or be mentally straining" still are for me and I'm sure I'm not alone.
I deal with it rather than ordering but regardless.
Yup. I'm ADHD and work a rather demanding full time job. My partner is disabled and AuDHD. We both struggle with task management and avoidance sometimes. But sometimes you just gotta throw a pack of ramen into boiling water and eat something.
There is maybe a minute of actual effort to cook my eggs and put in a wrap in the morning. Once they are in pan i can do things like make my coffee or get changed for work. I am definitely saving money making my own breakfast and coffee. For the price of a bag of coffee and a bag of sugar, i could buy maybe 10 coffees.
live alone and make a single serving?
do agree on coffee, however I also live in a nation that makes some amazing coffee and $2-3 a cup 1-2x a week is reasonable. my Keurig or espresso machine takes longer and only is as cost effective if I'm drinking it every day (those unground beans go stale rather quick :( -- unfortunately flavoured creamers are not a thing really outside of the states to cover the taste of stale coffee)