Follow-up rant. Deep breath. Deep breath.
I usually do my groceries over my lunch break (because I've got a system streamlined enough to take a half-hour and it avoids me needing to drive into town to do it on another day - the joys of country living). A colleague asked of she could hitch a ride, since she lived next door and wasn't working after lunch, instead of taking the bus; sure, ok, no problem, hop in, I'm willing to take a 3-minute detour to drop you off in order to be nice, it doesn't really cost me anything here (other than blood pressure points, apparently).
Both of us were getting a full week's worth of groceries; she has an extra kid (twin toddlers, to my one toddler), but I'm throwing 3 dinner parties this weekend.
I got: 20$ worth of milk (will last a week, yay Quebec's high milk prices). 30$ worth of beer (yay taxes on booze). Vegetables, potatoes, steak, chicken thighs to make grilled portugese chicken, fresh salmon, fresh berries, kiwi, and pears, a large bag of apples, some tofu and frozen mango for breakfast smoothies, etc. Total cost of the week's groceries: 120$ plus the beer, which will, honestly, be enough beer to last 2 months or so. We'll combine that with our pantry stash (rice, baking supplies, etc - I budget about 20$/week for pantry re-stocking) and we're hitting our budget limit of 140$/week CAD. And drinking decent beer, and eating steak and salmon and fresh veggies and lots and lots of fruit - could be lower, but this is a pretty great set of meals for the price!
She got: I have no idea. SO MANY PACKAGES. Packaged individual servigs of apple sauce. Packaged snacks. Packaged individual juice boxes. Packaged and wrapped pre-marinated BBQ meat and ribs. Cans of juice. Boxes of cereal. I think the only fresh fruit I saw in her cart was a bag of apples. Total cost for her week's groceries: 270$.
The 3-minute ride to her house to drop her off before heading back to the office was filled with her complaining about how 'groceries are so expensive' and 'no one can get ahead' and, I KID YOU NOT, how 'SHE CAN NEVER AFFORD TO EAT LIKE I DO, BECAUSE WHO HAS THE MONEY FOR STEAK'. Direct-bloody-quote, and I can't even.
At that point, I actually just went... you realize that your groceries were twice the price of mine, right? Like, you CAN afford to eat steak. Frankly, the steak was on sale - 4 steaks for tomorrow night's dinner was half the price of the box of chicken nuggets she bought.
To which she replied that yes, but then she'd have to pay her household help extra time so that they'd cook it because she didn't know how.
'Can't get ahead' and 'can't afford to eat steak' vs HOUSEHOLD HELP. I freakin' give up.
(Note: this household help is NOT her house cleaner. Both of us hire house cleaners, no shame, live with your choices, etc. This household help is a nanny/cook combo IN ADDITION to her house cleaner. Because how else would one manage their household, you see.)
Again: if you have the money, make your choices, live with what you chose, and be happy. Blessings, etc. But don't expect me to agree that the cost of food is SO HIGH when it's because you're using packaged foods that you then pay someone to put in the oven for you. ZERO SYMPATHY.
Now, I'm going to have a cup of tea (from tea bags stashed in my desk, to hell with paying 2$ for stewed leaves at the café) and calm down again.
Ye gods. Can't get ahead, indeed.