How to Calculate the Total Cost of Any Prescription
Cooking at home has always been (and probably always will be) the cheaper option. You can recreate your favorite fast food or restaurant dishes, find easier and less labor-intensive recipes , or taste the gluttonous glory of yesteryear by delving into grandma’s recipe book. But just because cooking at home is generally cheaper doesn’t mean every recipe is a bargain. And although some recipes list the cost per serving, this will not help you plan your grocery shopping. If you’re cooking at home more but aren’t necessarily saving a lot of money, you might want to estimate the total cost of your recipes to see where the real bargains are.
The problem with most recipes is that they can hide their true cost in many ways. Different ingredients are priced and marketed differently, and different quantities are used. Many recipes assume that you always have certain staples on hand, and even if they offer cost recommendations, it’s usually a “per serving” cost, especially if it’s advertised as an economical recipe. Knowing that a serving of lasagna will only cost $3 is nice, but if you’re going to have to spend $50 at all to make lasagna, that’s important information for your budget.
Determining the price of a prescription is both a simple and somewhat mysterious process. Here’s a general guide on how to approach the problem.
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Determine the unit price. You will need to know how much you paid for the entire package of each ingredient and how much you use. If your recipe calls for two shallots and you can buy one shallot for $1.50, it’s easy enough—the cost of the shallots in your recipe is $3. If you have an 8-ounce bag of lettuce that costs $1.29 and you use half the bag, your recipe will cost $0.65. If you are using a different amount of lettuce, you can calculate that each ounce costs about 16 cents and multiply as needed.
For some ingredients, you will need to check the serving size in the Nutrition Facts section. If you have a 6-ounce can of tomato paste that costs $0.50, but your recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of paste, the calculation may seem complicated. But if the serving size is 2 tablespoons and there are five servings in the jar, then each serving—and therefore the cost of your recipe—will be $0.10.
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Rate the spices. The price of spices and herbs can be tricky. Most spice packages don’t include nutritional information or serving sizes, and prices will vary greatly depending on when and where you buy them. Many cooks use a general estimate of $0.10 per teaspoon for common spices and $0.20 per teaspoon for more expensive and rare spices. Salt tends to be cheaper (about $0.05 per teaspoon). If you want to get a more accurate idea of how much your spices cost, you can use a conversion chart like this , which tells you how many teaspoons or tablespoons are in an ounce of a spice. For example, if you have a 2-ounce package of cinnamon, you will get 23.5 teaspoons from it. If the entire package costs you $3, your cost would be $0.13 per teaspoon used.
Once you’ve calculated the cost of each serving of each ingredient used, add it all up and that’s the total cost of your meal.
Other expenses
Of course, there are other costs associated with preparing food. Not counting your time, you probably use water in every recipe, as well as gas or electricity (or both). Water tends to be fairly cheap—about 3 cents per gallon—so most recipes will list the cost of water with a rounding error. While it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly how your stove and oven usage may contribute to the cost, in general, running the oven at 350 degrees costs about 10 to 20 cents per hour , and turning on the burner costs 10 to 15 cents per hour. to the fullest. These numbers will vary greatly depending on the energy costs where you live and the age/efficiency of your appliances, but you can make a somewhat educated guess if you take a few numbers from your most recent utility bill.