you’re not going to convince me that eating out for lunch every single day is even remotely comparable in cost to half-decent meal prepping.
I’m trying to point out that the premise is flawed because you are assuming there is no opportunity cost associated with time spent meal prepping at home. If I make $50/hr at work and wish I had more free time at home, then it’s a wash, and I’m just as well off getting subway every day
You are missing the point, it’s not “4.5 hours a week of work” vs “absolutely nothing”, it’s 4.5 hours of work vs however long to have to work to pay for the ingredients, plus the time to make the food. If I spend an hour meal prepping and it takes me an hour and a half to pay for the ingredients, eating out at lunch only costs me 2 additional hours of my time, not 4.5
I also don’t know what meal you are preparing where chopping veggies, searing meat, packaging and cleaning up afterwards only takes 20 minutes. Even making chili, which is the prototypical “throw everything in a pot” recipe takes me north of an hour when all is said and done
And meal prepping is 2 hours of your week every week, plus however long you have to work to pay for the ingredients, which is probably another 2 hours
Some people like the taste and don’t mind paying for the convenience - full stop.
Also the vegetarian option at most fast food places is generally more expensive and worse tasting
I was trying to say the cost savings of packing lunches is not absolute, and is dependent on the opportunity cost a person places on time spent at home cooking.
But I see now that you are just incapable of the critical thought necessary to deduce meaning beyond the concrete text placed in front of your eyes