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Are meal kits worth it? The case for meal delivery in 2024
If you’re wary of signing up for a meal kit delivery service in 2024, you’re probably not alone. Higher-than-expected inflation rates and dizzying housing prices likely have many people hesitating to add more expenses to their daily lives.
But when you consider how much people are spending on food every week — as well as all of the added benefits that come with a great meal delivery service — there’s a case to be made that meal kits are very much worth the investment.
Are meal kits worth it?
Did you know that the average person spends a little over an hour in the kitchen each day? That includes meal prepping for the week, preparing ingredients, and cooking meals — not to mention all the cleanup that comes after.
A big advantage to meal kits is how much time they can save you. Many meal kits take less than 20 minutes to whip up, and there’s no dirty dishes to worry about (or ignore until the morning) afterwards.
Some meal delivery services take this to another level with prepared meal options; Factor and other services like it offer fully prepared meals that are ready within minutes. In Factor’s case, they’re also nutritious and delicious — a triple win in our book.
Still on the fence about meal kit delivery services? Read more about the benefits of signing up for meal delivery in 2024 below.
Meal kit delivery services are affordable
Let’s face it: those trips to the grocery store are, more often than not, everything but cheap. You have to carve out a chunk of your day to write out a shopping list, sit through traffic, find everything you need, and, if you’re lucky, make it home without a pricey pitstop at the gas station.
The average two-person household typically spends between $450 and $800 per month at the grocery store. That’s up to roughly $27 a meal, which is a lot, even if you’re thrifty. In comparison, meal kit delivery prices are typically between $9 and $13 per meal, making them great budget-friendly alternatives to grocery shopping.
Seek out the cheapest meal kits by cost per serving. Look for budget-friendly meal delivery services like EveryPlate, which has prices starting as low as $4.99 per serving. This is ideal if you’re cooking for four or more, as the cheapest EveryPlate meal plan offers six four-serving meals per week.
Or, most meal kits offer attractive discounts for new subscribers. Perhaps the best example of this is Blue Apron. This popular meal kit currently offers new subscribers 65% off the total price of their first week, as well as free shipping (another $10 discount). That brings Blue Apron prices down to as low as $2.80 per serving (for five four-serving weekly meals).
The best meal kit services offer more than just nutritious meals
Most meal kits have you covered when it comes to dinnertime meals, but that’s far from the only thing on the menu. The best meal delivery services offer a variety of other options to choose from, such as sides, snacks, and marketplace add-ons.
Another benefit to meal kits that is easily overlooked is what they offer beyond meals for the dinner table. Daily Harvest is a meal delivery service that offers a wide range of lunch and breakfast options, from grain bowls and pasta dishes to smoothies packed with whole fruits and veggies. With a bit of planning ahead, subscribers could take care of most meals fort the week using meal kits alone.
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Wisconsin school shooter was in contact with California man plotting his own attack, court documents say
The shooter who killed a student and teacher at a religious school in Wisconsin brought two guns to the school and was in contact with a man in California whom authorities say was planning to attack a government building, according to authorities and court documents that became public Wednesday.
Police were still investigating why the 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison shot and killed a fellow student and teacher on Monday before shooting herself, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told the Associated Press Wednesday. Two other students who were shot remained in critical condition on Wednesday.
A Southern California judge issued a restraining order Tuesday under California’s gun red flag law against a 20-year-old Carlsbad man. The order requires the man to turn his guns and ammunition into police within 48 hours unless an officer asks for them sooner because he poses an immediate danger to himself and others.
Carlsbad is located just north of San Diego.
According to the order, the man told FBI agents that he had been messaging Natalie Rupnow, the Wisconsin shooter, about attacking a government building with a gun and explosives. The order doesn’t say what building he had targeted or when he planned to launch his attack. It also doesn’t detail his interactions with Rupnow except to state that the man was plotting a mass shooting with her.
CBS’ San Diego affiliate KFMB-TV reported that law enforcement searched the man’s home Tuesday night after the order was signed by the judge.
Police, with the assistance of the FBI, were scouring online records and other resources and speaking with the shooter’s parents and classmates in an attempt to determine a motive for the shooting, Barnes told the AP.
Police don’t know if anyone was targeted in the attack or if the attack had been planned in advance, the chief said. Police said the shooting occurred in a classroom where a study hall was taking place involving students from several grades.
“I do not know if if she planned it that day or if she planned it a week prior,” Barnes said. “To me, bringing a gun to school to hurt people is planning. And so we don’t know what the premeditation is.”
On a Madison city website providing details about the shooting, police disclosed Wednesday that two guns were found at the school, but only one was used in the shooting. A law enforcement source previously told CBS News the weapon used appears to have been a 9 mm pistol.
Barnes told the AP that he did not know how the suspected shooter obtained the guns and he declined to say who purchased them, citing the ongoing investigation.
No decisions have been made about whether Rupnow’s parents might be charged in relation to the shooting, but they have been cooperating, Barnes told the AP.
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school that offers prekindergarten classes through high school. About 420 students attend the institution.
The Dan County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the two people killed Wednesday as 42-year-old Erin West and 14-year-old Rubi Vergara.
An online obituary on a local funeral site stated Vergara was a freshman who leaves behind her parents, one brother, and a large extended family. It described her as “an avid reader” who “loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band.”
West’s exact position with the school was unclear.
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