Last month my husband and I took our kids on a little vacation to St. George, Utah and Las Vegas, Nevada. When we were there, we payed mostly cash for everything, so anytime we had to get gas, I would go in the store to pay.

What I found was appalling.

In the morning, the local 7-11 store was almost overflowing with people buying breakfast. Anything from breakfast sandwiches, donuts, coffee, cookies, soda pop, candy bars, to even potato chips. This was a huge eye opener for me because frankly, I rarely go out to eat and if I do, I NEVER “eat out” at a convenient store.

I stood in line one morning for about 10 minutes waiting to pay for our gas. There was a family of 4 in front of me; the mom saving their spot while the rest of the family ran around the store trying to decide what to get for breakfast. I stood and watched their choices being rung up, the total coming to roughly $20.

I found myself asking “Do people really and honestly eat like this? No wonder there are so many obese people. No wonder they’re all walking around in a haze. It’s from eating all this chemical, caffeine, and sugar filled junk! And holy cow! That costs A LOT to eat this way!”

Over the past year I have helped many people on the road to becoming more healthy. The main two objections I get about eating healthy is that 1) it’s too expensive and 2) it takes too much time. People, those are just excuses!

Enough is enough!

I’m here to tell you that this is not really the case. It’s called smart shopping; finding the deals and shopping the sales, and then having things prepared ahead of time. You can spend a lot more on that junk food because it doesn’t satisfy you, it’s addicting, and you are hungrier sooner. If you have everything all cut up and ready to assemble for a salad, that’s a quick meal waiting for you! It doesn’t take very long to cut a whole bunch of that stuff up.

To prove my point, I held a little experiment. One of my favorite breakfasts that I eat when I’m in a hurry is a bowl of Quaker Weight Control Oatmeal. I decided to time myself to see how long it would take me from start to finish to eat this bowl of oatmeal, including heating up the water and everything.

Guess how long it took?

3 minutes 20 seconds! Seriously people, only a little over 3 minutes! Who doesn’t have time for that?!? It takes you longer than that to just get in your car and drive to the convenient store, then add making your choices and paying for it.

Time for some math. At my local Walmart, a box of Quaker Weight Control oatmeal costs $2.50. There are 8 packets of oatmeal in a box. That equals about $.32 a packet. My entire breakfast cost less than $.50! A family of four could eat breakfast for less than $2!

Tell me, which was more expensive and took more time?

Something to think about, huh.

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