Welcome to The Receipt, a series documenting how Bon Appétit readers eat and what they spend doing it. Each food diary follows one anonymous reader’s week of expenses related to groceries, restaurant meals, coffee runs, and every bite in between. In this time of rising food costs, The Receipt reveals how folks—from different cities, with different incomes, on different schedules—are figuring out their food budgets.
In today’s Receipt, a 31-year-old content creator drinks apple cider vinegar every morning, cooks dry-brined roast chicken for dinner, and tests a cheesy potato recipe for a client. Keep reading for his receipts.
Jump ahead:
The finances
What are your pronouns? He/Him
What is your occupation? I’ve dubbed myself a “culinary creative.” While fairly vague, it’s a great catchall for the different roles I fill for my clients, which include brands like Impossible Foods and Aldi. Most days you can find me in my studio kitchen––a makeshift setup in my spare bedroom, where I develop recipes, act as a spokesperson for brands on daytime TV, and create short food videos, i.e., Instagram Reels. Just an FYI, none of the brands or products I’m currently engaged in working relationships with are featured in this diary.
How old are you? 31
What city and state do you live in? Kansas City, Missouri
What is your annual salary, if you have one? My salary is always in flux, as I work for myself, but last year it was $352,000.
How much is one paycheck after taxes? Since my clients have different payment periods and terms, my paycheck varies significantly. Based on the last three months, it has ranged from $8,200 to $34,400.
How often are you paid? Twice a month through my talent agency, which distributes my income.
How much money do you have in savings? $65,000
What are your approximate fixed monthly expenses beyond food, i.e., rent, subscriptions, bills? Total: $8,594.98
- Rent: $1,285.00
- Utilities: $95.00
- YouTube Premium: $7.00
- Google Cloud Storage: $2.99
- Adobe Photoshop / Lightroom: $19.99
- Cell Phone: $150.00
- Personal Assistant: $4,500.00
- Gas: $95.00
- Life Insurance: $1,000.00
- Investments: $500.00
- Nonprofit Donations: $100.00
- Auto Loan: $430.00
- Auto Insurance: $275.00
- Compost Program: $30.00
- Therapy: $105
The diet
- Do you follow a certain diet or have dietary restrictions? My core diet is composed primarily of fresh produce, seafood, and poultry, but I often build my own meals around the food I’m purchasing for clients. My version of “grocery shopping,” if you would even call it that, is picking up four to six staple items per week. Whatever I have left over from work will round out my meals.
- What are the grocery staples you always buy, if any? I have a few must-haves: salmon, a whole chicken, arugula (lots of it), hummus, oat milk, and mushrooms (right now I’m into shiitake and oyster).
- How often in a week do you dine out versus cook at home? During a typical week, when work is not necessarily leisurely but manageable, I’ll order takeout two to three times. When I’m in the thick of it and working on multiple recipes or projects per day, I’ll order takeout four to six times in a week. That doesn’t include the one night a week when I’m going out with friends and dining at a restaurant around town.
- How often in a week did you dine out while growing up? Up to six times per week during my early childhood years, and three to four times per week during my adolescence. I was pretty spoiled and definitely was indulged a bit more than I should have been.
- How often in a week did your parents or guardians cook at home? My parents didn’t cook that often. Between the two of them they could cook four different meals that were tasty. Frozen meals were a staple in our household. Not necessarily out of convenience, but I thoroughly enjoyed them. Brands like Banquet and Hungry-Man were some of my favorites. However, my maternal grandmother lived with us during the majority of my life. She’s one of the best cooks I’ve ever met. The type of cook who would consider a “casual meal” a lavish, Southern, multi-course dining experience. She would prepare dinner four to five times during the week and a massive brunch spread on the weekends––scrambled eggs, grits, bacon (and sausage), toast with preserves… It was practically a buffet.
The expenses
- Week’s total: $563.68
- Restaurants and cafés total: $444.62
- Groceries total: $119.06
- Most-expensive meal or purchase: Dinner at The Town Company, $241.50
- Least-expensive meal or purchase: Lemons, $1.19 each
- Number of restaurant and café meals: 4
- Number of grocery trips: 1
The diary
Monday
9:27 a.m. I just finished my first workout of the day––a solid 35 minutes on my indoor cycle. This is worthy of praise because I’ve been out of action for the past week on vacation. To ease into my morning, I have a ritual that I do daily: turn on my water heater, skim through my emails and social media notifications until I hear a lovely tune notifying me that my water is hot. I add about three tablespoons of raw apple cider vineegar (White House Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar, $5.34 at Walmart, previously bought) to 10 ounces of hot water.
