Kevin O’Leary recently raised a stink when he suggested that young people save money rather than spend it on dining out. More specifically, he said, “Can’t stand it when I see kids who are making 70 grand a year spending $28 for lunch. I mean, that’s just stupid. Think about that in the context of that being put into an index and making 8-10% a year for the next 50 years.” Predictably, the internet was not pleased. Replies variously blamed boomers for making things up, boomers for driving up the cost of lunch, and boomers for destroying the economy through inflation. Which, okay, whatever. The cause isn’t really germane to his point, which is that reality exists, and the reality of spending a bunch of money on slop bowls makes it hard to save and build wealth. It also overlooks the fact that it’s really easy to cook simple meals and pack them in a lunchbox. Failing that, a used Walmart bag or even just a Tupperware dish will suffice. Seriously, you don’t need to eat a mediocre $15 burrito bowl every day to survive, particularly when you could, you know, make your own burrito bowl for much cheaper. People eating out every day are not living it up, ordering a steak and a few martinis. They’re grabbing good enough food and eating at their desks, depositing a disgusting amount of crumbs in their keyboards as they pretend to pay attention to meetings. Mr. Wonderful is right to call them out. He’s trying to help. He’s making a very valid point about spending. Let’s round down and extrapolate some numbers to prove his point. Perhaps $28 is a little high. One can eat inside Cava and tip for around $20. Let’s go on the low end and assume that someone works 47 weeks per year after vacation and holidays. That’s 235 days per year, which means spending would be $4,700 annually. With just one year of brown bagging it, that would produce a return of $376. As such, bring on the avocado toast! But, actually, the thing about investing is that it isn’t gambling. You have to set it and forget it. By the end of year 50, that $4,700 would be around $221,000, and that’s only investing once. If you invested that $100 a week for 47 weeks per year for 50 years into an index earning 8%, by the end of year 50, you’d have something in the neighborhood of $2.8 million. You know what you can afford a lot of with $2.8 million? Granted, you would still have to spend on food, so let’s look at how much it would cost per week to make your own slop bowls. You’ll want some protein. As of this exact moment, boneless, skinless chicken thighs in my area are going for $3.72/pound. Three pounds will cover five days, so we’re sitting at roughly $12 after tax. Throw in a 32-ounce bag of rice, and you’re up to $14. Add a few avocados at $0.60 each, and you’re up to $16. A few cans of black beans will add around $4. So, for roughly the price of one meal in Cava, you’ve got a week’s worth of bowls. It’s pretty Spartan, though, bordering on subsistence living. So, let’s kick it up a notch, because this isn’t hard. Ovens exist. Skillets exist. Air fryers and Instant Pots exist. The internet exists. AI can be used for more than ridiculous memes and videos designed to fool boomers. I asked ChatGPT, for example, to put together a monthly meal prep plan based on Cava, Chipotle, and Sweet Green, including all ingredients and recipes. The costs jump up to $50 a week, but look at how easily this can be done and how much you can save to put in that index fund. Of course, there are also peanut butter sandwiches and Ruffles, a meal I often took to my first corporate job. Tuna fish with fresh lemon, an avocado with salt, lemon, and hot sauce, and fresh cucumber slices with salt and lemon juice is another meal I’ve eaten many times while sitting at a desk. A grilled chicken breast can be substituted for the tuna. Crackers are optional for both. Nice meals out are nice. They’re a treat for times when you’re craving something that doesn’t make sense to make because there are too many inputs, like an Italian sub. Or they’re for a celebration. Or because first dates usually don’t want to come to your house. Eating out isn’t a requirement for living; eating is. So, instead of getting mad at O’Leary for reminding you that you’re not an oligarch, stack that paper and work on becoming one. Did Bernie Sanders stop at complaining about millionaires and billionaires? No, he kept working until he was a millionaire so he could save words and focus on billionaires. If Bernie can do it, including bragging that he’s “pretty good on the grill,” so can you. Now get out there and start shopping, just make sure you pay for everything. *** Rich Cromwell is a writer living in Northwest Arkansas. He produces the Cookin’ Up a Story podcast, which you can listen to here. You can also follow him on X: @rcromwell4.