Sad state of affairs - buyer beware

To me, this article represents the sad state of affairs in the U.S. today. The basic premise is that we spend enormous amounts of time working to make enough money to spend it on a small amount of time saved in the form of convenience items. Not to mention the health costs of eating so much "convenience" food in our diets. Another thing, my time with my husband is too precious to cause him to waste 5 hours to save me 1. I'd rather forego my blogging time to make it up than that. I'm going to start buying less convenience food and see how much we save. Maybe that is the reason I've not been able to keep the grocery bill as low as I thought it could be. Anyway, it just flummoxes me. I mean, yes, things like baby carrots are handy, but does it really take that long to clean and cut carrots into sticks, especially when you enlist your kids to help peel? And, with a pressure cooker, you can cook beans in bulk in very little time. I think they taste better too, even though I often buy canned just so I don't have to plan ahead (which is my own laziness & lack of self-control). Those are just a few examples, and even in my own fairly healthy cooking, I know that there are plenty more where the 2 above came from! My challenge to myself is to cut out as many convenience items as possible and see where the real costs and savings are - time, money, or both?

Perhaps we are becoming the stereotype of a "fat, stupid, lazy American"? Something to think about.