The empty pantry

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NICK EICHER, HOST: Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. 

I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

A millionaire investor recently touched off a debate about young adults, disposable income, and financial responsibility.

WORLD commentator Janie B. Cheaney says the discussion is worth having. Though perhaps not for the reasons most people think.

JANIE B. CHEANEY: What are you doing for lunch today? 

If you’re in the 18-39 demographic with a steady job, there’s a better than even chance you’ll be eating out, or ordering in. Data shows that Gen Z spends well over half its food budget on restaurants or delivery services, more than their parents and grandparents. 

In fact, every succeeding generation since the baby boomers have spent less and less on groceries and home cooking. It’s become an issue—one more thing for us older folks to grouse about. 

Last month on X, millionaire investor and Shark Tank host Kevin O’Leary went on a rant against "Kids Today" eating their investment money:

KOL: Can't stand it when I see kids that are making 70 grand a year spending $28 for lunch. I mean, that’s just stupid. It's just, think about that in the context of that being put into an index and making 8 to 10% a year for the next 50 years.

This provoked a generational skirmish. The young folks protested they didn’t have time to cook or shop. The old fogeys pointedly asked about savings accounts and down payments vs. $19 avocado toast? 

Granting the cultural and economic differences between coastal cities and the heartland, I’ve seen anecdotal evidence of these trends. When we were house-hunting, I noticed a paucity of pantry staples in many of the kitchens we looked at. My niece has made a decent living as a Door Dash driver in small-town Texas. A young friend who works at the local hospital told me about a colleague who has spent over $700 since January on hospital cafeteria meals—which, she confides, aren’t even that good. When she asked him why he didn’t bring a sack lunch, he said groceries were too expensive.

Data, again, shows that our youngest wage-earners have plenty of leisure time, they just don’t choose to spend it shopping and cooking. And many of them have more disposable income than previous generations, but prefer delivery to dinner-from-scratch. 

That’s their choice, and none of my business. Objectively speaking, it’s not good money management. But before galloping off on our high horses, we should ask how and what these kids have been taught.

When I was growing up, my mother, who came of age during the Great Depression, seemed more interested in my academic progress than in my practical skills. I learned to cook from necessity after getting married, but didn’t pass along much of that knowledge to my own kids. By then, schools began abandoning home ec and shop classes to focus on STEM fields like computer science. Food, and basic money management, were afterthoughts to be picked up on the fly. 

The result is elite college grads who can’t change a tire or scramble an egg.

With a little forethought, brown-baggers can save thousands of dollars per year—money that could go toward investments or tithing. 

Here’s a crash course in smart shopping (and you can thank me later): make a grocery list, don’t shop when you’re hungry, take advantage of store ads and specials, buy in bulk, bypass Whole Foods in favor of Aldi, cook more than you need for dinner and take the leftovers for lunch, avoid the prepackaged and over-processed, cut up your own watermelon and pineapple, assemble your own freezer meals, start a collection of favorite recipes, and invest in time-saving appliances like pressure cookers. 

The planning and prep do take time, but that’s part of honoring the Lord with your wealth—and according to Proverbs 3:9-10, He will increase the store of your barns.

For WORLD, I’m Janie B. Cheaney.

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