Healthy food preparation is one of the most beneficial (and profitable) skills a person can have. Too often we resort to fast food or "microwaveable" food. And these are neither cheap nor nutritious. Even the DIY food boxes or frozen dishes are tainted with processing and preservatives!
Most parents, running the Rat Race of both parents working, rely heavily on fast food, expensive pre-prepared food, or nutrient-poor "easy prep" food. And on their days off.... Tend to spend lots of money on eating out. They rarely make the time to learn to cook fresh, healthy, and nutritious food.
This is where homeschooling wins the day. If you are homeschooling, one parent must be home (at all times). This opens the door for fresh, well planned healthy cooking, AND the opportunity to teach this skill to your children.
"What made me think about this?" you say!? After all, we aren't homeschooling at the moment. Well it turns out there are two families here with us on this service trip that have homeschooled their kids for many years. AND TONIGHT, THEY PREPARED DINNER!! And I don't mean they helped. THEY DID IT ALL!! Four kids aged 17 to 11 prepared a healthy cooked meal for 30+ people all on their own! This independence and skill is rarely seen these days amongst college students, much less High School age and younger!
Combine the skill and confidence to prepare food, with the skill of gardening, and financial independence is one step closer. The amount of savings that a family of four can make on a weekly basis can easily reach $150 versus fast food, restaurant or "easy prep" food. $600 savings a month....plus savings in commuting fuel, added car maintenance and insurance, and suddenly, the economics of stay-at-home parenting doesn't seem that far out of reach!!
There are some non-homeschooling families that garden, harvest their own food, and prepare every meal that time will allow. But in the greater "Rat Race", this is a rare quality. My point with this article is that homeschooling isn't really that far fetched from a financial standpoint. Especially if you factor in the long term(60-75 year) worth that these "home economics" skills will mean in your children's lives.....it starts to look like a real No Brainer!! ;-D
Something to think about! Especially for you younger families out there as you begin to plot your course moving forward! Best wishes and good luck!!
Peace
Images from Pixabay unless otherwise stated!