Buying Groceries

The average household with kids spends $170 on groceries every week, so food shopping is bound to take a big bite out of any budget. Sure, teens and young adults starting to shop solo won’t spend as much as a whole family, but food takes up a significant part of their pay every month. 

What might be second nature to the average adult is probably more like a scavenger hunt for recent high school grads buying their own food for the first time. Many students will agree that spending responsibly on food sounds like a good idea, but they’ll quickly discover it’s really easy to splurge on quick hunger fixes like fast food, leaving less room (and less money) for balanced living. 

Apples to Apples 

When young adults start paying for their own groceries, they quickly realize just how much their eating habits add up. Banzai lets students decide between grabbing a burger and shopping for the ingredients to make their own meals. Students also get a chance to choose between the type of stores they frequent. 

Sure, Trader Moe’s has the best almond butter, but is going organic really worth the money? 

At the same time, students get to see how savings really add up when making trade-offs that help save for future goals. Skipping the almond butter and buying groceries from a discount store might be less Instagram-worthy, but the total on the receipt paints a better picture for your bank account. 

Small Decisions, Big Consequences

We want to teach students that their small, daily decisions can have a big impact on their financial future. By adding a “time travel” element to the app, teens can see that spending extra to go organic, saving by making their daily coffee at home, or eating out with friends—all choices that seem like no big deal in the moment—really affect their bottom line. What was a $5 decision now packs a $600 punch just six months down the road. Was it really worth it? 

Learning about buying groceries is more than just teaching students how to pick a tasty watermelon. It’s a life skill that helps teens understand trade-offs in one of the most common—and seemingly unimportant—areas of spending. Banzai sets students up for a healthy relationship with their grocery budgets for life. 

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