The Cost of French Fries and Other Junk Food, for Wallet and Waistline

The average American consumes 53 gallons of soda every year, which is about two bathtubs full…and nearly 30 pounds of French fries. In total, we eat almost 2,000 pounds of food, too (as seen by this awesome infographic from Visual Economics). What the infographic doesn’t tell us is exactly how many servings of French fries we have to eat to consume the 29 pounds that’s the national average.

So, we worked it out: 113 servings. That’s fries twice a week, every week—for a whole year.

Overindulging Leads to Overspending

Turns out that our sweet tooth is putting an $855 hole in our pocket every year, and that doesn’t even include chocolate, or pastries, or liquor! Nor does it include a gym membership to work off the extra calories, dentist visits to pry the sugar out of our teeth, or doctor appointments to keep us running smoothly. That’s easily an extra thousand dollars per year, just to offset the effects of our eating habits.

Saving Doesn’t Mean Eliminating

Even cutting back a little can make a big difference for our finances and our long-term health. Here’s what we calculated:

Little Changes, Big Savings

Now, we’re not saying that everyone eats like the average American (we probably eat way more cheese than the norm!), but this junk food profile does point to areas of our own lives we can seek to improve. ’Cause hey, we shouldn’t be stopping by Cold Stone on the way home, anyway.

What’s your go-to (healthier) snack when you’re craving junk food? Share with the community in the comments below!