Entertainment

What It Costs To Live Like Lorelai Gilmore

by Emily Lackey

When it comes to living like a television character, Lorelai Gilmore from Gilmore Girls has to be one of the easiest to embody. She lives a low-maintenance life in a small Connecticut town, so the cost of living like Lorelai Gilmore for a day must be low, right? Sure, she loves coffee so much that she once asked for an IV of it, but two of her best friends — Luke and Sookie — have an ample supply of coffee always at the ready. Well, coffee and delicious food, because the other thing that it takes to live like Lorelai (aside from wrap dresses and an amazingly smart daughter) is a ton of delicious food.

So yeah, the majority of Lorelai's daily expenses likely go towards her food and beverage intake. While some of us live and die by our homemade meals and hand-packed lunches, she relies on daily stops at Luke’s Diner, lunches at the Dragonfly Inn, and enormous takeout orders that I’m assuming she lives on for the rest of the week to get by. But aside from those staples, there are some other things that make up her daily budget, and I've compiled them all to estimate how much it would cost to live just one day as Lorelai Gilmore.

Pop-Tarts

Before any breakfast stops out in Stars Hollow, splitting a pack of Pop-Tarts with her daughter is a necessity.

Total cost: $0.69

Breakfast At Luke’s

Keeping with her love of all things sweet, the usual for Lorelai is a stack of pancakes. With a bottomless cup of coffee, this is the perfect way to start a day in Stars Hollow

Total cost: $10.00

Coffee At The Dragonfly Inn

She may have just finished her cup at Luke’s, but the minute Lorelai walks in the door at work, she’s like a mouse with a cookie: She’s going to want another cup. Thankfully she’s part owner of the Inn, so this is one perk she gets for free.

Total cost: $0.00

Gas For Her Jeep

Lorelai lives in a small town and most of the time she walks places, so I’d say the only time Lorelai needs to fill her tank entirely is for Friday night dinners and to visit Rory at Yale.

Total cost: $2.36 (Which just happens to be the cost of a gallon of gas in Connecticut in 2007.)

Coffee At Luke’s Diner

It wouldn’t be an afternoon in Stars Hollow for Lorelai without another cup of coffee to keep her running through the day.

Total cost: $1.50, plus tip

Take Out

Considering that Lorelai has been known to order one of everything from a menu, this going to be, by far, her biggest expense throughout the day. Whether it’s Chinese, pizza, or a to-go order from Luke’s, dinner at home is not a dinner at home unless multiple entrees, appetizers, and desserts are being ordered.

Total cost: $75.00

Movie Rentals

The best way to spend a night with the Gilmore girls is in front of the television, pizza in hand. But you know those Gilmores, they need their options. Hardly a night goes by without Lorelai and Rory debating over one of three or four titles.

Total Cost: $10.00

So just in case you’re as terrible at math as I am, the estimated grand total to live like Lorelai Gilmore for one day is…

Drum roll, please...

Total For The Day: $188.05

Since most of that is takeout food, I am not at all surprised to see that it costs quite a bit to live like Lorelai, but it'd definitely be worth every penny.

Images: Saeed Adyani/Netflix; Giphy (7)