| Saturday, January 27, 2007 |
| Eating Out is the Reason Americans Can't Save? |
 This USNews article: Americans Confess to the Urge to Splurge reports the results of the Pew Research Center's recent survey. In it, 77% of adults said they are always looking for ways to save money, yet when asked about their splurges they readily admit to spending too much on dining out. A spending item we should all have the ability to control.This seems to confirm the findings of a separate survey released this week by GfK Roper Consulting. That survey found that around 21 percent of Americans feel that their single most important financial goal this year is "just keeping up with the bills." And another 21 percent said their biggest task is to pay down debt. Meanwhile, other laudable goals, such as saving for retirement, putting kids through college, and purchasing a home, rank much farther down the list. |
| posted by Boston Gal @ 8:57 AM *
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| 8 Comments: |
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It's not just the issue of eating out at a restaurant that hits the budget. It's the vast array of pre-made convenience foods readily available in the supermarket that also increase spending on food. It's those pre-cooked chickens, salads, pre-cut baby carrots that are all more expensive than cooking, cleaning or prepping it yourself.
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So true, especially about the convenience foods. People are often surprised that there are 7 people in our household and our weekly grocery budget (including cleaning supplies, shampoo, paper products, et.) is $150. I'm very busy and don't have time to deal with coupons and comparison shopping, but we cook almost everything from scratch - and it really adds up. Often I'll calculate the cost of dinner and it will come out to $1.50 per person. Breakfast and lunch are by nature cheaper meals, of course.
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And all of this doesn't even account for the cost to one's health due to eating out so much. Most restaurant meals are much higher in fat and (often) have fewer vegetables than a home-cooked meal.
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Oh this is me. Totally and completely me.
Lately I've noticed that food is oversalted at restaurants, and I am routinely accused of eating a high-sodium diet by my family. I love salt. For me to say something is oversalted, it's pretty disgusting for anyone else.
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Eating out should be done in moderation. I only eat out a few times a month or less depending on the occasion.
But it can be done cheaper - ordering one entree instead of two, or ordering smaller portions such as salad, soup and a few appetizers. And drink water instead of soda or wine. Save the wine consumption at home.
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all you have to do is consider that you probably will tip between 10-15% for an hour at a restaurant. loan sharks don't even charge that much. to make up one meal's tip at 10%, you'd have to earn 87600% APR to break even on the tip alone. ok, highly simplified, but it's no wonder you can save by not going out to eat. Moreover, I live in the dc area and at 10% tax to go eat, that is definitely a motivator not to eat out.
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Anon, I don't agree with the tip thing. I do it for haircuts and taxi rides too, but since they are rare expenses for me it's not a big deal.
I'm not a New Yorker, but I'd imagine that moderate taxi rides are lot less than the parking.
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It's not just the issue of eating out at a restaurant that hits the budget. It's the vast array of pre-made convenience foods readily available in the supermarket that also increase spending on food. It's those pre-cooked chickens, salads, pre-cut baby carrots that are all more expensive than cooking, cleaning or prepping it yourself.