Author Topic: Restaurants vs. Groceries  (Read 4750 times)

boyerbt

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 327
  • Location: Ohio
Restaurants vs. Groceries
« on: May 14, 2015, 10:59:35 AM »
People are spending more money in restaurants per month than at the grocery store. I cannot say that I am overly shocked by this but it is amazing when you see these reports and then people act like they have no idea where their money is going and why they are not healthy...seems pretty simple to me.

http://www.restaurant.org/News-Research/News/Restaurant-sales-surpass-grocery-store-sales-for-t

Helvegen

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 569
  • Location: PNW
Re: Restaurants vs. Groceries
« Reply #1 on: May 14, 2015, 04:46:03 PM »
Every time my family of two adults and one 9 year old goes to a sit down restaurant, we spend anywhere between $50-$70 for meals, non-alcoholic drinks, tax, and tip. That is 10-15% of my grocery budget, needless to say, we don't go more often than once every 6-7 weeks. Eating at a fast food joint will have us out about $10-20, depending on the place.  I was so pissed the last time I went to McDonald's for breakfast because I thought it was so horrendously overpriced, I completely swore off fast food breakfast for good. I don't think we eat fast food more than twice a month. I just don't see the value in it a lot of the time for myself, but I generally have time to cook on a regular basis. I could see it if you really and truly don't have the time.

LiveLean

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 887
  • Location: Central Florida
    • ToLiveLean
Re: Restaurants vs. Groceries
« Reply #2 on: May 15, 2015, 09:47:31 AM »
Part of the problem is we've made eating out the focus of social lives. "Hey, let's get together with friends....and eat out." (Or even worse, Starbucks). As a child of the '70s and '80s, I rarely ate out. Going to Pizza Hut for a season-ending sports team celebration was a big deal. Even eating at McDonald's was done mostly on family vacations. Now teenagers go to Starbucks and Chipotle on a daily basis. Amazing.

But even my late-60s in-laws are guilty. I know that whenever they visit, we're going to have to go out to eat at least once every three days. Or even worse -- go out for drinks, even though we have plenty of alcohol (that we keep on hand mostly for them). It's why they're living on Social Security and we're eying FIRE.

TN_Steve

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 257
  • Age: 64
  • Location: fly-over country
Re: Restaurants vs. Groceries
« Reply #3 on: May 15, 2015, 11:33:20 AM »
Apparently the numbers are flawed.  The country's biggest grocery seller (WMT) is not included in the "grocery" category by the Census bureau, which released [the underlying] study.  Here is fairly good WSJ article on it:  http://on.wsj.com/1EKtIee  (That link should get you past the subscriber gate).  TL;DR?  See:

Quote
“Saying that dining out is surpassing groceries, that’s just not an accurate description of it,” said Bruce Grindy, chief economist for the National Restaurant Association. Though Mr. Grindy knows better, his group reported that Americans were spending more in restaurants than grocery stores, though the restaurant figure includes other kinds of eating and drinking places, and the grocery-stores figure misses food purchases.

sky_northern

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 99
Re: Restaurants vs. Groceries
« Reply #4 on: May 15, 2015, 12:30:26 PM »
But even my late-60s in-laws are guilty. I know that whenever they visit, we're going to have to go out to eat at least once every three days. Or even worse -- go out for drinks, even though we have plenty of alcohol (that we keep on hand mostly for them). It's why they're living on Social Security and we're eying FIRE.
I hate visiting my sister because she nearly never cooks for me. My mom has cooked more meals for me in my sister's kitchen than my sister has cooked for me in her kitchen. I don't know how it happens but she doesn't felling like she needs to 'host' me. Tones of take out and eating out, with a lot of time me paying for her family's food too. I've got to stop that.

TN_Steve

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 257
  • Age: 64
  • Location: fly-over country
Re: Restaurants vs. Groceries
« Reply #5 on: May 15, 2015, 12:38:48 PM »
I hate visiting my sister because she nearly never cooks for me. My mom has cooked more meals for me in my sister's kitchen than my sister has cooked for me in her kitchen. I don't know how it happens but she doesn't felling like she needs to 'host' me. Tones of take out and eating out, with a lot of time me paying for her family's food too. I've got to stop that.

Could you get away with volunteering to cook meals in her kitchen, since she is "nice enough to be hosting us"? 

mm1970

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 10880
Re: Restaurants vs. Groceries
« Reply #6 on: May 15, 2015, 01:11:51 PM »
But even my late-60s in-laws are guilty. I know that whenever they visit, we're going to have to go out to eat at least once every three days. Or even worse -- go out for drinks, even though we have plenty of alcohol (that we keep on hand mostly for them). It's why they're living on Social Security and we're eying FIRE.
I hate visiting my sister because she nearly never cooks for me. My mom has cooked more meals for me in my sister's kitchen than my sister has cooked for me in her kitchen. I don't know how it happens but she doesn't felling like she needs to 'host' me. Tones of take out and eating out, with a lot of time me paying for her family's food too. I've got to stop that.
I kind of joke about it when we visit family. We go every 2 years to the east coast.

Towards the end of my  mom's life, she stopped cooking mostly.  Oh, she'd do it, if she was sober, but the alcohol and depression...
Anyway, I'd go home and cook.  I'm a bit of a food snob, so when she asked me what to buy, I'd tell her that I'd shop myself.  Mostly because I eat a lot of produce, and they don't, so I want it to be good quality produce.  (Note: I shopped at Walmart when I went home, because they had the most turnover, and the produce was therefore better quality.)
When I went home my bro and sis and their families would come over, and I'd end up cooking for something like 10+ people, and would have to go shopping again.  Multiple times.

My mom is gone, but still when I go home on vacation I end up cooking for my step-dad, my own family, and probably the siblings and their families.  I love treating my step-dad (it's hard for him to be single, he doesn't really know how to cook, but is learning).  So...not a vacation really.

At my MILs house, it's almost the opposite.  She cooks everything, and doesn't really want me in her kitchen much.  When the boys are busy (hubby and kids), we do enjoy cooking together (generally I'm her sous chef, chopping veggies).  She tends to make big batches of food ahead of time. I have noticed that if she doesn't feel like cooking she may order in a pizza (this is rare).  Once, and only once, my hubby and I cooked for them (when his parents were still married).  I don't think they liked our burritos.  I think we all went on vacation once (with my SIL's family), and SIL and I cooked for them once too.

I think she just is still the "mom" and hasn't gotten used to other people cooking for her, in her kitchen.  (She's fine letting me cook for her in my kitchen.)

It's interesting because we all cook very different things.

sky_northern

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 99
Re: Restaurants vs. Groceries
« Reply #7 on: May 15, 2015, 07:40:34 PM »
I hate visiting my sister because she nearly never cooks for me. My mom has cooked more meals for me in my sister's kitchen than my sister has cooked for me in her kitchen. I don't know how it happens but she doesn't felling like she needs to 'host' me. Tones of take out and eating out, with a lot of time me paying for her family's food too. I've got to stop that.

Could you get away with volunteering to cook meals in her kitchen, since she is "nice enough to be hosting us"?
Yeah, I have cooked at her house (I actually made the pizzas for my nephews 1st birthday party at their house...). I should do that more often then resorting to ordering since 'I'm on vacation.' Even if I have to grab some groceries, it's a lot cheaper.



forummm

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7374
  • Senior Mustachian
Re: Restaurants vs. Groceries
« Reply #8 on: May 16, 2015, 12:11:05 PM »
I spend less on a week worth of home-cooked dinners than what I spend on an inexpensive dinner out. I don't know what that ratio is for other people, but it sounds like people on average still eat food from groceries a lot more than from restaurants.