Nearly 47% of our food dollars are spent outside the home. While these meals are more convenient, they tend to be less healthy and much more expensive. So in tough economic times, why do we spend so much eating out?
The surprising truth is that we simply don’t realize the effect eating out is having on our budget.
Its said that if you place a frog in boiling water it will immediately jump out. However, if you place a frog in cool water but very slowly turn up the heat, the frog will just sit there, and may even boil to death if you don’t intervene.
This same principle of not noticing small changes until its too late applies to our finances as well. Like a frog in slowly warming water we don’t notice the small amounts of daily spending that slowly add up to destroy our budgets.
Three dollars for a morning Starbucks coffee, $7.50 for lunch, and $2 for a rush hour soda may not seem like much until you realize that this works out to over $240 a month.
If each member of a family of four spent just $4 a day eating outside the home, the bill would come to nearly $480! That’s more than most utility bills, telephone bills, and cable bills combined.
Once we see how much is actually spent eating outside the home, we are more inclined to act like the frog placed into boiling water – we jump into action to correct our spending behavior.
Try determining what your monthly bill is. Its easier than you think. Every time you eat out, put all your receipts in one central place – your purse, wallet or car glove compartment. Buy a latte at Starbucks, save the receipt. Lunch at McDonalds, save the receipt. Nice dining at a 5 star restaurant, save the receipt.
At the end of the month add up all the receipts and you’ll have your monthly “eating out bill”. When you realize how high this “bill” is, you’ll be much more motivated to reduce your out of home eating expenses.
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