The Restaurant Industry
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| Mon, 01-18-2010 - 12:57pm |
In 2000, Americans are spending more than 45% of their food dollar at eating-and-drinking places, up from 25% in 1955. By 2010, Americans are expected to spend more than half of their food dollar at an anticipated one million eating-and-drinking places.
1999: The U.S. Department of Commerce declares 1999 the "Year of the Restaurant" in recognition of the industry's significant contribution to the U.S. economy.
1950s: The National Restaurant Association endorses the use of credit cards, and supports a new type of dinner — the "take home" meal — that families could enjoy at home in front of their new black and white television sets. McDonald's launches its "Speedee System," and fast food is born. To whet customers' appetites for eating out, the National Restaurant Association commissions two songs: "Pass the Meat, Pass the Potatoes" (1951) and "Let's Go Out to a Restaurant" (1953).
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Ah ha!
Norma
"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus
Wow, those are incredible statistics, Marie - thanks for sharing. Eating out was one of the first things DH and I gave up when curbing our spending plan (budget). We've gone out twice in the last four weeks (one was our first "date night" in a year, which we budgeted for as part of our Christmas budget, and the other was last night with a gift card), which is way more than the usual once in a couple of months, and we're constantly amazed at how expensive it is for just two people - it's so easy to drop $50 even at the supposedly "inexpensive" chains like TGI Friday or Ruby Tuesday. We had a $50 gift card to Outback Steakhouse we received at Christmas, and still ended up shelling out $17 from our entertainment budget last night to fully cover the meal including tip. And to be honest, the meal wasn't nearly as satisfying as something we cook at home...in fact, it was so heavy and fat-loaded that neither of us felt very good afterward.
When the weather gets warm again, I think we'll make a new habit where "eating out" means packing a basket and having a picnic in the park. Until then, it's good old home cooking - at the dining room table - for us!
Ummmm we got chinese food last night. I was planning on cooking but it did not work out like that. Bf and I went to my store even though I didn't technically have to work(no kids yesterday). I did a bit of work and he investigated for me a bit as to why some lights would not turn on. Anyway, the girl that was supposed to work for me called and asked if I would work because she had just sliced her finger open on a piece of glass. So of course I told her I would. I had so many things to do so I did not feel like cooking and I took my deposits and got chinese food on the way home. I will use the pork I had out for dinner tonight. At least we had lunch left overs!
We really don't eat out that often. I even feel guilty for not supporting out little restaurant in town more. I am missing steak right now though. Its wayyyy too cold to bbq!
This is such a hard topic for me, because my husband is in the restaurant industry and they have been majorly hit, like everyone else, from the economy. This is one of the first expenses many people cut out, understandably so. Many restaurants have folded in the past year, which means a lot of people out of jobs. Although we too have cut eating out after hubby had to take a 30% salary cut for the restaurant to make ends meet without laying off people, we do try to support our local restaurants as much as we can.
Lucy
Good article.
Jennifer
I'll accept your challenge for this week...
We had breakfast out on the weekend & I had a nervous breakdown that the 2 orange juices we ordered were OVER $7!!! Talk about markup!
For years, I've never bought frozen pizza because I thought it was so expensive compared to a normal dinner.
Yet I'll order pizza & wings for our family of 7 and it usually costs us about $70-80...so $10+ a person! Granted, that does usually give us lunch the next day too, but still!
So this week it's actually on my grocery list to buy frozen pizza...probably ~$15-20 for all of us...not as cheap as other meals BUT at least when I'm exhausted on Fri or Sat & don't want to cook, it'll only be costing us $2-3 / person instead of $10!!
Thank you for posting this Marie!
I spend too much of my money at the coffee store/bistro across from my work. It's pretty high end (good quality food and coffee, not fast food), but it is expensive.
I go because 1. My work is very stressful and it gets me out of the building. There is nowhere in the building I can take my break without someone finding me and asking me stuff, and 2. I never had to make my lunch in school so I never learned the habit.
I am very proud to say that I DID make my lunch today, but I also went to the coffee shop and spent $5.25 on coffee and a 1/2 price wrap. I had to have fasting bloodwork done and it was too busy before work...so I went just before lunch and went to the coffee shop after. My lunch that I made has effectively become my dinner.
I think I will go downstairs and cook tomorrow's lunch. I am going to try to cook quinoa. Wish me luck!
Wow! Interesting...but not surprising. I know that when I first came to this board and started really analyzing my budget, eating out was our biggest waste of money! Imagine my surprise when I started seeing the numbers come in and Fast food/Restaurants/take-out was taking up at least $400 dollars a month! SHEESH! And I do pride myself on knowing how to cook pretty much anything, from homemade bread to any kind of meat to cakes and pies. I'm not intimidated in the kitchen. My problem has always been time, laziness, lack of planning and exhaustion. We always eat out because there's nothing in the fridge to cook, we're too busy and have to cart kids here, go to a job there, so we meet in the middle for dinner somewhere. To give you an idea of how much we have eaten out in the past (at the crappiest places because we're always looking for the cheapest option), one of my 2 year olds first words was Mcdonalds and my 11 year old hates all fast food because he says that he's had it too much.
It has taken a lot of little baby steps to stop the addiction to convenience. We used to eat out about 3-4 times a week, but today, a little over a year later, we now eat out 1 time a week. I think that's a huge improvement for us!
I think that eating out is a nice change of pace. I really enjoy going out with my husband without kids. We have time to talk and we really enjoy the time away. It should be considered a treat and not just another option for dinner.
Lucy -
I am sorry your DH is taking a hit and I just want you to be sure I did not say the industry was a bad one, in fact I truly enjoy eating out, especially because I do it less often.
Some of our favorite fast foods for home:
- Our kids like DiGiorno pizza with the rising crust - it tastes a lot like take-out
- Fish sticks, green beans and tater tots - OK, not super low fat and nutritious, but you are comparing this to McDonalds.
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