[pdmunro]

I got a shock the other day when I sat down to try and work out where my money goes. It goes on food.

B'fast + lunch = $15/day = $75/wk = $3500/yr (bought at cafes near work)
Dinner + wkends = $240/mthy = $3000/yr (bought weekly by my wife at shopping centre)
Restaurants = $30/wk = $1500/yr
Wine $20/wk = $1000/yr

Total = $10000/yr approx

Compare this with my contribution to fixed expenses (City Council Rates, Water, Electricity, Gas, Insurance) which equals $5000/yr. My wife contributes an equal amount.

I think the key reasons for eating the food that others cook for me are: taste and convenience. I find the food in the eateries tastier than the food I can cook. And at lunchtime I can slip out to buy lunch and be back in 7 minutes eating at my desk. Now that's convenience.

It seems that I am part of a general trend:

Retailers hit by slowdown in consumer spending
Blair Speedy
From: The Australian, September 06, 2010 12:00AM

RETAILERS are puzzling over a change in consumer spending habits, with shoppers increasingly choosing experiences rather than merchandise.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed a 6 per cent rise in consumer spending during the June quarter, but a rise of just 1 per cent in retail expenditure.

In what Citigroup analysts Craig Woolford and Andy Bowley described as a worrying trend for retailers, consumers chose to spend more of their disposable income in cafes and restaurants, where sales were up 9 per cent in the June quarter, and on sporting and recreational events*, which were up by 20 per cent.

At the same time, spending on appliances was down by 1 per cent and sales of clothing and footwear fell by 5 per cent.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/r...x-1225914507954

*Another news report said this expenditure was mainly gambling.

Two questions:

Do we seek out tastier foods as some kind of stress relief?

Are these eating habits simply a reaction to how busy (time-poor, productive) our working lives have become.

[Phil]

I was developing an eight acre shopping center (supermarket, shops, etc..) about ten years ago during our last economic slowdown. We had a one acre pad on our best corner that we had reserved for a restaurant, and we had plenty of interest.

I don't know if this is an urban myth or there is evidence to support it, but I was told that restaurants actually do better during economic slowdowns. One of the reasons is that people take less vacations and spend less on discretionary items, but they still want to get out of the house.

I have no idea if this is true, but the OP seems o bear this out.

[phil_20686]

pdmunro, on Sep 6 2010, 03:44 AM, said:

I think the key reasons for eating the food that others cook for me are: taste and convenience. I find the food in the eateries tastier than the food I can cook. And at lunchtime I can slip out to buy lunch and be back in 7 minutes eating at my desk. Now that's convenience.

From the news report that follows, it seems that I am part of a general trend.

I find cooking very relaxing. Something about making something with my hands gives me a deep sense of well being.

[pigpenz]

pdmunro, on Sep 6 2010, 03:44 AM, said:

I got a shock the other day when I sat down to try and work out where my money goes. It goes on food.

and those who play alot of tournament bridge, have you figured out how much you spend there

[pdmunro]

pigpenz, on Sep 10 2010, 08:39 PM, said:

pdmunro, on Sep 6 2010, 03:44 AM, said:

I got a shock the other day when I sat down to try and work out where my money goes.  It goes on food.

and those who play alot of tournament bridge, have you figured out how much you spend there

The sad part is that I have neither the time nor the energy for f-2-f bridge these days. I teach Chemistry and act as coordinator for the subject. Colleagues with similar roles agree that our jobs are getting more demanding. Two years ago, I was working 9 am to 6 pm 5 days a week and Sunday evenings. Now I rarely have time to eat lunch in the staffroom on weekdays, plus I work all day Sunday.

[PassedOut]

pdmunro, on Sep 10 2010, 09:55 PM, said:

The sad part is that I have neither the time nor the energy for f-2-f bridge these days. I teach Chemistry and act as coordinator for the subject. Colleagues with similar roles agree that our jobs are getting more demanding. Two years ago, I was working 9 am to 6 pm 5 days a week and Sunday evenings. Now I rarely have time to eat lunch in the staffroom on weekdays, plus I work all day Sunday.

I'm plenty old enough to remember learned predictions that in the 21st century our biggest problem would be how to deal with the tremendous increase in leisure time. It certainly hasn't worked that way for me, nor you.

Anybody here have too much leisure?

[mgoetze]

PassedOut, on Sep 11 2010, 04:30 PM, said:

I'm plenty old enough to remember learned predictions that in the 21st century our biggest problem would be how to deal with the tremendous increase in leisure time. It certainly hasn't worked that way for me, nor you.

Anybody here have too much leisure?

Sometimes.

The problem is obviously the trend to have few employees working overtime rather than many employees working a nice relaxed 30h/week. And the root cause of that is, IMHO, massive underinvestment in education. Also, too much middle management (people busy feeling important and thinking about how others should go about their jobs rather than actually working).

[JoAnneM]

Actually it is a whole lot cheaper to have fewer employees working lots of hours than have lots of employees working reasonable hours because of the base cost of benefits, company infrastructure, etc.

[mgoetze]

Yeah that too... therefore I propose an extra tax on wages paid in excess of 30 hours per week.

[1eyedjack]

pdmunro, on Sep 6 2010, 09:44 AM, said:

I got a shock the other day when I sat down to try and work out where my money goes. It goes on food.

I got a shock the other day when I sat down to try and work out where my money goes. It goes on electricity.