Something that's been on my mind a lot has been this article that I read "10 Things we don't spend money on". The first item on the list was restaurants. We don't eat too out much. There are two main reasons for us eating in more than eating out. First, in our town there aren't that many restaurants that really tempt us to eat out. Second, our budget allocations have changed over the last five years which keeps us in more. When we do indulge in a treat of eating out, I'm happy that there are places to go and eat for us to enjoy.
The article writer says that they do go out to eat but only when they've figured out how to get a free gift card or have some type of groupon deal so it's really cheap. I'm having a hard time with this concept. As I've said before, I'm all for a good deal, but when we get to restaurants I get to see the people involved in the deal and start to think about how the dollars are flowing.
Restaurants need to buy food, pay employees, advertise, buy insurance and all kinds of expenses that I don't even want to understand...I want restaurants to be there for those times that we do get to have a treat or we are on a trip and I didn't make the effort to pack a meal.
I am starting to better understand that I need to pay for these services that others are providing and restaurants is definitely one of those services that have a direct correlation with the dollars in my pocket. If I go to a restaurant and don't really spend any money then can I really expect them to be there the next time? If everyone came in with a coupon, they couldn't stay afloat unless they raised their prices high enough to cover the coupon. Is the coupon really then a deal?
For 2011, we aren't necessarily going to have more money to spend than we did in 2010 (especially with Obama stopping federal employee pay raises), but I am going to be more thoughtful of how I do spend the money that I can put into the economy. I hope to truly support businesses this year and not just take advantage of them.
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