Eating Out, Cheaper Than Eating at Home
I was watching the The Today Show and I saw a story that is surprising. Eating out is cheaper then buying groceries at the supermarket today. The Today Show stated that “Grocery store prices jumped 13% year over year, while restaurant prices increased by only 7.6%. — and that has customers are seeing restaurants as the better value over supermarkets. NBC’s Sam Brock reports for TODAY.” Check out the video below.
Based on history, eating at home is usually cheaper but with high inflation rates, taking a to go order from your local restaurant might be cheaper. Supermarkets have “dynamic pricing” which means the price of food at supermarkets is constantly changing.
This would be unheard of years ago but inflation has changed the economics of eating out. Of course, fast food chains are capitalizing and offer lower meal deals. For instance, Taco Bell has the $5 Bell Breakfast Box. Wendy’s offers the Biggie Bag for $5.00 and Burger King has the $5.00 Have It Your Way Meal. These options are limited and only offer simple items on their menu.
Meats, seafood and dairy products have increased in price at local supermarkets. The other problem which occurs during your weekly supermarket trip is unexpected purchases. Many instance people don’t shop with a list and tend to buy things that you do not need and that will increase your cost at the supermarket.
Going to the grocery store hungry is another problem that will cost you at the supermarket. Reuters.com wrote an article that stated “people who hadn’t eaten all afternoon chose more high-calorie foods in a simulated supermarket than those who were given a snack just before online food shopping. And in a real grocery store, shoppers bought a higher ratio of high-calorie foods to low-calorie ones in the hours leading up to dinnertime compared to earlier in the day, the study team observed.”
