"We can't justify a £52 lunch" - AIBU to think you didn't need to?

[PropitiousJump]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg3g11z6d8o

I found this article irritating. Middle earning families complaining they can't afford a day out, in part because of the expense of eating lunch and dinner out. A family of four in both cases.

I completely agree it's got expensive to eat out, but have they never heard of taking your own sandwiches?

And if you look at what they've eaten, they've ordered a lot of extras that have bumped up the bill.

Costa family - £52 lunch for four. If they could have done without an overpriced bag of crisps on top of their mains, and not had puddings (this was lunch, not dinner) they could have got the bill down to a more reasonable £40ish - a tenner each.

Pizza Express family - £174 dinner for four. If they cut out the starter and side orders and the adults had soft drinks instead of alcohol, they could have got the bill down to approx £109 for soft drinks, mains and a dessert each.

This isn't saying they are eating too much - it's not a diet-bashing thread - but common sense says that if you are eating in a chain place on a day out and trying to keep costs down, you don't order loads of extras and alcohol. Have a drink and a snack at home if you're still hungry. Save all the extras for an 'occasion' where eating out is the focus of the event and you're going somewhere special, not fuelling up in a chain restaurant.

AIBU?

I imagine nationwide chains were picked so people all round the country could relate. If they went to a small independent, id have no idea if they gone to an high end or budget place.

I can pitch exactly where costa and pizza express are in terms of price in my local area.

I have thought for a long time there was almost a bubble on the number of coffee places out there and it wasn't sustainable. We are just seeing that unravel...

Everything is so overpriced nowadays. Now if I have to go out I rather go once a month somewhere fancy and spend the money in nice food and good service,rather than going once a week to McDonald or similar and spending £40 for two people meal deal for shite food.

Costa devalued their brand by going into BP and other service stations with vending machines.
They also have a loyalty program but I haven't used it.

I thought the same- ditto the chain restaurants and fast food outlets.

I think the idea of eating out in that way is quite a modern thing, and when I say modern I mean over the lat 30-40 years

There is nothing intrinsically necessary about going to 'lunch' in addition to a day out. (with the cost of entry etc to whatever the day out entails)

Thats an expectation that has developed. Its neither right nor wrong but doesnt mean that because someone did do it or wants to do it and cant that there is something wrong with not being able to afford it.

We dont have that sort of food culture here anyway, on the continent, not so much France actually, people eat out as a way of life more than we do, but eating and drinking out in Spain is incredibly cheap compared to income.

People aren't living like that now, H0sta, which is exactly the point. Don't try to make a counterpoint with going off the deep end the other way.

Firstly – of course older housing stock need renovation from half a century ago. Houses degrade – electrics, plumbing, roofs, etc. Who do you personally know who is having 'constant Renos', driving 'multiple shiny cars', having multiple holidays that isn't earning well over 6-figures?

There are 2 possibly 3 costas in our town. Whenever I pass the biggest one its usually pretty empty. They probably do well in hospitals where your choices are more limited

Quite! It means we don't worry so much about an unexpected bill like a car repair. Peace of mind is priceless!

This, it’s true happiness.

Actually the burden to the NHS is people living longer due to improved health, but OK.

The point of this is that stuff that used to be comfortably within budget - and indeed squarely aimed at families of four on middle incomes - is now almost out of reach for those same families.

They should be able to afford a glass of wine without having to bring a bloody hip flask. It's hardly profligate. Haven't read the whole thread but would put money on it having descended into classic smug MN judginess about how people should live a simpler life, free from such sins as Costa and Pizza Express.

Whilst I agree with some of your post, I have managed to have very nice homemade lunches, that I have taken on day trips, that never, ever included warm meat paste sandwiches, or crap butties!

I don’t have much sympathy for them. Like most people we know, we bring packed lunches on days out. If we’re eating out, it will be within our means and certainly not piling on unnecessary extras!! Who even does that? I love Pizza Express but that’s a very fancy/ expensive restaurant to most! Clearly fancy themselves as quite well off!! Their choice to waste money on it, but surprising they’d have the nerve to try and throw themselves a pity party in the papers! Read the room….

The point is if families like this cannot afford a basic (and let’s face it quite shit) lunch out then this is terrible for the economy and country as a whole. Packed lunches don’t keep cafes etc in business and people in jobs

We are more of a service economy now, where I live had swathes of people employed down the mines and in huge textile mills. Then the rest of the world developed and could undercut and our manufacturing became more expensive as standards for workers improved. Unintended consequences.

So a service economy it is which is very much a choice and now for many it’s unaffordable so bits of that are failing.

Four of us went out to an independent tapas restaurant and for cocktails at the weekend for DS birthday in our local city. DH and I spent £210, DS and his GF each got a round in at £25 each. Going out is expensive.

Local pubs are struggling and offering 40% off vouchers at the minute near me.

We do eat out but never touch the likes of chain places except Wagamama’s, which is ok. My friend sums up chain coffee shops she calls them Costalotta and Starfucks.

Obesity is a major burden on the NHS, with the annual cost of treating obesity-related diseases estimated at roughly £6.5 billion as of 2022/2023. Some estimates suggest this figure could rise significantly, with some projections closer to £11.4 billion by 2025.
NHS England Digital +1

That was my first thought, Costa cake is always a disappointment no way would I risk the sandwiches. I'd pack sandwiches - often packed pasta when we were going somewhere with shit food like legoland.

Its not 'improved health', our health is declining, our longevity was increasing so that is simply a case of us treating people to keep going and keep living when their health conditions 100 years ago would have seen them off (diabetes is a good example of this)

I think our longevity might have changed in the last few years although you cant read much into such a short space of time

When my kids were little I could take them to soft play, entry was £15 for two and included a lunch box - basically a sandwich, juice box and a cookie. It would be a cheap afternoon out and let them run off steam. There’s a local farm that does very nice ice cream with a kids play area. My DS and I would go and have lunch, I could have a coffee and he could play for a while, lunch would be £20 for a snack plate for him, a panini for me coffee and an ice cream. We’d do one or other weekly.

The soft play is now £10 each entry and lunch isn’t included any more. I took my now teenage son back to the local farm place (he had a stroke of nostalgia), lunch was £40.

I couldn’t do that now despite a higher salary and working more hours than I did then. Both were at the time part of our usual week but would be unaffordable now. Neither I would consider particularly extravagant but out of reach for many young families.

The places need to cover their costs, I have no issue with that, but wage stagnation means both businesses are under threat, because they’re now a treat rather than routine.

@Shinyhappyapple Well ... Spain is a huge wine producing country and we are not.

We used to have easy and frictionless trade with our big wine producing neighbours, but now we don't. It is, apparently, what the public wanted.

Lets be honest, if the bbc was offering to fund a lunch or day out for you you'd probably not worry about the cost, I know I wouldn't.

Agreed OP. Plus, don't people only go to pizza express when they have a discount code. The pizzas are not worth their full price. You get a better and cheaper pizza in an independent Italian restaurant.

They DIDN'T spend it. Panorama paid for it for them because they can't eat out like this – that's the point.

I know from the tradesmen we have to wait months for. They have told us. They’re ripping out perfectly descent kitchens, bathrooms and doing rooms they did fairly recently. I see the work done on neighbours houses and hear the discussions at work. It’s also all over social media as is the amount of tat you’re supposed to buy for every season so you’re autumn, spring, Christmas( insert all manner or titles ) ready.