Who can afford to eat out in this economy !

[UndertheOcean]

eat your tuna sandwich at home and tip 0%

[lumberjack_jeff]

1. I can only afford the cheese sandwich. n/t

[UndertheOcean]

2. A can tuna is cheaper than cheese !

[SammyWinstonJack]

12. Jam sandwich. Jam two pieces of bread together and munch.

*yum*

[fishnfla]

3. I stopped going to Hardee's 'cuz the servers didn't know my name!

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[redqueen]

4. Who can afford the internet?

We all pick our own occasional treats, TYVM.

I can hardly afford to eat out, but I didn't do it often even when I could have afforded it, simply because it's less healthy and more expensive. But as a treat now and then, I still do it.

[lunatica]

9. Actually regular restaurant food is just as healthy as any other

It's the fast food 'restaurants' that are so unhealthy.

[redqueen]

11. If you don't consider Chili's, Applebee's, Outback, TGIF,

Macaroni Grill, On The Border, Uno's, Ruby Tuesday's, etc. to be "regular restaurants", then maybe.

Maybe I just cook / want really healthy food, but most places seem have few to no healthy options IMO.

[lunatica]

19. I was thinking along the line of the restaurants I worked in

Single one store restaurants, some of them family owned for generations yet famous in the area. They weren't expensive but the food was excellent and real. The kind of restaurant where you could tell what day it was and what time of day it was by the customers who walked in the door. They were the ones that had been going to the restaurant once a week for 25 years.

[redqueen]

21. Oh yeah... those for sure.

Hardly any around here anymore, sadly.

All driven out of business by the chains of course! The walmartization of restaurants.

[lunatica]

26. Of course I worked as a waitress 40 years ago

Times have sure changed...

[8 track mind]

20. chain restaurants suck balls.

Mom and pop places rule!

[redqueen]

23. So true.

There's one of those mom and pop places in the little town where I live... it's so much better people drive 30/40 miles out of the city to eat there... place is nearly always packed. :)

[SoCalDem]

25. Mom & Pop restaurants are very much like the family-farmer

They may have planted the seeds for their own demise:(

Their business sustained their family for a few generations, but each succeeding generation got more education than the last one, and eventually, the family ran out of willing-workers within the family..and in the end when the oldsters passed on, the LAST thing a bunch of 40/50--something college-educated "children" wanted, was to get back into the restaurant or back on the farm.. They want the cash from selling it.. (and when there are no "only-children", the fighting over assets kills the business, in the divvying up of assets)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. I can

Chinese buffet at $6 for dinner isn't bad, I don't think.

[Rebubula]

6. Pleasure

One of my greatest pleasures is taking a good book or a newspaper to a sit down restaurant.

I enjoy the leisure eating, drinking (always bourbon or beer involved) and relaxed reading.

I have cut back in other ways, but you have to make room for the things that give you the most pleasure.

[Staph]

13. Me, too!

Since I am employed, I feel that I ought to be doing my part to support the local economy. I've always been more of a saver than spender, but dropping some bucks in the local bookstores and restaurants is one of my favorite treats for me.

[8 track mind]

22. i know the feeling

i haven't done that in ages, due to work schedule. Thank you for reminding me of a simple pleasure.

[kestrel91316]

7. I don't need to buy lunch today, I don't think. The local pet crematory

guy came by this AM with some labels and forms, and brought us a huge box of little coffeecakes/muffins. When I say me, I mean my assistant and me, just the two of us, lol. She ate 4. I have only had 2. And I ordered her to take the rest home to her fiancee, because if they stay here I will eat the rest.

Oh, and this is on top of the pieces of chocolate cake I brought in for us to snack on before I knew we were gonna have extra help with the carbo loading today.

[1]

8. its possible if you don't tip...

:sarcasm:

[Coyote_Bandit]

10. Ummmm......

a drive through order off the value menu will get you a sandwich and fries for $2.25 tax included - and no tip required.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

14. Uh huh huh huh huh huh.

[Dr.Phool]

15. I have to tip my dog.

He demands 15% of everything I eat.

Even worse, I'm dog sitting for a friend's Golden Retriever, and he wants it all.

[lumberjack_jeff]

17. Tipping cows is funner. n/t

[HubertHeaver]

27. Goldens are like that. Along with being very impish.

[shraby]

16. Even when the meal is reasonably priced, watch the

beverage..they really soak you for it.

[NeedleCast]

18. That kills me too, because drinks have a huge profit margin

There's no need for places to be charging $2.25 for a soda or iced tea.

[DollyM]

29. try this . . .

We order water with lemon. Refreshing and free!

[NeedleCast]

30. I do sometimes

I love cold water with fresh lemon, one of my favorite drinks.

[DollyM]

31. one of our favorite places has a $4.95 lunch special . . .

There is a little Mexican restuarant, family owned that cooks real mexican food. They have a $4.95 lunch special that is the same as what you would pay $8.00 for at night so we do lunch and skip the soft drinks which are $2.00 each. So hubby and I can eat for about $10.00 and consider that a real treat on our present broke state of being. Sometimes my hubby gets lime instead of lemon with his water since they have it there. Times like these call for being creative!

[Blue Diadem]

24. Our kids have been good to us. They give us gift certificates.

since my DH was underemployed these last several years. If we need something they will get together and give us a gift certificate at birthdays or Christmas so we can add a little to it to get what we need.

Our youngest has the habit of giving us a gift certificate to restaurants at Mother's day or Father's day.
It is the only way we have been able to eat out. That way all it costs us is the tip.

Unfortunately right now I have an Cracker barrel gift card from my BD in the fall, but no money for a tip since DH was laid off.

[Mike 03]

28. I'm not eating out, but I can understand how depressed people everywhere would want to find

some pleasure nowadays, and unhealthy food is comforting and cheap.

I side with Jonathan Kozol on this one: I'm not pious enough to discourage poor people from spending what little money they have however they want to. I enjoy giving for my own motives and never tell people how to spend that money.

[JI7]

32. fast food dollar menus