Dining Out – Let’s Not Take It for Granted
By Kevin Gibbons
One of the early casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic was eating out. As restaurants and bars closed across the country, many of us became adept at finding new recipes on line, cooking at home, starting vegetable gardens and learning how to bake bread (I remember how frustrating it was for me to find flour back in April!). As communities slowly eased their restrictions, take-out became an option. Then outdoor dining and, finally, in some places, limited indoor eating.
As we head into fall, most places across the country have some sort of limited dining rules in place. But before we all head back to our favorite, or new, restaurants, stop and take a minute to consider what you want your dining experience to be. For many of us, we have discovered or rediscovered our ability to prepare good meals at home. For some of us, we may have even found that we enjoy cooking at home. It’s usually much cheaper (I find I can prepare a very good meal for me and my wife for about 1/5 of what it costs to eat out) and often less stressful, with the big challenge being clearing off the dining room table instead of getting dressed, making reservations and finding parking.
If you can get a good quality meal at home, for less money and less headache, then what are you looking for when you eat out?
A change of scenery
Just tired of cooking and cleaning up
Social interaction
Food or drink that you cannot easily get at home
Supporting your local establishments so they can continue to exist
Ask yourself, “will I get the experience I am looking for under the current circumstances?” If you really want to enjoy the hustle and bustle of a traditional bar, but your favorite drinking hole has social distancing policies in place that really change that atmosphere, maybe it is not worth it for you to go just yet.
You have choices as to how you spend your time and how you spend your money. Everyone’s desires and expectations are different. Before you just jump back into old habits, stop and ask yourself if you are really getting the value you want.
As for my wife and me, we will return to our favorite restaurants and look forward to finding new ones when we feel it is safe. Dining out will become more of a “special occasion” for us and an opportunity for social interaction.
Kevin Gibbons is a Cash Flow Planning Expert, the Vice President of The Savvy Life and co-author of the international bestseller Living The Savvy Life. For the past eight years, Kevin and Savvy Life Founder Melissa Tosetti have worked with over 625 individuals and families to create Spending Plans.
To learn about how Kevin and Melissa work with clients to create Spending Plans, visit The Savvy Life’s Home Page. If you’d like to learn about how they work with financial advisors and their clients visit: The Savvy Life Advisor’s Page
