Do you ever feel guilt about how much money you spend on food?
I had dinner at the Ritz Carlton recently, and I loved it, but at the end of the night, the bill crushed whatever joy I had taken in the food. I couldn't stop thinking - this would be half a month's rent, this could have paid for five outfits for work, this could have paid off some bills... I could have had twenty dim sum meals for this price! I grew up poor, and it's only recently that I have the means to treat myself to these luxuries, but they always come with the price of serious guilt. Is it the same for you?
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7 Comments:
I think the only times I've really been to some of the crazier priced restaurants, someone else has picked up the tab, so I've never felt the type of guilt you describe -- though I have with other things.
I originally thought you were going to ask about guilt vis-à-vis world hunger, etc. I usually feel guilty about that, particularly if I'm tasting food for a blog post and sample only a few bites in order to pace myself (doing 10 pizzerias in a day, for instance). To help alleviate that kind of guilt, I ended up sponsoring a child.
Adam Kuban at 1:17AM on 02/14/07
Sometimes....If my husband had his way, I would shop at Meijer and buy store brands and only items that were on sale. I always tell him you can't make good food from crappy ingredients. I hate when he comes shopping with me at some specialty produce market/gourmet and scoffs at my high priced specialty items...though he never seems to mind while he is eating them!
ThatGirl153 at 8:37AM on 02/14/07
I've never felt the high priced restaurant guilt if the meal and service were worth the price...I have learned you get what you pay for in life sometimes. I have felt the guilt over items I've purchased in grocery stores...i.e. the $8.99 I recently spent for a package of Niman Ranch bacon...it wasn't even a full pound package! I haven't cooked it yet...so I'm hoping the price was worth it. We have a local pork producer who has excellent bacon for 1/2 the price....I usually frequent his little farm stand.
I also grew up poor, my mom would make boxed macaroni & cheese with ham on more than one occasion growing up, so reconciling the price I've spent on certain groceries with that upbringing has been a challenge.
mepolo at 8:57AM on 02/14/07
yes re: world hunger. it's the same reason i can never vacation in rio e.g.
personally, i never care how much dinner (or a pair of shoes) costs. if i could get my hands on some real beluga caviar right now, i would pay almost anything.
i grew up very poor as well. one of the ways i rationalize my capricious spending is to give (and of my time as well) to charity. homeless people love a sole meuniere as much as the next guy.
Dish at 8:58AM on 02/14/07
Yes. I usually go out to dinner at a moderately-priced place once a week. Whenever I think about the cummulative price of these dinners over the course of a month or a year, it gets a little stressful.
Lucia at 11:58AM on 02/14/07
Interesting thread - similar to dish's response, my politics usually play out much more re where I travel than how much I pay for food. I'm a self-described restaurant junkie who loves to eat out - BUT I place max ceiling limits on what I'm willing to pay for a great meal. Anything over that I think is a gross waste of money and borders on extremely conspicuous consumption.
Livetotravel at 2:51PM on 02/14/07
I guess I am conflating a couple of things. 1. I'm still figuring out how to adjust from being constantly worried about money to having more than enough money and how to spend (and save) that wisely. 2. Food is more of an intangible and disappears, unlike clothes, housing, etc, and sometimes spending more on that seems less justifiable. 3. When I was younger, spending money on places like French Laundry and the Ritz was something I never saw myself doing, because spending that kind of money seemed obscene to me. I still think it's slightly obscene. (I am aware it's my own insecurities talking, though and I'm not judging anyone else who does so.)
toastykitten at 3:58PM on 02/14/07