Once upon a time, I found myself out to brunch with a group of people I didn't know very well. One thing we did have in common, though, was a love of food. Personally, I rarely go to the movies, live shows, concerts, etc - my favourite form of entertainment is eating. And yes, that often means eating out. For someone who loves food, I'm a lot better at consuming it than creating it. Sigh.
But where I might eat out once or twice a week, it sounded like some of my brunch companions were eating out most nights, sometimes even twice a day. It's not like they were eating cheap takeaways all the time, either; these were people with a more sophisticated palate than that.
I couldn't help but wonder how they could afford to do that. I'd love to eat out that often, too, but it would not be a frugal move at all. Quickly doing a rough calculation in my head, I figured I might actually be able to swing a similar dining out budget - but it would totally eliminate my ability to save anything at all.
Normally, my friends and I talk pretty openly about money but these were definitely acquaintances, not friends. All I could do was speculate silently. How much were they earning?! What did their incomes vs outgoing costs look like? Did they save money regularly?
It seemed like such a contrast to how I personally approach money. I literally sleep on almost every purchase I make - even a small one, like buying a new cardigan. I will agonise over whether the cost of petrol for a fun weekend day trip is worth it. In short, I beat myself up over the smallest things.
Now that I think back, it's likely they were making a lot more money than me (advertising/marketing vs journalism). Fair play. Heck, I ate out a lot last month - a few highlights here - making the most of our Entertainment Book membership before it expired. (Best of all, the membership itself cost nothing: yay for freebies.)