Are you a miser when buying your lunch on a day out?

Me too. I really baulk at paying overinflated prices.
$14.50 for a small Fried Rice? Not me.
Supermarket has 6 Pumpkin Scones for $5 and 600ml Black Label Orange Juice for $2.75.
Pumpkin Scones are the best. Inexpensive, delicious and filling. :yum:

I thought $12.50 for egg and bacon roll and coffee was good value - tonnes of bacon

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I am not but my father and my ex boss were. On holiday dad took a flask of tea and sandwiches. Complemented from fruit and juices relieved from our bed and breakfast hotel. My boss was exactly the same but he also bought one bar of chocolate and insisted he and his wife shared it. She was not allowed a bar for herself.

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It depends on my mood and budget. I mostly take a flask of coffee when going out for the day (on Tuesday I will do so) and sometimes pack a sandwich or roll. Sometimes I will splash out, but this also depends where I am at the time. Tuesday I will go to Norwich and a stall in the market does fab cheese on toast and milky coffee, so may have that. Wednesday, on the day I collect Holly from her new carers (if she lasts the two nights), I plan on having a late but leisurely carvery lunch. It is only about 10 minutes from their house.

When out, searching for lunch, I will seek out the cheapest option, refusing to pay high prices. All else fails, there’s always McDonalds.

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Miser or self-indulgent? Bit of both.
About twice a year I nip back to the UK, usually London but not always, for a few days to catch up with friends and relatives. But most often I’ve a day or two on my own - which I enjoy. A re-visit to a museum or gallery, a walk round places I don’t know. Sometimes lunch is a soup and a roll from a sandwich shop, but other times its a full blown meal in a nice restaurant. It helps that I’m quite comfortable eating on my own in a restaurant.

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It depends on where I am & what sort of day out it is.

Sometimes taking a reasonable packed lunch gives me time to choose where & when I want to eat, with no real savings. At other times, going into a restaurant is an enjoyable part of the trip.

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Having lunch out usually means dining with a friend or two, or three. It’s a treat for me, so I will order something I don’t make for myself when at home. I don’t go overboard, but I don’t flinch at an extra dollar or two, either.

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Absolutely not! Eating well is part of the fun of a day out, isn’t it? Especially tasting the local specialities of wherever you may be in the universe. :smiley:

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No !
Even if I’m shopping I expect to buy at least coffee & toasted tea cake my favourite oh yes with jam and butter . I can’t be bothered with a flask!

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I don’t eat much anyway, but I too always buy a coffee & toasted tea cake in a cafe, Ripple. Just butter for me though. If I have a meal it’s usually a kids one. Did go to one cafe that refused to let me have a kids meal, so I bought a sandwich, doing them out of money, as the kids meal was £8.95 & the sandwich only £4.95. Won’t be going to that cafe again. :grinning:

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:+1: :grinning:

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Makes no sense to refuse you the smaller meal.
I would have walked out and not bought anything, as I do here in similar circumstances.
Then they complain that the public do not support them.
They obviously do not need your money.

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Much depends on the occasion. If I’m in my local on a Sunday then I’ll possibly go for a pub lunch. It’s not exactly high dining and quite affordable although I don’t indulge every Sunday. It’s all about socialising and taking in the atmosphere.

Flasks are for fishing! :+1: :fishing_pole_and_fish:

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This might be no longer true but on my last visit to the UK (which was ages ago) I was surprised to find that, while food in the supermarket was in general cheaper than here, eating out cost a lot more than here.

Even Maccas cost in £s what we pay in $ - ie it was twice as much.

On an even earlier visit in the 80s I paid £20 for a pizza when we paid something like $3 to $5 at the time that was not so extreme on my last visit.

Another anomaly was that here you, say, select steak or fish they generally just ask if you want chips and salad or veggies with it - when I ate at restaurants in the UK you had to select each item that went with the steak and the price varied according to what you selected.

As I say that might not be true now.

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It depends where you eat. For example. A pub chain called Weatherspoons, does some very average food, but for £10, or less, you can get a reasonable main course & a pint of beer, a glass of wine, or similar. Even in London, where a pint in other pubs may cost you £5.

Some places charge for every item, others for the whole meal. In general, the chains offer the worst value, quality & service. Independents vary. But many independents offer some great quality, with excellent service at less than you would pay in a chain restaurant.

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I do count my pennies, which means I will never go ridiculous when buying food. The only exception is special occasions and on holiday (to a degree). That said, I don’t like to cheap out on my food, as I like to enjoy it. A lot of it depends on circumstances and mood.

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Totally agree!

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And tomorrow we are having lunch with family for ten of us. And I won’t buying !

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Missed this post before. I absolutely agree @Rose2 . Eating is one of the great pleasures in life. When I travel I want to try everything even if it is merely a camel or a moose burger.

I must admit sometimes places overdo it, while travelling in WA and the NT I got fed up with being offered Barramundi as the house speciality. Not that there is anything wrong with Barra but it is only fish and I can buy it at my local club.

Thailand is my favourite eating place, the street food is amazing and rarely fails to surprise.

I have mentioned this before - my only food failure was in Cambodia when I just could not bring myself to eat deep fried cockroach or grasshoppers. :frowning_with_open_mouth:

I enjoy paying for meals with my kids and grandkids. I remember how hard it was paying off a mortgage, rasing kids etc when I was their age.

As much they may protest I usually insist on paying because I am not saving for anything at my age and I have more than enough for my own needs (subsidised as they are by the government and its current taxpayers).

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I’m no miser, but I’m struggling to get my head around a simple burger and chips costing £16-£18 as standard.

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