With the recent rise in inflation and the cost of almost everything rising, it is becoming more and more difficult to justify spending money on things like groceries, clothing, footwear and eating out to name but a few. I make a decent wage and have some disposable income and like everyone else I like to splurge every once in a while. My choice is eating out, which we do maybe three times a month as we all know sometimes you just don’t want to cook.
I was surprised at how much food has gone up in price and for a family of four without alcohol being ordered, quite often our order comes to well over $130 whereas just a few short months ago it was around $90 and to top it off you are expected to tip, which can add up real fast. My last two times eating out I refused to leave a tip and in one case the waitress called me a cheap &$*-. I have only so much disposable income per month and I’m sorry but leaving a $15-30 tip just isn’t in the cards for me right now.
Wages are not keeping up with rising costs and everyone is paying the price and we decided to scale back our eating out and with that the tip will either not be paid or scaled way back. I feel sorry for those that rely on tips to supplement their income but just because I have a decent wage doesn’t mean I’m loaded either. Something has to give and for me it starts scaling back on eating out and decreasing the tip size or none at all.
Dean Soiland
Prince George
