Wasting Chicken Wings Really Burns My A$$
I looked back as we left a popular local restaurant and saw chicken wings, most of a burger and two half empty beer glasses sitting on the table where my wife and I had been eating lunch with another family. Our friends had ordered too much food again.
I mean seriously, who wastes chicken wings?
They had ordered chicken wings as an appetizer, but couldn’t eat them all. When it came time to order entrees, they let their seven year old order a half pound burger from the adult menu because they didn’t want to deal with him throwing a fit over having to order off of the kid’s menu. I’m not exactly sure why they didn’t finish their beverages.
No to-go box needed as they didn’t have room in their refrigerator.
In contrast, our pre-planned meal had been executed perfectly with no food being left behind. Before piling into the van, we had visited the restaurant’s website and decided what we were going to order. My wife and son split a burger as neither of them can finish the half pound burger served. We each planned to order a beverage, but when it came time to order I decided to downgrade to water. Taking into account my beverage change, our total was exactly what we thought it would be, and it was half that of our friends’ bill.
I’m sure they didn’t give a second thought to how much less their bill could have been. They simply ordered what sounded good, as the size of the bill wasn’t a concern. Behaviors such as what we did that day are usually associated with people on a tight budget.
I call it just being wise with our money.
It wasn’t that we couldn’t have afforded spending more on our meal, I just don’t see the point of unnecessarily spending money I don’t have to. Leaving food on the table of a restaurant represents money I would rather have in my pocket to spend on something else.
It seems a lot like dropping a $20 bill on the ground and just walking away. Just because you CAN drop a $20 bill on the ground and have not not hurt your finances significantly doesn’t mean you do it on a regular basis. If you don’t believe me, try doing it on purpose once.
Do you think about every purchase? Have you seen someone waste money lately that rubbed you the wrong way?
Brought to you courtesy of Brock
Brock is a software engineer by day and personal finance blogger at night. He is a fitness junkie and enjoys grilling and smoking meat. Married with two children, Brock strives to improve his skills as a husband and father, and is always on the lookout to stretch his family’s budget as far as he can.
Before no. But now, yes. We do think of every purchase. As much as possible , we are taking account of everything that we’ve purchased. We want to make sure that we don’t waste a lot of money.
Brock,
When it comes to food, I try hard not to waste it. Sometimes, yes, that means I’ll take my time and enjoy a long dinner. I’m not a fan of rushing through meals (I prefer the European style of sitting, talking with people, getting courses and not rushing).
And it’s super irritating to go out with people who can’t finish their meals. Either order less, eat more or stay home.
-Christian L. @ Smart Military Money
I’d have taken the wings. 🙂 Inviting them out with you could be like taking a discount on every meal….
@KC – exactly! We used to be the same way too….swiping that credit card is tooo easy. Once we learned how to truly value the money that we earned, it’s much harder now to turn a blind eye to waste. 🙂
@Christian – I agree about the European style of going out to eat. If I’m going to spend my hard earned cash on a meal, I want it to be an event – time shared with friends and family. Great comment!
@Jenny – LOL I was wondering if anyone was going to make that comment. I actually thought about asking if I could take the wings home (I LOVE chicken wings), but it felt too weird.