Eating out and credit crunch

Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson has had to shut four restaurants, leaving 60 of his staff redundant.

He visited the businesses on Friday to tell employees their jobs no longer existed due to falling sales and problems in securing bank loans.

The TV chef, 57, turned to personal savings to help keep control of two other restaurants and a delicatessen.

He said he "experienced an unexpected but decisive fall in revenue across the businesses from September 2008".(BBC)

Nowadays, this kind of news is not uncommon. People's spending power has been falling down. This morning, I heard on BBC news that a multimillionaire couple spent only £27 meal at an ordinary restaurant. People appreciated. Basically a home made sandwich could save lots of money in a long run. Moreover, we can put stuffs what we prefer into bread. At work, I noticed that £100K Annam earners bring their own lunch. I also bring my food whenever I have a chance. That means I don't need to queue at restaurant. I can eat my own fresh food what I am sure it is healthy and clean.

When I arrived in the UK for the first time, my uncle who is a consultant physician in northern England, managed me to stay in London while taking exams and learning new things. I saw a couple of good friends who taught me how to stay in Britain and how to communicate with people. ( Making a friendship with one efficient person is more meaningful than than communicating with 100 of nuts, what I believe).

One of them who is a high earner general practitioner talked to me one time what I still remember is that I must not waste even a pound coin which has its own value. Believe it or not. My total expense on food, travel and mobile phone bill (while rent was free as I was staying in my aunt's spare house) in first 8 months was only £500, which is less than my 2 day business these days if I work weekend extra time. My first time in Mac Donald for a chicken burger meal was at about 1 year after I had worked. It is interesting that many Burmese these days can afford to eat out frequently, especially in Singapore, according to their blogs. Maybe it's cheap in Singapore. For me, £5 is nothing, but I am still thinking twice whenever I spend it for something although I donate to a variety of charities on a regular basis.

A friend of mine argued against me that what would be the point of people saving money and managing future as those efforts would be futile once they died. Death is what I am not scared of, but poverty is.