Authored by Catey Hill via Marketwatch [2],
If your waistline is expanding while your bank account is shrinking, a new survey may have uncovered the caloric culprit.
According to a survey of more than 1,123 American workers released Tuesday by Principal Financial Group [3], two in three Americans said they blew their budget in 2014 — and it’s Americans’ appetites for food that are the main causes for this budget busting.
[4]
Dining out is the No. 1 thing Americans say they blew their budget on in 2014 (consequently, it also means they blow their diets: a study of more than 12,500 people published by Public Health Nutrition [5] this year shows that on days when people eat out they consume an average of 200 calories more than those who eat at home). Eating out is followed closely by spending on food/groceries, with 18% of American workers saying they blew their budget on food/groceries.
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Perhaps even more relevant today, only 13% said that gas prices bust their budgets in 2014... not exactly the marginal awesomeness that a gas price cut is supposed to save after all?