A Week in the Life of a JHS Student: How Do You Spend Your Money On Food
Photo credit: Iceberg Drive Inn
By: Andrew Scruggs
Lunch during your free hour. A quick stop after practice. Late-night drive through with your friends. For many Jenks High School students, going out to eat isn’t just occasional–it's a big part of their weekly routine.
This month, I ran a survey of Jenks High School students asking about their eating (out) habits. Simply asking what their habits are like is a broad question, so I asked the following questions to get more informative results:
How much money do you spend on food in a week?
Whose money are you spending?
Regardless of how much money you actually spend, how much money do you think is acceptable to spend on food in a week?
How often do you eat out in a week?
Where do you usually go to eat?
Who do you usually eat with?
20 students responded to my survey, with the data listed below. Let's talk about these results one at a time, starting with how much money the average student spends on food in a week typically.
The majority of students responded saying that they are spending under $50 per week on average. 5 people responded saying that they spend between $50-$75, one respondent said they spend between $75-$100 per week, and one respondent said they spent over $100.
This seems pretty reasonable at face value, but let's get into the specifics of how this money is spent.
55% of students responded saying that they mostly used other people’s money, and an extra 10% of students responded saying that they only spent other people’s money when eating out. (There was an update to the question on the survey, but someone responded before I was able to change it. The one response for “mostly your parents' money, but some of yours” is considered to be in the category of “mostly others’ money but some of yours.)
The fact that the majority of students aren’t spending their own money can most likely affect how much they’re spending in one of two ways: it could make them feel more comfortable going out to eat rather than eating at the cafeteria or at home, since it isn’t their money that they’re spending, or it could make them feel more conscious of what they are spending, and feel less willing to eat out.
The vast majority of respondents (80%) responded saying that they felt like you should be spending at most $50 per week. This was another interesting question to me, and I was honestly expecting different results. This is a 15% increase in this price range per week compared to what people actually spent, but I would have assumed it would be a bigger difference between the two statistics.
From my personal experience, I spend more money on food than I feel is appropriate per week, and I assumed that more people would be in that same boat; the majority of people are comfortable spending their money the way they do.
The fact that the largest share of people responded saying that they eat out less than twice a week would give a good explanation why such a large proportion of respondents also don’t spend any more than $50 per week. Obviously, the more you eat out, the more money you’re going to spend, so this would add up.
The questions that have been previously discussed definitely had some thinking attached to them when I was looking back over this data, and that was done purposefully when I was writing this survey. These next two questions are purely for fun, and were just to see how people go about eating out typically.
The most surprising thing about the results for this question was how people don’t really seem to eat out alone, with only two people saying that they do that. I would assume more than 10% of students do end up eating out alone at times, but it's just more common to be eating with other people.
I was also surprised that there was an even split between the number of people who usually eat with their friends vs with their boyfriend/ girlfriend. I guess in my head I assume more people are single, and would eat with their friends more, but I do think that’s a positive thing that a good amount of people have a boyfriend or girlfriend they get to eat with.
I included the ‘other’ category just out of curiosity. I’m not really sure what relationship you would have with someone you go out to eat with that wasn’t previously mentioned. To the one person who selected that, I would definitely want to hear about who you eat with.
The final question I asked was “where do you usually go to eat”, and I allowed them to put as many places as they wanted instead of choosing between different options. I don’t have a graph for this question, because it was formatted as a free response, but here are the top 10 restaurants that people responded with:
1. Chick-fil-A: 13 responses
2. Taco Bell: 6 responses
3. McDonald’s: 5 responses
4. Raising Cane’s: 5 responses
5. Chipotle: 5 responses
6. 7 Brew: 4 responses
7. Braum's: 4 responses
8. Slim Chickens: 3 responses
9. Starbucks: 3 responses
10. Cava: 3 responses
The survey reveals that most Jenks students try to stay under a $50 weekly budget, and there really isn’t much of a “guilt gap” between what the respondents spent versus what they think is acceptable. The survey also shows that 65% of respondents use only or mostly other people’s money to pay for their food over the 2-6 average times they go out to eat each week. Lastly, besides learning the most popular places where people go to get their food, the act of going out for food isn’t just about eating- the social aspect plays a huge part in it. 90% of students choose to eat out with their friends or partners rather than eating alone.
All things considered, going out to eat is a significant part of every Jenks High School student’s weekly routine. Regardless of the cost or frequency, these trips offer more than a meal–it's a great excuse to enjoy some good food, and most importantly, spend time with the people who make high school memorable.
