On average, Canadian households visit a restaurant for a meal or snack 520 times a year, according to the most recent StatsCan data. And that number is expected to grow.

Even though their parents steered clear of eating out, many boomers have raised their kids to think that eating out in restaurants or from the take out window as Swiss Chalet is no big deal … something you do, well, when you're hungry.

But can you really afford it, asks MELISSAB, who blogs at Beating Broke. She doesn’t think so, particularly when you consider all the costs. 

Eating out with a group of people from work or your softball team can be a real hoot.

You know what's not much fun though? Trying to figure out who owes what when the cheque hits the table, particularly when you realize that how you pay often affects how much you pay.

A study done a few years ago found that people who dined out in a group spent more if they knew the bill was going to be split evenly. If each person settled up individually, the group as a whole ordered less.

Not surprisingly, if everyone knew that someone else was picking up the tab, they ordered twice as much.

But that still doesn't address the issue of you paying more than your fair share. So even split or separate cheques?

From a coterie of self-sufficient farmers and thrifty merchants, the United States has evolved into a country where people not only want more than they have but generally want more than is good for them.

So says Daniel Akst, in his new book We Have Met the Enemy: Self-Control in an Age of Excess.

It's an interesting treatise on how Americans (don’t gloat; Canadians fare almost as poorly) have slowly become consumers who simply don't know when to stop — even though their habits are bad for their health, finances, and the planet they live on.

Akst estimates that overeating, smoking, unprotected sex, drinking too much alcohol and similar excesses contribute to close to half of the deaths every year in the U.S.

The cost of home ownership in Canada is on the move again.

The proportion of pre-tax income required to handle the costs of owning a home jumped last quarter for all types of housing tracked by RBC Economics housing affordability index.

The biggest jump was once again in Vancouver with the cost of mortgages payments, utilities and property taxes for a bugalow coming in at close to 93% of a typical household’s monthly gross -- up 10.4 percentage points from the previous quarter.

In Montreal, home ownership cost roughly half that eating up 43% of a typical family’s income, up 1.4 percentage points from the first quarter. Other major cities in the survey include: Ottawa (41%), Calgary (37% and Edmonton (34%)

Hoping to get another weekend or two at the cottage before school starts? You may soon see some relief from the convoys of motor homes lined up ahead of you.

The sluggish economy and high gas prices are forcing many monster RVs to the side of the road. And, it seems, the newer models that are taking their place are that much smaller.

"Fuel prices are driving it, but this is a cultural shift," says Bob Wheeler, CEO of Airstream, which converts delivery-van-style Mercedes-Benz Sprinters into low-key motor homes. "There's a shift away from conspicuous consumption," he told US Today.

Though these units are still priced upwards of $125,000, they typically don't have the panache of larger units. But they do get triple the gas mileage of some big gasoline-powered motor homes.

While many wine lovers will tell you otherwise, the most dominant flavour in that glass of Merlot may its price tag.

That's the opinion of Robin Goldstein, whose paper detailing more than 6,000 blind tastings maintains that “individuals who are unaware of the price do not derive more enjoyment from more expensive wine.”

Goldstein argues that most people buy wine based on image rather than smell and taste and that our expectations do influence our taste sensations.

As a result, when most people are given wine without seeing the label, they prefer cheap wines just as much or more than expensive wines.

Seven in ten (70%) Ontario renters say that owning a home is in their plan, according to a recent survey from the Ontario Real Estate Association. In fact, 12% say it’s their plan to purchase in the next two years, while others say within the next five years (19%). 

While 78% say that renting is simply the right choice for them at the their current stage in life, most feel  like they're wasting their money by renting.

What's keeping them back? Well, other than not being able to carry a mortgage (54%), not having a large enough down payment (52%), being spooked by potential maintenance costs (26%), not wanting all the responsibility (25%), or being a former home owner (13%), really not all that much.

Do you feel the same way?

Using a shopping cart instead of a much smaller basket can help you make healthier choices as you cruise down the aisles. At least that’s the thinking behind a recent study in the Journal of Marketing Research.

Watching people as they stocked up in the grocery store, the researchers found that people who used hand-held baskets instead of those insidious oversized carts were more than three times as likely to choose unhealthy over healthy food items.

Why, exactly, is a little complicated, but essentially the notion is that bodily sensations can influence our thoughts and emotions.

In this case, the researchers maintain that the act of flexing your arm, as required by the basket, somehow encourages you to choose smaller, easier and generally less healthy items, while extending your arm, as you do when you push a cart, has the opposite effect.