Am I being unrealistic?

Went to my local lunch club at community centre today for the first time , we had lovely homemade tomato & pepper soup , shepherds pie with veg & gravy and freshly cubed fruit with fresh cream , all very delicious and were only £5 .

What a rip-off. I wait until I get home and make coffee there!

Boz

Ah, Pastel de nata. £1.50 at M&S; £1 at Co-op and S/burys and 59p at Lidl; Lidl was the best!

I totally agree Boz, Lidl’s really are the best.

I was in a coffee shop and spied a cake I liked the look What I didn't spot was the reasonable sized piece on display was actually four pieces and one portion was less than 2 inches square at about a fiver!! It was delicious bit not a mistake I will male again.

I treated myself to coffee and danish in a large supermarket this week. I noticed a young lad come into cafe area after buying a sandwich, drink and crisps in the lunch aisle, so just wanted a comfy seat!

Typical Glasgow breakfast – a breakfast roll generously filled with Ayrshire bacon and a double espresso – at my favourite café comes to £4.70. A slice of best Stornoway black pudding (the café is run by an Islands family) in the roll pushes it up to £5.40.

But of course this is Glasgow, not London, and not the city centre or the fashionable West End either. Another café in Partick does very nice cakes of a traditional kind – a generous slice with a coffee might set you back £7.

SO and I had lunch today in the museum restaurant in our nearest city (S Yorkshire). One very thick and well filled cheese sandwich with side salad, coleslaw and tortilla chips; one vegetable chili with rice, tortilla chips and salad leaves; two large Americanos with milk: total price £18.60. Delicious food served by friendly, helpful staff - we'll go there again for sure.

sounds about average to me.
i had not sipped or supped out for several years until last year while early for an appt with a family member. he suggested and paid.
i was surprised at the cost for 2x coffees.
i have £70 a week income and diminishing savings used for bills. so coffee out is an irrelevance to me.

‘As well as enjoying the 2 free weekly treats it gives me a buzz. It’s worth £4 a week and my monthly o2 contract is only £8! 😀’
That’s okay if you are near a branch of Greggs at the right time😎. I’m on a monthly SIM card contract with iD Mobile for £5 a month. Depends how many mins./how much data you need. It’s enough for me. We have an excellent bean to cup coffee machine, so I take a travel mug with me in the car. I rarely visit coffee shops, unless I’m meeting someone.
Am I right in thinking that Asda cafés are offering soup and a drink for £1? 🤔

I had my weekly coffee out today from Greggs. A free weekly treat from the o2 Priority mobile app. I’ll be back on Saturday for my free weekly hot breakfast roll !

As well as enjoying the 2 free weekly treats it gives me a buzz. It’s worth £4 a week and my monthly o2 contract is only £8! 😀

At the bargain end of the scale, DH got the lunchtime deal at a craft centre cafe lately. Homemade soup with a roll and a cup of coffee for £1.99.

He’s good at sniffing out a bargain. He meets up with a few mates most weeks at the local market (something they started in lockdown, standing well apart) and usually treats himself to a bacon buttie and what he says is a decent coffee there, all for £3. They don’t have the same overheads as the cafes, of course.

Boz

Ah, Pastel de nata. £1.50 at M&S; £1 at Co-op and S/burys and 59p at Lidl; Lidl was the best!

But best eaten in the bakery cafe in Lisbon where they were invented.

My husband wasted no time at all declining a small polystyrene cup of tea priced £2.50 at our local fish & chip shop. That was to take away too, I calculated 2p for the tea bag a splash of milk no sugar and hot water. Not so much as a price rise more like daylight robbery!

Today went to Dunelms to shop with friend. Had lunch ….two packs of prawn salad sandwiches ….an Americano coffee…a cup of tea and a shared packet crisps ….£14…. 🤷🏻‍♀️😳

My version is a mixture. I am only interested in good quality coffee and never drink instant stuff. I want a china cup or mug and not a thick "railway buffet" cup or as for cardboard "ugh" . So on trips out I always take my own fresh coffee, cafieteres fresh milk thermos etc etc and of course my lovely worcester china to drink from. That way I get the best views, can stop on top of the moors or by the sea miles away from towns and usually have a picnic or some fruit with me so am reaonably selfsufficient. But there are occasions when I treat myself to a decent coffee etc and it may be meeting a friend from a distance or after we have been doing something and finish off with a coffee. So usually have a few different places that I really like, where the coffee is good, the seating comfortable and no loud music. If I am ever somewhere new and see a possible coffee shop and walk in to loud music or other things I dislike I simply smile and turn round and walk out.

Me too. I bought 5 cakes (brownies, flapjack and blonde) at our local independent coffee shop to take to my silver class as I was too late to bake. They came to £16.50! I was shocked. Yes, they were pretty large and very nice but still.

I paid about $22 for two large cherry scones and two regular coffees. I think that's outrageous! I won't be doing that again soon.

£7,50 for an Americano coffee and a slice of cake.

Coffee 2,50, so £5 for a piece of cake. Exorbitant!
I won’t be back.

Went into a pub in Marlborough, Wilts on Saturday and bought just 2 small coffees... and was charged £8!!

I just take a flask and a Tunnocks teacake/caramel wafer with me!

sandelf

I pay for the view...
sussexmodern.org.uk/places/de-la-warr-pavilion/

Yes I know this cafe too! I live just along the coast from there and De la Warr is one of my favourite spots; the view is fantastic another good spot is The Towner Cafe in Eastbourne where you can see over Devonshire Park tennis 😁

It's the cake that's too expensive I paid £3 for a coffee and £3.25 for cake northern perk at northern general hospital the cake was small if I'd thought about it I wouldn't have paid it

As a person who spent my whole adult life being able to knit my own jumpers, hats and scarves. Being able to sew the majority of my own clothes (until my eyesight started getting bad). Being able to make my own bread and cakes, etc and being able to brew myself a cup of coffee. The thought of paying something like 1000% more for something I could make at home just puts me off going anywhere.

You are paying for sitting,often for a long time, in a nice environment. I don't know how independent coffee shops survive with their overheads.

Clearly I don’t know the details of the economics involved, but business rates, rent and most of all energy costs have gone through the roof, possibly wages too.
Somebody has to pay for it - so it’s us the customers or the establishment goes out of business.