[Noun] Makes You Fat
Another in the world’s continuing series of “[noun] makes you fat” articles. This time, it’s credit cards. And how do credit cards make you fat, you ask? Because you can use them to buy fast food.
But while customers like the convenience of being able to pay for fast food with plastic, their waistlines might not be so forgiving. A number of studies show that consumers are less likely to drive by fast food restaurants if they know the restaurants accept credit cards…
Not only that, but people spend more money when they pay via credit card than they would if they were paying with cash. A Visa study of 100,000 restaurant transactions found that customers spent, on average, 30 percent more than those who paid with cash. That 30 percent can be the difference between a small order of fries and soft drink and a supersize order, or it can be the addition of a high-calorie dessert.
I know; it really seems like a dumb premise. Fast food doesn’t make you fat, credit cards make you fat. Does that also mean that money makes me fat? You know, because I use it to buy food? But it does feel less “real” to spend using plastic, even a debit card, as opposed to the cash in my wallet. This is why I try to use cash as often as possible; it really helped me reduce my debt when I did that.
Although the article seems like kind of a stretch, what do you think? Have you used a credit card at a fast food place? I use mine at Subway sometimes, and I don’t think it makes me likely to buy cookies or anything. If anything, it makes me more likely to pick up a bottle of water. Although I noticed the other day that the receipt prints out the full credit card number and expiration date, so I won’t be using my card there anymore. But anyway, what’s your experience? Do you use credit cards at fast food restaurants? Does it make you spend more? Does it make you fat?
Thanks to Marinn for the link!
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Cold Hard Cash, Food
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I might buy into this one. I NEVER use cash, only my debit card. In the mornings, before they took plastic, if I was running late to work, and there wasn’t anything quick to eat in the house, I’d skip breakfast altogether. Same with lunch. But now that they take plastic, I go to MDs WAY more often.
From what I’ve heard, skipping meals also makes you fat, so it’s no-win. On the other hand, I have five credit cards and I’ve never used one at a fast-food restaurant. Maybe that just speaks to how often I go to them (almost never).
Not that I’m a poster child for eating healthy; I had tempura for lunch. I paid cash. For me, I’m more likely to pick up a snack or whatnot if I have cash in my pocket. No cash=no ice cream. That’s why I try not to carry cash since I’m tightfisted and want to save. I think the credit card thing is backward for lots of people.
Using a credit card might make it easier and faster to buy fast food, but would you really want “McDonald’s” listed on your credit card statement?
Hmm. I can’t imagine pulling out a credit card at McDonalds, but if I did, I think it would make me buy less. I am pretty paranoid about running up too much credit card debt, and a Big Mac just doesn’t seem like anything worth owing money over.
I’m not sure it’s a causal relationship–couldn’t it be an indication that if you’re spending $5 you pay cash, but if the total is more you use your debit/credit card? Maybe that’s explained in the study. Also, I don’t use my credit card in drive-throughs–bad enough they might recognize my car, but they don’t need to know my name :)
I saw this on the ‘news’ last night! What a lame-ass excuse for a story!
I’m with Shannon K – for some reason, I can’t imagine pulling out a card at a fast food place, especially during the lunch rush. I would feel too guilty for holding up the line. In thinking about it, I realize I usually buy trash with my cash – any candy purchases, chips, etc. are all paid out of pocket.
That said, I do use the thing for put near EVERYTHING else, and I know that if I didn’t have it, I would spend way less money.
I love the [noun] makes you fat headline, Mo! I think we should start generating press releases to the major news organizations by randomly opening up books we have on our shelves and plugging in new words every week. How’s that for some fat guerrilla warfare?
Here, thanks to the epic bestseller “CNC Machining and Programming: An Introduction,” is my first candidate: “Partial arc programming makes you fat.”
I think just about anything you do to increase the accessibility of fast food, whether it’s more payment options, a larger number of locations, longer business hours, or whatever, is going to increase consumption.
That being said, it’s a dumb headline.
But I do wonder if the effects don’t go beyond fast food. Restaurant food in general is going to involve larger portions and more calories than food prepared at home. For a certain segment of the population, especially younger people, a credit card can convey the feeling of permanently having cash in your pocket, which might encourage people to eat out more than they otherwise would.
I kind of see the point. Just today, as a matter of fact, I really wanted to go get Bojangle’s for lunch, but then I remembered they don’t take cards and I didn’t have any cash, so I decided to stay home and make a turkey sandwich instead. If I were really hell-bent on getting fast food, I could have gone to Wendy’s or somewhere that does take cards, but it made me think about my decision a little longer and make the more nutritionally sound choice. So who knows, maybe there is some merit to that theory.
Oh, I think credit cards have made it way faster – not longer. They just scan the card, you don’t even have to sign a slip – there’s no change to be counted back, etc. It takes all of 3 seconds to pay.
And as I said, I use a debit card – so it’s coming out of my checking account, but I don’t have to make the extra step of finding a bank, using the cash machine, etc.
I think it’s a matter of personal preference. I won’t shop at places that won’t take plastic. It’s probably been 3 years since I last handled cash.
So taking credit cards makes it MORE convenient for me. But if you’re someone who doesn’t use cards regularly, it would be a disincentive.
Re: Having McDonalds show up on my bank statement – it’s pretty sad. I, unfortunately eat there a LOT, and I look at my online transactions, and there’s just line after line after line of $3.73 transactions at McDonalds. I’d be incredibly embarrassed if anyone else saw it!
The only fast food place I ever get anything from is Subway, where I occasionally like a turkey sandwich. They have EFTPOS facilities, but you have to spend a minimum of $8 to use it (it costs them a certain amount every time to access the banking network), so of course people will have to buy $8 or more of stuff to use it if they don’t have the cash. My turkey-on-wheat-no-sauces-or-i-will-kill-you costs $8.30, so they’re not getting anything extra out of me anyway if I use EFTPOS.
Having EFTPOS does encourage me to buy more delicious cocktails at my favourite bar, however. ;D
I don’t use my credit card much, period. And never for consumables, be it grocery store, gas station, or FF franchise. I keep it mostly for emergency situations, or hotel and rental car reservations. I don’t have a debit card, and I only write checks for bills, so almost every time I make the choice to spend, actual cash has to flow through my fingers. I’ve found this very effective for curbing my gratuitous food indulgences.
Hmm, I don’t know if it has anything to do with Fast Food, but I do know that as my waistline rose, so did my credit card debt (or perhaps it was vice versa?), it was like money wasn’t real when I was charging it, and by the time I hit 250 lbs, I also hit nearly $40K (God that is so embarrassing) in credit card debt.
I was just depressed about it all, and then I’d get depressed that my clothes didn’t fit so I’d have to go buy something new, which I’d charge because i couldn’t afford it, and then I’d feel guilty so I’d go order a pizza and eat it all and then I’d feel even more fat and guilty and have to buy MORE new clothes… it just went on and on and on…
Suze Ormond has a really interesting segment in her “Woman and Money” book all about the correlation between weight and debt. I think it is true for a lot of us.
I don’t use credit cards at all. I haven’t for years. I can’t handle them, frankly. And I haven’t gotten anywhere near skinny since giving them up.
Geesh, you’re so right, this “_______ makes you fat” thing — they’ll blame anything but medications and dieting, because that would cheese off their advertisers, but other than that almost anything is fair game. Bowling makes you fat! Paper airplanes make you fat! Cat hairballs make you fat! Playing guitar makes you fat! (Everyone, one, two, three: “And now he only eats guitars!”)
Can’t help thinking of that great old SCTV bit where they did a tabloid news show called the “National Midnight Star” featuring John Candy as a doctor explaining how “your underwear can kill you.” (Paraphrasing) “You know, people buy underwear that’s too small…and then it cuts off their breathing…and then they choke to death and…they die!”
Hubby and I have a credit card, but we never use it at the fast food joints. Whatever we charge on it is paid off the next month so we don’t have to pay interest. However, we do use our debit cards for fast food, but we don’t eat any more using them than we would if we paid cash. I don’t like carrying cash anymore (lost too much of it at work when I couldn’t lock up my purse), so I use my debit card a lot (and most fast food places here don’t accept checks anymore). We don’t eat a lot of fast food either unless we are driving to the cities for doctor’s appts and will be gone most of the day, then we eat out and fast food is usually cheaper.
After reading my first comment, I think I want to clarify a bit. The reasons for the way I handle this are:
1. I am a compulsive overeater.
2. I am very tight with a real, actual paper buck.
3. I am not very good at handling plastic money.
The common thread of all these articles and studies seems to be that everyone is the same, and what works for one will work for all. That is the root of the bad science, right there.
I know my particular circumstances are, if not unique, certainly not universal, either. Everyone is different, and needs to find their own way of handling things.
Since I’m not fond of fast food, generally, I think that this would generally not apply. Although, I do have a hard time with credit. Mostly this has to do with clothes and jewelry.
The common thread of all these articles and studies seems to be that everyone is the same, and what works for one will work for all. That is the root of the bad science, right there.
Don’t blame the science! This is bad journalism, not bad science. Health science does, in general, look at populations of people. This is a good thing, because in order to shape health policy and treat disease, we want to understand how most people’s bodies and minds work most of the time. The problem comes when journalists extrapolate things like “credit cards make you fat” from what seems to me to be a pretty solid study looking at actual trends in people’s spending habits.
Gah! This is so ridiculous. I read this one too…
“Geesh, you’re so right, this “_______ makes you fat” thing — they’ll blame anything but medications and dieting, because that would cheese off their advertisers, but other than that almost anything is fair game.”
as usual, Meowser, you state more eloquently exactly what was going through my head as I read…