Bring lunch from home or buy?

[DangerMouse]

I have to confess both DH and I buy lunch every day. However, my lunch normally consists of some kind of take out salad so it is relatively healthy. I was eating burritos for a while until I took the time to research their calorie content, and that made me realise why I gaining weight.

 

[Dawg52]

Most of the time I would go out and buy something. Being single, I tried to find a balanced lunch with a meat and a couple of veggies. At night I would get by with a sandwich or a salad.

Now that I'm retired, I simply walk a couple of blocks to mom's house and sponge off her. If I'm on the golf course around lunch time, I get by on a granola bar. Life is so simple now.

 

[Eagle43]

When I was employed, I would bring my lunch, except on Thursdays. That was my day to "splurge" and eat out. Now, I eat lunch at home, and nap.... almost everyday. Life is good.

 

[Darryl]

I buy lunch but I keep it cheap. A couple of years ago when I stopped using the credit card for the bonus points and we converted to an all cash budget (well almost all cash) I had a very ugly surprise when we implemented the new budget.
I was averaging about $100 a week for lunch, snacks, coffee etc... The new budget allotted me $23 a week. When I had three days to go and only $5 panic was one option.
I have had a few years and a few raises and now get to eat like a king on $44 a week.

 

[Dude]

I usually go home for lunch.....from my desk to my door in 5 minutes

 

[Jeb-NY]

I didn't vote, since I know longer have to work. But when I did, I brought my lunch and had one of those small solid state fridges under the desk for the lunch and afternoon refreshment. I should figure out how much I saved over all those years. Figure lunch was probably around $2 a day and the afternoon can of pop cost about 20 cents instead of $1. Probably saved $5/day.

Jeb

 

[Enuff2Eat]

i eat out almost everyday at lunch. spend about $5-$8 a lunch, it's basic a neccessity for me mentally. i just can NOT stand hanging out in the cubicle 8-9 hrs in a row to save lunch money.

and i also believe saving money by bring lunch is NOT worth the effort. Most of the people stay in and brought lunch are the ones spent too much on the weekend ( i guess). Lunch time is MY time, no boss, no wife, no kids, no obligation.

enuff

 

[JustCurious]

I go to lunch with my colleagues (and the ocassional client) on a regular basis. If I didn't, I would be considered anti-social, and it would hurt my career. I would save $6-10 dollars per workday, but I would lose much more than that in lost career opportunities and lost opportunities to be "in the know" regarding what's going on in my small company and with our clients. Going out to lunch is an almost daily opportunity to network, socialize, keep up to speed on internal issues, keep my finger on the pulse of the company, and keep my interpersonal relationships current. For me to stop going to lunch would be almost like committing career suicide.

 

[Calgary_Girl]

Most of the time I brown bag my lunch except for Fridays...kind of my treat day for making it through the work week

You can't buy lunch here for under $6 anymore so the savings really add up by brown bagging it. I figure for every day that I brown bag it, I can retire one day earlier!!!!!!

 

[Telly]

Most of the time I brown bag my lunch except for Fridays...kind of my treat day for making it through the work week

You can't buy lunch here for under $6 anymore so the savings really add up by brown bagging it. I figure for every day that I brown bag it, I can retire one day earlier!!!!!!

Hey, that's what I did for years and years, and I did ER! All those lunches "in" were worth it, payback is mine! I never ate at the mega-corp cafeteria, either. Choices were spicy grease, greasy grease, or greasy spice Just the smell was enough to put me off the idea of eating there.

What many forget to add into the cost of lunch out every day is the transportation cost to do so.

 

[skyline]

I'm hardcore LBYM, but lunch out during work is well worth the money spent...

 

[teejayevans]

I'm hardcore LBYM, but lunch out during work is well worth the money spent...

You just can't buy a good PB&J sandwich anywhere, I'm not kidding, that's what I'm
eating for lunch, guess I never grew up

 

[saluki9]

You just can't buy a good PB&J sandwich anywhere, I'm not kidding, that's what I'm
eating for lunch, guess I never grew up

Do you have a Potbelly's sandwich works near you? They have awesome PB&J sandwiches

 

[OKLibrarian]

I'm hardcore LBYM, but lunch out during work is well worth the money spent...

not the solution for everyone as I work out in the 'burbs, but while I eat at work, I don't eat at my desk--I wander out to the coffee bar or student union to eat, people watch or browse the stacks for an interesting book, or if the weather's fine I'll go down the street to the golf course, get a range token or two and whack some balls into submission. mental health and frugality! I expect that when I move up in the world a bit I'll need to do a few more networking lunches, but at this point I'm pretty much waiting for people to retire for a slot to open up above me.

 

[Moemg]

I brought lunch at my last job .Besides saving money and it being more healthy I was afraid if I left the building I'd never return.

 

[Sandy]

I bring both breakfast and lunch, plus fruit and other mid morning/mid afternoon snacks. (I am one of those people who eats small amounts throughout the day.)

As a result, I eat at my desk almost all day.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

At most of the places I worked, if you didnt go out for lunch with one of the crowds, you were practically a leper.

 

[teejayevans]

Do you have a Potbelly's sandwich works near you? They have awesome PB&J sandwiches

Nope, not here in NC
TJ

 

[Tracy42]

I live a half-mile from my office, so I actually go home for lunch nearly every day. I let the dogs out, start a load of dishes/laundry, check on this forum....Tracy

 

[rockyj]

I live a half-mile from my office, so I actually go home for lunch nearly every day. I let the dogs out, start a load of dishes/laundry, check on this forum....Tracy

Like Dude and Tracy, I'm close enough to home to go there most days (probably 90%+ of the time) - friendly change of scenary, heat up some leftovers or whip up something easy, check mail, visit with DW if home, let dog out, eat on deck if weather is nice, etc. Makes for a nice break in the day.

In general, I only do job lunches out when someone wants to meet or on those rare ocassions that I'm doing other lunchtime errands and add a drive-trhough to the loop.

 

[Sue J]

I work an hour in the morning and and hour in the afternoon, so I'm home for lunch. I keep it very simple and cheap. For years my husband has packed a lunch. He leaves his office and goes to a local park. He eats his lunch and then walks at the park, about a mile. He keeps an extra pair of shoes with him for this in case it's muddy.

When he does have a reason to go out to lunch he finds that it's way too much food and the expenses really add up.

 

[WanderALot]

I try and bring lunch twice a week. I do enjoy getting out the office. We do have food brought in quite often along and almost always have frozen dinners available, although I rarely eat the frozen dinners. I've found that I can go out quite cheaply most of the time even if it's fast food, either get some good and pretty healthy Mexican food or get a Vietnamese sandwiches. I never drink soda so the most this costs me is $4 and it's as cheap as $2.50 for the sandwich. Don't understand how people can eat at Subway after eating this!

Friday lunches are almost always $10 because we end up going to a more expensive sit-down place. We definitely spend more on going out for dinners. Sushi and this french restaurant we go to seem to be the most expensive.

 

[Peaceful_Warrior]

I only go into the office once per week, but when I do I try to bring my lunch as often as possible or meet my dad for lunch (who usually buys except when I pick up the tab).

So I probably buy lunch at work about once a month or so... maybe less.

If I went everyday, I'd definitely bring lunch at least 4 days a week. I've seen the impact it has on my pocketbook... monthly food costs dropping by as much as $150/month.

 

[redduck]

I buy my lunch (actually, I have two sandwiches made twice a week at a rather upscale supermarket. The sandwiches are made of healthy-to-eat food. I eat 1/2 a sandwich a day for lunch. Before lunch (about 10:00) I eat a banana with a dab?dopple?squirt? of reduced fat peanut butter. Later in the day, I'll have some yogurt and trailmix. I usually bring a thermos of coffee and maybe have about
1 1/2 cups at the office. I still can't figure out what to do on Fridays, since I only get 4 sandwich halves made during the week. I usually just bring whatever we have left over in the fridge for Friday--sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't.

 

[albundyz]

currently, I have the luxury of a big name gym only a block from my office. I usually hit the gym for lunch maybe 4 times a week. so, naturally, I bring my lunch to take advantage of going to the gym.