Saving Money by Brown Bagging It

[Ben]

This article was interesting to me because I've been realizing of late, how much money I've been saving by hardly ever going out to lunch since the office move.

At the old office, Ex Hot Ukranian Coworker and I would go out to lunch 3-4 times a week, partially to get the hell away from the office, and partially because the old office was close to tons of great eateries. Being somewhat culturally conservative, I would, because she was female and making less than me, generally pay for her lunch a lot of the time. Probably 2/3 to 1/3 where she paid for mine, so I was spending even more than the article suggests.

Now EHUC is gone and there's not that many other people in the office I would even want to have lunch with, and my office is at the university, where I am stuck with Subway, Panda Express, Dominos, or tons of hippie food, all of which I have to negotiate the 1/3 mile walk through the bike paths of death to get to, or I have to drive several miles, only to come back to campus and even with a faculty parking sticker, have to park a mile away from the office because I lost my parking space. So through negative reinforcement, most days I now bring my lunch and either eat in my office or else take my laptop into the video conferencing room and watch some Netflix on the big screen while I eat my lunch.

I'm noticing my wallet seems to be staying quite a bit fuller. :)

The trick is to having the right stuff handy to prepare for lunch, and having the time to do so. I need to do more of what the article suggests and just have dinner leftovers in the fridge that I can grab quickly and be out the door. I prefer to eat my biggest meal of the day around midday anyway, so it's a habit I need to get into, versus making sandwiches or whatever in the morning while also trying to get in exercise, a shave, shower, and watching the morning business news.

http://mealime.com/blog/5-simple-ways-to-save-112-month-by-brown-bagging

[brimic]

I don't bother taking leftovers, because that necessitates a fridge, plus bring dirty dishes home.
I eat pretty much the same every day- PB sandwich, apple/orange/peach, yogurt. Lunch probably costs about $2.

[Ben]

I don't bother taking leftovers, because that necessitates a fridge, plus bring dirty dishes home.
I eat pretty much the same every day- PB sandwich, apple/orange/peach, yogurt. Lunch probably costs about $2.

My new office has a full kitchen (minus a stove - microwave only) so storing food is easy, and we even have a dishwasher if I don't want to wash my containers. If I was in a situation where I needed to bring in a lunch bucket every day, I'd probably be more incentivized to eat out.

[thebaldguy]

It can be a huge money saver.

Where I work, the cheapest lunch you can buy will run you around $5. That's $25 per week. That's $100 per month. That's $1200 per year. It adds up.

I bring my lunch to work usually four days a week. On Friday, my fav pizza place offers 2 for 1 slices. I treat myself to some slices on Fridays.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

It certainly can save money, but cost savings seem exaggerated in the article, according to calculations I performed once and have since lost. Since I abhor veggies and don't care for sandwiches, I really don't save much money versus going out to eat. I tend to eat dinner at home due to being too lazy to drive.  
I have considered bringing a George Foreman grill to work and grilling chicken for my lunch, but that's probably a violation of some silly rule or regulation.

Besides, I save enough cash by only eating two meals a day.

[BobR]

My biggest savings came from not stopping at Starbucks every morning on the way to work. Not only saves about 80 dollars a month, it also saves about 5-7000 calories a month. Of course, if I drank plain coffee, it would not save as much.

bob

[Ben]

It certainly can save money, but cost savings seem exaggerated in the article, according to calculations I performed once and have since lost.

I think a lot of it depends on where you live and where you eat. If you go to McDonalds or Subway every day, it's not as much as the article states. At the old office, there was no fast food around, and this is kind of a tourist town. The closest to fast food was a little outdoor hole in the wall joint around the corner, and even they charged tourist prices where a burger and a coke set you back nine bucks. That added up quick. For that matter, when I go to the Subway at the University, I can't even get away for under seven or eight bucks there.

[never_retreat]

I think the article is a little flawed. Most people are no sitting down at a restaurant (my take).
I rarely bring food to work, mostly because I usually only cook twice a week. Sunday and Tuesdays. Then we eat that all week. Except for Friday (thats go out or take out night)
Because I'm eating that stuff for 3 dinners or so, I'm not eating it for lunch also. I don't mind the same thing for a couple of nights. I'm not eating it for lunch also.
We usually split things up here at work. So if we get pizza for the 4 of us (2lg pies) its cheep (4 bucks each)
Chinese take out lunch specials about 5-6.
Hot sandwiches from the pizza place 7-8 bucks. (there huge also)
Take out from the dinner can be 10-11, but you get a lot of food with desert too.
Mexican 5-9
Thai food 8-9
Fast food 7-8

So it all depends, I usually do not buy soda for lunch. I just drink tap water. Don't get me wrong I like it but I can stand to loose some weight and I can't drink diet.
So its an easy give up item for me. I will have a coke if it comes with the meal.

[BobR]

We have a canteen, and a small store, where I work. Between a five dollar lunch (burger and fries), and snacks at the store, 8-10 dollars a day is very feasible. Since moving from working nights to days, I have to force myself to not buy snacks, candy, etc during the day. I will seldom buy lunch at work, I am happy with a sandwich and a piece of fruit. I can definitely see the savings of brown bagging it in my situation.

bob

[French G.]

If I plan ahead I take a weeks worth of Healthy Choice steamers and throw them in the freezer. Bring some fruit and snacks from home. I am trying to stay out of vending machines. It does save a lot of money. My biggest food money loss now is stopping for a snack on the way to work. I try to limit that to several times a week. I occasionally cook a big batch of something and eat it all week, need to do that more.

[RoadKingLarry]

I started saving quite a bit when i went to the graveyard shift. Not much in the way of places to eat in the area I cover at those hours (I think there is one 24 hours McDougals in one of the towns I cover). Lost some weight giving up fast food as well.
Also since I never know where I'll be working, and only a few of the locations I cover even have a microwave I usually just grab a couple of granola bars to snack on overnight.

[Boomhauer]

I live at work so I eat at the house.

Not that I ever have time for lunch...