How often do you bring in a lunch to work?

**disneysteve** · 07-15-2013, 05:36 PM

I eat lunch at work 4 days per week and I always pack my own. I disagree with your cons by the way. I don't think my lunch is boring and I almost never have a cold sandwich. Even if I didn't pack lunch I still wouldn't leave the office. I'd have something delivered. And I never prepare my lunch the evening before.

**disneysteve** · 07-15-2013, 05:37 PM

Another pro is that what I pack is much healthier than anything I'd buy.

**Petunia 100** · 07-15-2013, 06:14 PM

I go to the grocery store near my office about every 2 - 3 weeks. I buy food I can easily prepare at work, take it back to work and put it away. We have a full-sized refrigerator/freezer and a microwave, but no stove.

**ESMonitor** · 07-15-2013, 06:25 PM

@ Disney Steve

I eat lunch at work 4 days per week and I always pack my own.

So one day a week you eat out? I am assuming on Fridays. What do you pack for your lunches?

**HappySaver** · 07-15-2013, 06:39 PM

I pack my lunch almost every day. On the days when I don't plan well, I go home for lunch. As Steve said, it's much healthier.

**kork13** · 07-15-2013, 06:48 PM

I pack a lunch pretty much every day of the week, and packing it is just a part of my morning routine that only takes me ~10min. Sometimes (maybe once a week) if a bunch of my friends/co-workers are going out for lunch I'll join them, just to be sociable, even if I've got a lunch sitting under my desk. I'm pretty introverted, so it's a necessity for me sometimes to get pulled out of my shell. lol

But I agree with DS. A healthier packed lunch is a big pro for me... My lunches are normally a bunch of fruit/veggies, nuts, yogurt, etc., and it's always got WAY less salt than you'd get eating out. And of course they're much cheaper too. Sometimes I do just go for the boring sandwich standby...but because I grew up in a big family, I don't know how to cook for just myself, so I almost always have plenty of leftovers and normally do that for at least 3 days a week.

The only real con for me is that I don't get a chance to mentally escape from work when I bring a lunch -- I normally just eat my lunch in front of my computer, or in my office's common area. For some people it's no big deal, and sometimes for me it really isn't. But on stressful days, getting out of the office for lunch gives me a chance to breathe a bit. I've been trying to figure out a way to do both, but on a military base (or at least at mine), there's not really many places to go sit outside and enjoy the outdoors while you eat lunch.

**Petunia 100** · 07-15-2013, 08:10 PM

Originally posted by kork13 View Post

The only real con for me is that I don't get a chance to mentally escape from work when I bring a lunch -- I normally just eat my lunch in front of my computer, or in my office's common area. For some people it's no big deal, and sometimes for me it really isn't. But on stressful days, getting out of the office for lunch gives me a chance to breathe a bit. I've been trying to figure out a way to do both, but on a military base (or at least at mine), there's not really many places to go sit outside and enjoy the outdoors while you eat lunch.

Eat your lunch, then take a walk.

**~bs** · 07-15-2013, 11:29 PM

I agree with your cons. Since I am currently single, it generally doesn't make sense for me to cook dinner because it means I will have a lot of leftovers to bring to lunch for the next few days. Then you consider the amount of time it takes to cook, clean dishes, and pack lunch for the next day. That being said, I do bring home lunch, but home lunch consists of simple things like sandwiches or frozen burgers + yogurts or fruits or things of that nature. Not exactly healthy, but still cheap.

Cooking home dinners is generally cheaper than buying out, especially if you don't go buying anything too extravagant. But when you factor in the time it took you to make dinner, it generally is much more expensive. If your normal work rate is ~$30/hour before tax, then that dinner that took you an hour to get supplies, cook, then clean cost you at least $30 because that's how much your time is worth. Same thing for other activities like driving home in traffic or chores. You're wasting time doing something you don't like doing, and time is a valuable commodity that once spent can't be regained.

Of course if you place a much lesser value of your time when you're at home OR if you're preparing for an entire family (economies of scale) you might see things differently. But I dont know... if you spend 2 hours in traffic daily, and 1 hour prepping dinner, cleaing dishes, and packing home lunches, that means you spent 18% of your day (excluding sleep time) doing something you don't like (doesn't include other chores), and are not getting paid for doing it. And another full 50% of your time is at work

**bUU** · 07-16-2013, 01:21 AM

Bringing lunch is our ideal. There's nothing we can pick up for less than $8 that can hold a candle to the great food we can prepare ourselves, when we have the time and can spare the attention to prepare for bringing our own.

Yesterday, I brought leftover eggplant casserole. Last week there were a couple of days I brought pita stuffed with hummus, cucumbers and braised red cabbage; and today it'll be leftover zucchini, summer squash, and tomato pasta.

**humandraydel** · 07-16-2013, 02:46 AM

I might go out 1-2 times per month. I agree with Steve - the lunch I bring is always healthier, cheaper, and better tasting than anything I would buy. I ALWAYS just bring leftovers from the night before. Which, of course, requires that I cook dinner the night before, but that's not a bad thing either!

**Mesem** · 07-16-2013, 04:01 AM

If you pack the food correctly, it will stay warm. I am saying from a biased point of view that bringing one's own lunch is better (cuz I do it). It is more healthy than many of the foods at restaurants.

**disneysteve** · 07-16-2013, 04:59 AM

Originally posted by ESMonitor View Post

So one day a week you eat out? I am assuming on Fridays. What do you pack for your lunches?

No. One day a week I go home. I work half a day on Thursdays.

I bring various things. Sometimes leftovers from home or a restaurant. Sometimes frozen meals (mainly Healthy Choice entrees). I also do tuna, cheese, yogurt, soup (homemade), fruit, things homemade in bulk and frozen, etc.

It takes virtually no thought or effort. I keep food at the office so most days I don't actually bring anything with me. When things get used up, I bring in more.

The women I work with are constantly ordering out, spending a fortune for crap. No wonder they're all broke.

**JoeP** · 07-16-2013, 05:18 AM

I bring my lunch to work almost every day. My typical lunch is either a sandwich or leftovers from the past couple dinners. It is supplemented with fruit, yogurt, almonds, etc. I think I eat out or hit the cafeteria about once every 2-3 months.

There are people here at work who are fixtures at the cafeteria. The typical lunch runs about $7, so they are spending somewhere around $140/mo for lunch. Others go out and get subs/chips/pop for about the same, plus gas money.

**greenskeeper** · 07-16-2013, 05:53 AM

free lunch here at my job (chef prepared cafe), one of the perks of doing the work I guess.

my old job I would bag it and it cost around $2/day

How often do you bring in a lunch to work?