This week I didn’t have to buy my lunch at the cafeteria a single day. That’s because I had brought in a huge stack of pre-packaged thai noodle & soup packages which I can cook in the microwave. I also brought in a piece of fresh fruit each day, and I have a stash of yogurt in the fridge on the 2nd floor.
It’s definitely helpful to keep a stash of foods at work, so all I have to bring in each day is a piece of fruit. It’s much simpler. I guess my success at this goal comes from the fact that I essentially transformed this goal from ‘pack a lunch every day’ to ‘bring a piece of fruit to work every day.’
Also, it helped that I have resigned myself to letting DH fend for himself. He’s been working from home, mostly. Next month we’ll start working at the same company, so I’ll have to ‘bring two pieces of fruit to work every day.’ :-) 5 years ago
I find the trick to this is:
- keep lots of fruit in the house so I have healthy snacks to bring to work
- keep something at work that will last for more than one lunch. This week it’s a full package of pita and a (small) tub of hummus.
But oops, I didn’t have any fruit in the house this morning. I’ll have to buy some from the cafeteria at lunchtime at way jacked-up prices. 5 years ago
Last week I brought lunch Mon – Thurs because it was Passover. But Friday I didn’t bring a lunch. Luckily I was saved – a group of friends wanted to go out and I would have done that (for social reasons) rather than eat a lunch I had packed.
Today I didn’t pack a lunch so I had to get a salad (not too expensive) from the cafeteria. But the worse part is that I forgot to bring healthy snacks. So I had to use the vending machine. For shame.
I’ll try to do better the rest of this week, starting Wednesday (already have plans to go out with friends tomorrow…) 5 years ago
BUT, Passover is starting this week which means I pretty much have to pack my lunch or I don’t get to eat. How’s that for motivation? 5 years ago
I didn’t make my lunch a single day this week. And I only made dinner once. I kind of have an excuse – I was sick and I really didn’t feel up to it. But I wouldn’t have needed an excuse if I had planned ahead of time and had a streamlined process (meal plan etc.) for making sure I did it.
Bah. I’ll do better next week. 5 years ago
I had it packed and everything and then left it in the front hall!
I had to go out and buy lunch! And it was OK but I really wanted MY lunch!!
Holy St. Francis, what a change is here.
PS: and also, I missed my breakfast. No wonder I felt so off kilter all day. I was! 5 years ago
I’ve already got the results for this week’s lunch goal, and it’s only Thursday!
I brought in lunch Mon, Tues, and Wed but not today :-(. Tomorrow I have an interview, so they will be taking me out to lunch. Also, DH had to buy lunch two days this week. I am slipping. Hopefully next week I can do better. 5 years ago
I did this every day except for Friday, when work sponsored a pizza lunch. So thirty more dollars went to Pay off credit cards.
Sometimes I wish there were a “star chart” sort of system on 43 Things where you could just give yourself a gold star. How about it? 5 years ago
I brought a lunch every day this week, but some of them were very hastily thrown together and not as appetizing as I might want. DH still had to buy lunch two days. One day I went out to lunch with some co-workers on the spur of the moment – I figured it was more important to cultivate some friendships rather than save a few bucks… 5 years ago
First the good news: I didn’t buy my lunch at work at all this week. I essentially ended up with 3 free lunches, but I was prepared every day with my own lunch anyway.
The bad news: I didn’t make my lunch the night before, so every morning I was a little rushed with trying to pack a lunch. The lunches weren’t as elaborate as they could have been, and I didn’t make a lunch for DH, except on Monday. So he still had to buy his lunch three of the days.
My evaluation: I did ok this week, but there’s still lots of room for improvement. 5 years ago
Two lunches made out of five work days.
One day I took off work. One day someone bought me lunch (thanks!). And one day I contributed to a group restaurant lunch.
In theory I have saved $7 to Pay off credit cards. It didn’t feel worth a special trip to the bank though. 5 years ago
This week though only $20 goes to Pay off credit cards instead of the usual $25. One day this past week I didn’t get time to make my lunch, so had to buy some from the cafeteria just outside the meeting room I was about to spend 2+ hours in.
By now I must have saved myself at least $100 in lunch costs. 5 years ago
This coming Monday! In the past I have been very spotty about bringing my lunch to work and I’d like to do better this time. Both for my health and for my pocketbook.
While I’m at it, I should be making lunches for DH as well. Maybe I can get him involved in helping me with this goal. 5 years ago
This is turning out not to be such a hassle. It’s still hassle-y, but not a total hassle.
Yesterday morning I realized that throwing an apple, a yogurt and a juice box into a little plastic bag - not a big deal, I might want to eat a yogurt later - is practically making my lunch.
I have started a little collection of small Post-It notes that live on the back of the front door.
For every “tomorrow” that I need to bring something to work (more chicken, more bread, etc) I move that Post-It note to the left-hand side of the door, so I can’t open the door to leave without seeing what I need to restock on for lunch. (This also works for those of us who chronically forget our phone because it is on the charger.)
It looks as though I may have found a successful compromise halfway between packing a complete, destined-for-soggy-sandwich-nastiness lunchbag, and spending $10 / day for total freshness. I will keep you posted.
ps: As a consequence of another successful lunch week, another $30 went towards paying off credit cards. There is a worthier purpose for my lunch dollars, indeed. 5 years ago
of lunches made at work.
I have taken the savings and applied them to my goal Pay off credit cards, which is adding to the progress seen over there; so that’s good.
I have however been eating the exact same thing for lunch for the last two weeks. I may need to lay off the baby carrots.
Nah. I’ll change up the sandwich. Next Wednesday, when I’m out of chicken slices. 6 years ago
Yay me.
I had a little revelation the other night when I realized I still had money in my wallet from the week before. It was like, “All those lunches really are costing me money!”
Well, duh. 6 years ago
I discovered that our meat crisper (? what does one call that drawer anyway?) in the fridge at home is ridiculously full of packets of chicken slices. Yes, the kind I want to use for sandwiches at work. How did that happen? Anyway, it’s not doing me any good today as I had to be at work 3 hours early and so did not think to bring any more chicken for the work fridge.
I do have an apple, but right now I want a big Starbucks vanilla latté and a carton of milk for my Cheerios. 6 years ago
Today I brought a loaf of bread, a jar of mayonnaise, and a packet of chicken slices to work and got a sandwich going on. I even made one for my office mate.
Bringing groceries to work might be the answer. Unfortunately, the loaf of bread takes up probably 10% of the space in the tall bar fridge that is communal at work, so I might need to bring part loaves so as not to annoy the group. Also, there are only 8 slices of chicken to a packet, which could end up feeling like I’m constantly bringing groceries in to work, rather than just on Monday and being done with it for the week.
Isn’t it ridiculous how much thought is going into lunch. You’d think it would be simple.
Perhaps I am a little obsessed.
But you see, two of my other goals (op. cit.) are to Pay off my credit cards and to Save up six months’ worth of living expenses and right now I estimate I am losing about $200 per month toward those goals due to boughten lunches.
PS: no Cheerios or apples today. Though my sandwich was good, it was, I confess a little spartan as a solo lunch. 6 years ago
late this afternoon. No Cheerios. Lunch today at McDonald’s—when do I ever eat at McDonald’s? Well, today apparently.
Maybe I need to buy a small supply of groceries for lunch and put them in the fridge at work. 6 years ago
for breakfast, and an apple made it into my handbag today. This is relevant because I believe if I am able to bring some food to work with me (or find a sensible place to store food at work) I can gradually increase the edge of that wedge. Didn’t eat my apple though. 6 years ago
Yesterday I brought a box of Cheerios to work with me so I could eat something for breakfast in the morning with my coffee that was not a pastry. Before Christmas I tried to bring an apple for a snack every day in my handbag, but this is not always possible. The problem is lunch. Workdays, I really want a freshly-made lunch to eat, not something that has been waiting for me for several hours. From 1997 – 1999 I lived a 15-minute walk from my work and went home every day at lunchtime to make and enjoy two tomato sandwiches at my kitchen table and I have clearly never recovered from this luxury. 6 years ago
