Frugal Village Forums banner

Lunches

Tags
lunches
3K views 19 replies 16 participants last post by  stinkbug 
#1 ·
I carry my lunch to work everyday. I refuse to pay the price to buy my lunch. I take a pb&j on ww bread. (get my bread free from my ds the bread man). If I eat a big lunch I feel terrible all afternoon. I don't know why but I never get tired of having the same thing. Been doing this for about eight years now. When I cook, I make enough for several meals at home. I carry my sandwich in an empty bread wrapper. My coworkers used to laugh at all of this but recently I've noticed a few of them doing the same. They may not eat the same thing daily but now they bring a simple meal or sandwich. Also, I've invested in a good water bottle and carry it to work filled with water from home. Lunch costs me about $3.00 a month plus the cost of fresh fruit or some micre popcorn for snack. My grocery and hba bill runs about $50-75 monthly. I allot myself $100 for groceries and hba monthly and anything left over I stick into my EF.

Does anyone else do something similar?
 
#2 ·
I so seldom don't take my meal to work (mine is supper) that I can almost say never. Today was one of the rare exceptions. I usually bring leftovers. I find if I don't eat something substantial at 6 that feels like a real meal, by the time I get home at 11:30 I eat everything that can't outrun me.

I don't do it as cheaply as you do, but I cannot imagine the costs of eating out every workday - or even half of them. It's a huge savings to brown bag (or plastic bag, or lunch cooler, or whatever) it.
 
#3 ·
Your posting brought back memories from over 50 years ago - my father made my lunch for school everyday - one Cheez Whiz sandwich on white bread. It never occured to me to ask for anything different - I knew we couldn't afford school lunch!!

Anyway - now I bring my lunch and snacks to work - I teach special ed. preschool and eat with my students. School lunch ($4 for adults) has too many carbs and is just too much food for me. DH works in our classroom three days a week and has school lunch because he needs more food.

It's all personal choice, but since I belong to the Clean Plate Club by habit, not choice, I'm much happier with the lunch from home - which I have to make at night!!

It will be interesting to see what other people come up with!!
 
#4 ·
not only do i bring my lunch when i will be working thruout that time of the day...i also ALWAYS have food with me (in the glovebox, purse, pockets....) i never get caught off guard where i might have to stop and BUY something.... the only time i will buy a meal or snack out is when i have already planned ahead to do it... i keep water bottles in all the cars..always full...(i'm lucky that i don't like cold water so i don't have to keep it cooled...)....if dh and i are going somewhere i always have snacks and drinks avbl (even if it is just locally shopping or something...you still get munchies and thirsty and why stop and buy something for 10'xs the cost)....
 
#5 ·
I'm like sabrelvssammy. I always have a water bottle and a homemade cookie or granola bar in the car when I'm out doing errands so that I'm not tempted to go through the drivethrough to grab a quick little something. I also do bring my lunch to work 4 days a week. Sometimes it's sandwiches, sometimes it leftovers. I'm making a casserole tonight so I'll have leftovers for a few days. I treat myself to lunch out one day a week and I always have a coupon and try not to spend more than $5 or $6.
 
#6 ·
I bring my lunch almost every day. Once in awhile I allow myself to have a treat of lunch out. But, when I bring lunch it is leftovers. If we don't have enough leftovers, I usually keep a few frozen dinners or cans of soup on hand. I have a reusable insulated lunch bag that I bring my lunch in. Also, my work provides cups, silverware and filtered water so I don't have to bring my own. Basically lunch costs me nothing every day.
 
#7 ·
i dont eat lunch. i use to get made fun of when i bought lunch to school because i'm a picky eater so since the sixth grade? i've stopped eating lunches.
 
#8 · (Edited)
TSOO: that's so sad....tell them all where to stick it.....eat....i got your back! (AND i great big CANE too)....lol....

kids at school can be such little turds.... i remember well.....
 
  • Like
Reactions: thesightofoneself
#9 ·
i dont even tell people the types of food i eat. got made fun of in 9th grade then when i started on here. people just seem to love oatmeal jokes. hahaha. i have disordered eating. how funny.
 
#10 ·
they won't tell but if we could see inside other people's homes i think we could all have a few stories to tell....some of the things i eat and some of the combos would probably be way too much for others to fathom....and NO i don't eat bugs and stuff like that....i'm a vegan remember...vegan's don't eat BUGS either.....
 
  • Like
Reactions: thesightofoneself
#11 ·
DH takes a salad and a baked boneless/skinless chicken breast for lunch pretty much everyday.

DD buys her lunch at school everyday. In the summer or other school breaks she normally is working some volunteer shifts at the museum from early morning to late afternoon. When she is doing that she will almost always take a Campbell's soup cup for lunch.

DS and I are at home everyday. He makes us a hot lunch daily. We usually have things like homemade pizzas, soup and sandwiches, vegetables, or chicken sandwiches on kaiser rolls (OK - he eats real chicken and being a vegetarian I eat the fake stuff). Each Sunday we cook 10-15 lbs of boneless/skinless chicken breasts or chicken breast tenderloins so that they are available for DH, DS or DD to have as they want throughout the week.

Once about every two weeks DS and I go out for lunch. Where we go just varies. It could be McDonalds or some other fast food, San Marcos (a Mexican place), Super Buffet (Chinese buffet), order a Domino's pizza or some where like Red Lobster or Olive Garden.
 
#13 ·
I bring 4 slices of bread to work nearly every day. In the office fridge I have butter and something to put on my sandwiches. Usually, I eat the same lunch 3 or 4 days in a row, until the sandwich filling runs out and I bring something new from home. I like a little variation there, but not too much. My colleagues make remarks about the never-changing sandwiches, but I don't care.

The office provides coffee, tea and water.
 
#15 ·
I make dh a lunch of leftovers every evening after dinner. He always takes leftovers for lunch. There's a guy he works with who brings a peanut butter sandwich every day. There are a few people he works with who eat out every single day. We just can't justify dh spening $35-40/week on lunch. That's 1/3 of what we spend on groceries per week for all meals!
 
#16 ·
Dh comes home daily for lunch (he works less than a mile away, so he walks). I usually just make a sandwich of whatever leftovers we have or soup and sandwich. Before this job, he would take his lunch and just grab something out of the freezer. I would take the leftovers from dinner and put them in lunch size containers. He would just grab one of them. He always got a kick out of wondering what he was going to get for lunch that day. :D

thesightofoneself...be strong gal. :) I think people would laugh at what I eat....hell, my Dh does. When I was in college and living with my parents, I think I ate a tunafish sandwich everyday...made the same exact way. I often will open a can of green or yellow beans and just eat them out of the can (grosses out Dh). I won't heat them or anything. We all have our quirks. It is what makes us interesting.
 
#17 ·
On Sunday afternoon, I usually cook something that DH and I can bring for lunch. It's usually a rice and bean dish, a casserole, or a hearty soup; sometimes a salad-type dish, or wrap fillings. That takes us through Wednesday. On Wednesday and Thursday I plan meals that will give us enough leftovers for the following day's lunch. I also bake something so we'll have a cookie or slice of cake for dessert.

Having a lunch we're looking forward to helps us to not cave and buy lunch out.
 
#19 ·
Yum! I LOVE PB& J!
I took it every day for lunch in the 6th grade. And you know what? I keep a jar of PB & a jar of Jelly in the fridge here at work too. Every so often, I stop by the bread store (day old bakery store) & buy a loaf of bread & eat PB& J all week. I keep the loaf at work, so I don't have to worry about remembering to pack a lunch.
Otherwise, I pack leftovers for DH & I (DH likes a hot lunch most days - we nuke the leftovers at work) & I Bento for DD.
DD eats in the lunchroom once a week - on fridays, 'cause they have pizza!
 
#20 ·
Dh takes his lunch pretty much every day. In his office (corporate) he's the only one who does...and it doesn't bother him a bit. He gets leftovers, or maybe a can of soup and some munchies. He's not picky at all and always says he eats better than anyone else in the office. His boss walked by the other day and he was snacking on celery/PB/raisins...his boss said "Your wife make that for you?" *yup*...."Wow'...you're spoiled!" My dh is also pretty much the only one is his office who is not over weight......coincidence???
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top