Do you bring packed lunches to work?

aligator_am

Howdy,

Just wondering how many of you now bring packed lunches to work since the aul recession kicked in? (I did a quick search and most of the threads I saw related to packed lunch suggestions, so apologies if this has been done before)

One reason I ask is that I still see a lot of people in my job going to the shop and spending about a tenner on their lunch, eating about half the food they get and just binning it. Don't get me wrong, if they want to spend their cash like that then fair enough, just seems a bit of a waste to me. I'm wondering would they do the same if it was food they had prepared themselves?

[MODS: if this is in the wrong section then please move, thanks]

Fink Goddie

Nothing like a big lunch box

i started recently, make a big dinner in the evenin and take in the rest of it for work the next day..

spend about 6 euro a day on food, pretty good for two big dinners

jd83

I tried to make a packed lunch for work, lasted around 2 days an i was back in subway\spar\topaz. Where i was working did not have a fridge. So id make a sambo and by the time id get around to eating it, it would be all warm and disgusting. Also im to lazy to be bothered making lunch. So id rather just save my self the hassle and pay for it.

Auvers

Deleted User wrote: »

i started recently, make a big dinner in the evenin and take in the rest of it for work the next day..

me too

nothing beats a nice Indian curry reheated the next day :cool:

TheZohanS

Fink Goddie wrote: »

Nothing like a big lunch box

Especially if you're packing a foot-long.

Roaster

Yep I bring in lunch.

It's a pain in the hole making it but saves me on average €5 a day.

the_syco

Usually for the last 2 weeks before payday...

aligator_am

Auvers wrote: »

me too

nothing beats a nice Indian curry reheated the next day :cool:

Ah, with the colder weather on the way, stews and coddles will be made regularly, great way to save a few quid on lunch and is great with some soda bread + butter

Fink Goddie

TheZohan wrote: »

Especially if you're packing a foot-long.

How you doin

Mossy Monk

I have started recently. €6.40 the canteen are charging for the most basic of ****e.

keano_afc

I do most days. I work for a fairly big company and the canteen is subsidised but its still cheaper to bring your own stuff in. It all adds up.

Vegeta

I will be soon I imagine.

I spend way too much on lunch these days and I could use the money more wisely, my office has both a fridge and a micro wave for reheating so I really should be.

Also you get to control what you eat which is important from a nutritional point of view

cathysworld

I always bring my lunch, I cudnt face walking through packs of school kids at lunch time to wait half an hour for an overpriced sandwich!

thorbarry

i Usually make a sambo the night before, and then pick up some fruit in the shop. I'd usually treat myself for lunch maybe once a week (by treat i mean, someone at the deil counter making my sambo/ wrap)

AnonoBoy

Well I don't pack it myself but Jeeves does whip up some delightful souffles, caviar and truffles for me when I deem the office worthy of my presence.

Gloom

Not exactly, work.. but I plan to for college.
Didn't in school and spent a fiver a day = 25 euro for small lunch/big lunch when a bottle of water/sandwich would have cost me nothing. (Only parents money :pac:)

Cows Go µ

I generally bring food to work, mainly because I have loads of silly intolerances. I'm a sucker for cereal, it's so cheap and I can keep it at work

az2wp0sye65487

Yep,

Have been doing so for a while now. Then every once in a while when you get a Subway/Chipper/Whatever on a Friday or whatever it feels more like a treat too.

We did our 'big shop' at the weekend, where we picked up (for lunches through the week) among other things: fruit, bread, meat & multi-pack of crisps.

I'd say the total cost of food for lunches was roughly €10 - €15. For lunch for 2 people for 5 days.

Sure if the 2 of us bought our lunch in work every day it'd cost at least €5 each per day. €15 a week Vs €50 a week... for the sake of 5 minutes in the morning making a sambo!

Wazdakka

This thread is discriminatory against people that don't have jobs!!!




Fortunately I'm not one of those poor sad feckers*..
Nah don't bother with a packed lunch..
I only actually get enough free time to take lunch about 2 days a week anyway.


* no insult intended to any fecker who is unemployed, poor, or sad.

J.Ball

I generally try. I make the sambo the night before and put it in the fridge but once the morning comes i'll 9/10 times forget it so end up buying lunch.

pickarooney

I used always, but have kind of stopped recently as I just don't have the time to cook any more.

Cianos

One way to look at it, to get over the laziness or what have you, is if you earn say €15 an hour, and you spend €10 on your lunch, then you have to work 40 minutes to pay for that lunch. Is your laziness really worth 40 minutes of your life?!

ibarelycare

I always have a box of cereal and a few bags of popcorn in the press in work, and some apples in the fridge. I'm a bit bored of that combination though, I'm definitely contemplating a Subway today mmmm

John Mason

i always bring my own lunch and have done for years.

homemade soup or left over dinner, sometimes i go mental and bring in a baked potato and beans

the odd time i go to the shop its like €4 for a manky sandwich, then a bag of crisps, a coffee, maybe a bar of chocolate and the paper.

before you know it, you have spent €15.

nope homemade lunch is much tastier and cheaper

mental07

I bring my lunch in a couple of times a week. I'd do it recession or no recession. Lunch in the places around where I work are such a rip-off that I can't justify spending a ridiculous amount on lunch 5 times a week.

Huggles

Work food For the Week:

3 pk of tuna in sunflower oil x2 - €4.28
Mccambridges brown bread - €1.69
2 Litres Supermilk - €2.49
Box Shreadded Wheat - €2.69

Total € work food - €11.15 or €44.60 a month!

HUGE DIFFERENCE in spending a tenner a day!

My name is URL

Sometimes I bring my lunch, other times I have a Drive-Thru :pac: Double quarter-pounder & cheese ftw!

oldyouth

Since paycuts etc at the start of the year I began to bring my own lunches in. Usually, I took a few portions from the main meal and put them in the freezer (stews, curries, lasagnes etc) I wouldn't fancy the same thing the next day but I soon built up a good selection.

During the summer, I got into bad habits and went back to the Spar. I love salads but not every day and they can be time consuming to put together in the morning.

I'll be getting back to the homemade soups and the like soon

qwytre

Yeah I try to whenever I remember. Also, I have started buying bags of fruit in the local tesco for the week.

4.75 for a sandwich in Insomnia is a bit high, it adds up to over 100 euro per month.

DevilsBreath

I just had braised beef, roasted baby potatoes with fennel, salad and a bottle of coke for €5:50 in the canteen

Pyr0

I try my best to bring in lunch whenever I can or limit myself to small but filling food from the work canteen or the shop around the corner. I only really spoil myself in the last two weeks If i have plenty of money left over (paid monthly).

I try to bring lunch with me but soup is €1 in my canteen and every day there is a meal for €2.85, could be chicken and rice one day, chilli and a baked potato the next. Most days there is a type of fish and lots of choices of veg (this is a bit dearer). Rolls are 3.10 with a cup of tea for 10cent so although it would be cheaper to bring lunch every day it just seems more hassle than it's worth most of the time.

aligator_am

I think it's interesting when you actually add up the amount of money lunches cost from Spar / Londis etc. it's pretty mad, even €5 a day works out at about €100 per month!

I try to bring in lunch most days although the odd time I'll get something in the shop (I'm looking at you, breakfast roll :P)

Another one that baffles me a bit is the fact that there's a subsidised "tea club" where I work, €3 per week and you can drink as much tea / coffee as you like and yet the amount of people I see each day with cups of coffee from Butler's shop up the road is bonkers, considering their about €3 a pop =/

missmatty

Would bring in lunch maybe 3 days a week, go to our subsidised canteen one day and then usually Fridays go out for lunch as a treat. Saves a fortune Before we relocated to our current location we went out every day and i would have breakfast in a local cafe as well. I would say that cost me about 65E a week altogether :eek:

petes

I don't usually but I am going to try and start. Spending five to six euro on lunch every day is far too much!

Ruu_Old

I bring my own salad and there is often bagels or fruit for free in the staff room.

Snoochiboochies

I always intend on making my lunch, but due to the lack of time and rushing out the door in the morning I never get around to it and I'm too tired at night to do it. I know its a pathetic excuse, but thats just how it is:)

I'm spending way too much mula on lunches during the week, I'd much prefere to spend a 1/3 of my wages on something worthwhile rather than pricy dining....

We have a fridge at work but no microwave which is a pain, Cause I like a hot lunch....

Anyone got any good suggestions on what is cold, filling, healthy and cheap to prepare????

petes

Snoochiboochies wrote: »

Anyone got any good suggestions on what is cold, filling, healthy and cheap to prepare????

Some kind of cold pasta dish. Think there are some ones to try on the cooking forum.

galah

hm, today's canteen menu:

mushroom soup, honey-glazed ham with cranberry jus & three veg, and pear strudel with sauce anglaise.

All free.

Lia_lia

No. I work as a waitress, the chefs give me food!

lisbon_lions

Lia_lia wrote: »

No. I work as a waitress, the chefs give me food!

They're just trying to fatten you up for the festive season.

I bring lunch with me at least 4 days a week. I just throw all the bits a bag to save time, bread, ham/tuna, coleslaw, fruit and make my sandwiches up at lunch. I always toast the bread too so it would be hard to make them at home. We have two fridges too so I can even bring enough stuff for a few days and leave it there. I save a lot of money doing this. I usually have a big hot chicken roll on a friday.

If rolls were not such an crazy price I wouldnt bother bringing lunch but the prices are ridiculous. A hot chicken roll is 4.30 in the centra near work and 5.50 for a roll in another shop thats crazy money. Plenty of places have deals now with a roll for 2:50 or 3euro but not around me. A roll bursting with stuff should be no more than 2:50 imo.

JONJO THE MISER

:(If i was working i would.

Gavin "shels"

Nearly always brought lunch to school, and will be doing so when I start college next week most of time. Effort of queues and the over priced processed sandwiches.

the_syco

thorbarry wrote: »

i Usually make a sambo the night before, and then pick up some fruit in the shop. I'd usually treat myself for lunch maybe once a week (by treat i mean, someone at the deil counter making my sambo/ wrap)

My weekly treat is dominos :cool:

flo8s967qjh0nd

I bring my lunch most days, except for an occasional treat when I might pop to tesco or the canteen.

If you're worried about preperation time in the morning, just bring the components of a lunch and put them together at lunch. Aldi do excellent little tins of tuna for 60c and its perfect on a few slices of bread. Add a piece of fruit, yoghurt and something sweet to have with your coffee and thats your lunch sorted.
Aldi also do very nice 5-minute rice dishes for 49c that you can throw into the microwave. Salads and soups are also nice, they just take a little bit more time to prepare. Last nights dinner is also handy if you have some left over.

TPD

My college is across the road from a KFC, down the road from a Topaz, and a minutes drive from 2 Subways and a McDonalds. It also has a canteen.

So no, I don't bring my own lunch. Haven't yet got bored of the selection around me.


I'm an unhealthy fcuker now though.

Mr Benevolent

Never did when I was working a few months ago. Soon as I get a job I'll be bringing my own in though.

m3llowship

I bring a lunch almost every day. Usually a banana or apple, some brown bread, some ham or chicken, cheery tomatoes, a piece of cheese. And a bag of dried fruit and nuts.

Had a bit of a health scare about 3 years ago and changed my ways ever since!

Neamhshuntasach

Nah but i bring work to packed lunches. I pay people to make sandwiches for me.