Tips to keep lunch costs down in work

Commotion Ocean

In work, we have a subsidised canteen, where a breakfast costs €3.50 and a lunch / dinner costs €4.50, cheap as it is, the costs will ad up if you eat both breakfast and lunch everyday.

€8 for the day becomes €40 for the week, which becomes almost €2000 for a 48-week working year.

Lately, I've started to cook a chicken on Sunday and take all the meat from the chicken and use it as sandwich meat, this lasts me the whole week and only costs a fiver for the chicken.

I often use the bones and skin to boil up and make chicken broth.

What do you do for lunch to save money or have you any penny-pinching ideas in general?

ElChe32

1) Run over a badger on your way to work
2) Eat said badger for the week
3) ?????
4) Profit

anewme

ElChe32 wrote: »

1) Run over a badger on your way to work
2) Eat said badger for the week
3) ?????
4) Profit

ive just spit my wine everywhere!

At op do you have a microwave...scrambled eggs or ommelletes(get a microwave omelette maker) or beans on toast. Baked potatoes also

JupiterKid

Shoot pigeons on the roof of your workplace and eat them raw.

Eat your own excrement.

Problem solved.

FortySeven

When I was cooking for the family I would always cook an extra portion for my lunch next day.

Armchair Andy

I put breakfast off til supper time, saves me the price of 2 meals.

maudgonner

ElChe32 wrote: »

1) Run over a badger on your way to work
2) Eat said badger for the week
3) ?????
4) Profit

3) Lose a power of weight from having contracted a parasite and/or TB from the badger.
4) Profit (minus the hospital bills)

monty_python

maudgonner wrote: »

3) Lose a power of weight from having contracted a parasite and/or TB from the badger.
4) Profit (minus the hospital bills)

The cooking will kill all parasites including tb bacteria 😉

maudgonner

monty_python wrote: »

The cooking will kill all parasites including tb bacteria 😉

I think you'll find no cooking was mentioned. That would be a waste of electricity.


However you will get 'food' in hospital. So that's good. (It may also be made with uncooked roadkill though)

VladamirP

Bring cat sandwiches to work.

Pherekydes

Skip lunch?

bigroad

Large tin of dog food in Aldi with lamb mixed in for a euro.
Make dog food sambos with a nice lash of red or brown sauce.

Commotion Ocean

FortySeven wrote: »

When I was cooking for the family I would always cook an extra portion for my lunch next day.

Mr.S wrote: »

Cook extra when cooking dinner at home and just bring that for lunch. Simples.

Good ideas !!

maudgonner

Just don't bring in any leftovers that involve fish.

Your co-workers will thank me for giving this advice.

BOHtox

Steal

VladamirP

dfeo wrote: »

Good ideas !!

Ohh sorry I didn't think you were looking for serious answers from AH.

Olishi4

anewme wrote: »

ive just spit my wine everywhere!

Blame it on the badgers

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gvVsAGf0DPk

The Backwards Man

Jack in the job and go on the dole.

maudgonner

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Jack in the job and go on the dole.

Free cheese!!!!!

Avatar MIA

Pherekydes wrote: »

Skip lunch?

You were nearly right.

Tips to keep lunch costs down in work

Skip work. Simples.

Didas

Learn to view the cafeteria bin as a type of frugal mans buffet...

maudgonner

Alternatively, steal your co-workers' packed lunches from the fridge.

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

Smoke a couple of fags. Takes the edge off the hunger pangs.

Ted111

I lick up spit wine off the floor.

Collie D

My job provides free lunch. Fridge full of sandwiches and homemade meals. Great variety. Some of them have post it notes attached with names on them. Not sure what that's about to be honest.

Four Phucs Ache

Aldi curry noodles x 5 ...2.00
Cooked chicken breasts x2 .......3.00
Canteen tea / water.......free

Weeks lunch for a fiver

Did it years ago....worked for a month or two than everyone gave out saying that anything they microwaved smelled of curry.

switched noodles to mushroom so I did.

Grandeeod

dfeo wrote: »

Lately, I've started to cook a chicken on Sunday and take all the meat from the chicken and use it as sandwich meat, this lasts me the whole week and only costs a fiver for the chicken.

You cook a chicken on a Sunday and you are still eating meat off it by Friday???

That's a food safety no no. Honestly.

Commotion Ocean

Grandeeod wrote: »

You cook a chicken on a Sunday and you are still eating meat off it by Friday???

That's a food safety no no. Honestly.

not if I Freeze / defrost some

Grandeeod

dfeo wrote: »

not if I Freeze / defrost some

Fair enough, but frozen cooked chicken, defrosted tastes sh1te. Especially after going to the trouble of cooking it fresh in the first place. Spend an extra fiver lad and do it right.

Anesthetize

I usually have a clear run at the day, so I have the dinner in the morning at half 8.

Zaph

dfeo wrote: »

What do you do for lunch to save money or have you any penny-pinching ideas in general?

I use the canteen where you work. It saves me a fortune, lunches in Chapter One and L'Ecrivain do add up. Plus trying to convince them to open for breakfast was becoming more trouble than it was worth.

anewme

maudgonner wrote: »

Just don't bring in any leftovers that involve fish.

Your co-workers will thank me for giving this advice.

We had someone who was called Phil the Fish for the above reasons

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

When I'm trying not to waste money on food I'll make my my own lunches. Box of wheetabix in work, I'll have that for breakfast or lunch. On pay day go to dunnes near work and buy apples and some yogurt, maybe some noodles. Whatever I'm in the mood for. Usually I'm not bothered do and go get my lunch out anyway. Though 7.95 for soup and sandwich, gittafuk.

Grandeeod

LexieOnRale wrote: »

When I'm trying not to waste money on food I'll make my my own lunches. Box of wheetabix in work, I'll have that for breakfast or lunch. On pay day go to dunnes near work and buy apples and some yogurt, maybe some noodles. Whatever I'm in the mood for. Usually I'm not bothered do and go get my lunch out anyway. Though 7.95 for soup and sandwich, gittafuk.

But the OP can have breakfast and lunch for €8 five days a week. That's good value! I'm not sure why they are complaining, unless they fancy a takeaway for dinner Mon-Fri.

mzungu

Make your own lunch.
No snacks.
Cycle to work, if possible.

TheRiverman

Why would anyone need to eat breakfast at work?.Surely people should eat it before they go to work.

allthedoyles

ElChe32 wrote:

1) Run over a badger on your way to work 2) Eat said badger for the week 3) ????? 4) Profit

After this be out sick for 6 months . Problem solved .

ED E

TheRiverman wrote: »

Why would anyone need to eat breakfast at work?.Surely people should eat it before they go to work.

Shift work.

If you start at 6 you may not want to eat until 7 or 8.

TheRiverman

ED E wrote: »

Shift work.

If you start at 6 you may not want to eat until 7 or 8.

I don't know any employer who allows employees to have a possible 20-30 mins break after one or two hours work.

TheRiverman

TheRiverman wrote: »

Why would anyone need to eat breakfast at work?.Surely people should eat it before they go to work.

I don't like eating when I wake up
Plus the eggs are already hardboiled for me at work

Archeron

Pherekydes wrote: »

Skip lunch?

This is a great idea, it's amazing how much free food you can find in a skip. You might have to rip a few bags open to find it though.

KERSPLAT!

TheRiverman wrote: »

I don't know any employer who allows employees to have a possible 20-30 mins break after one or two hours work.

I don't eat breakfast at all but loads in my work place have it in work. Takes 2 minutes you get a bowl of cereal, toast, porridge, etc. Then they eat it at their desk while working. No need for 20-30 minutes

Anyway, making lunch is the obvious answer. Much cheaper to buy ham, chicken, cheese, etc and make sandwiches for the week with some leftover dinners to mix it up. I bring lunch about 4 of 5 days, treat myself the other day to a wrap or something

ED E

TheRiverman wrote: »

I don't know any employer who allows employees to have a possible 20-30 mins break after one or two hours work.

Are you a geriatric that can barely lift a spoon? 5 minutes tops. Perfectly normal to have a 15/30/15 setup which gives plenty for a breakfast roll and a coffee or a bowl of cereal.

osarusan

Don't eat lunch.

Seriously - I don't do much apart from sit in front of a computer these days, so I stopped eating lunch. I wasn't anywhere near as hungry as I expected, and wasn't really hungry at all after a few days. I just bring some coffee with me and drink that and plenty of water.

NikoTopps

I usually eat out most days but Jaysus there was a thread on here a while back with loads of good cheap recipe ideas that I was meaning to try.

Haithabu

dfeo wrote: »

In work, we have a subsidised canteen, where a breakfast costs €3.50 and a lunch / dinner costs €4.50, cheap as it is, the costs will ad up if you eat both breakfast and lunch everyday.

€8 for the day becomes €40 for the week, which becomes almost €2000 for a 48-week working year.

Lately, I've started to cook a chicken on Sunday and take all the meat from the chicken and use it as sandwich meat, this lasts me the whole week and only costs a fiver for the chicken.

I often use the bones and skin to boil up and make chicken broth.

What do you do for lunch to save money or have you any penny-pinching ideas in general?

You don't want to perceived as the cheapskate at work.

€4.50 for lunch / dinner is no really bad at all. You won't it get much cheaper - even if you make dinner at home and take it to work. At least if you use proper ingredients.

I used to get a roll at the shop next to work for lunch. With three filling plus a bottle of coke that came to a fiver each day. I now drink water/coffee provided at work plus bring my own sandwich for lunch which is much cheaper than a fiver. I eat dinner at home with the wife, whoever is home first makes it. I don't need more than the packed sandwich at work.

€3.50 for a breakfast ? What do you eat for breakfast each day ?

Del2005

ElChe32 wrote: »

1) Run over a badger on your way to work
2) Eat said badger for the week
3) ?????
4) Profit

You can't take your own road kill, the next person along can.

Haithabu

ElChe32 wrote: »

1) Run over a badger on your way to work
2) Eat said badger for the week
3) ?????
4) Profit

You can also buy a kilogram of oatflakes at ALDI for 69 cents. That should take care of the hunger for an entire day. Wash it down with water from work. And bring a bottle to work, fill it with water from work for free and wash down oatflakes at home as well with free water.

mansize

I buy my lunch. Lifes too short to eat shyte food

KERSPLAT!

mansize wrote: »

I buy my lunch. Lifes too short to eat shyte food

Is all the food you make shyte? I much rather leftover curry, stew, stir fry, etc. than going out for lunch in work

mansize

KERSPLAT! wrote: »

Is all the food you make shyte? I much rather leftover curry, stew, stir fry, etc. than going out for lunch in work

I don't make curry etc. I buy soup, sometimes a sandwich, sometimes go for a burger its fresh and tasty, and not the same thing twice a day

Or the same sandwich all week- yuk.