Dh and lunches - aibu

[MyKingdomForACaramel]

I think I probably am being unreasonable, however dh and I are on a bit of a mission to make some savings to our everyday outgoings.

I wfh so just make lunch from whatever’s in the fridge and I suggested the rather than him spending £8 a day on food, that I instead make dh sandwiches or similar.

The £8 is croissant/coffee and then a meal deal lunch so it’s not like he’s going for a slap up warm dinner so can’t see why he won’t agree to something that’s likely to be nicer!

I checked if it’s an “office culture” thing, but no, most of his colleagues bring lunch. So it’s literally just his aversion to brining it in.

I know in the grand scheme of things it’s not a big deal - am I being unreasonable to think this is an easy change.

(I will point out though that there are things I refuse to budge on too - decent quality wine, certain treats for the dog etc). So aibu?

I totally agree, hundred!

But cheap wine is undrinkable whereas home made sandwiches/salads are actually nicer, so it's not really the same thing.

Yes, precisely.

A lot of people are making arguments about treats, too much scrimping being grim etc. Those might be reasonable arguments for the proper coffee and croissant depending on your perspective, but they aren't applicable to a supermarket premade meal deal sandwich. The fact that he's agreed to cut down on them in favour of leftovers instead pretty much proves that, although I'm not sure people have seen the update. He's evidently doing it out of habit and because he cba, not because Sainsbos chicken pasta salad appeals to his inner epicure.

Could he cut back on some of it? My DH buys lunch every work day but for about half that cost (Doesn’t buy a drink as tea/coffee/water at work, takes fruit from home). I take a packed lunch. But him going out to get a sandwich means he also gets a 25 min walk in and a chance to get away from a very stressful, noisy, open-plan office. We’d have to be very very strapped for cash before I could suggest stopping the bought sandwiches.

Spending that amount on buying lunch is totally unreasonable.
My entire food budget for a week is £35.

my partner begrudges if he has to buy a meal deal if we have noithing in the fridge purely to keep withing a monthly budget.

i guess its a convience thing for him and he still gets a choice everyday but £8 is extreem money to be spending on lunches a day!!

maybe look up ideas on pintrest, rice dishes, stirfry, quick simple tasty lunches ask him to try it for `1 week i can gaureentee you he will change he ways,

i would however allow him to buy a drink from the budget everyday as this is a habit i still have with my partner, i think just having an exscuse to leave the office has a lot do with it.

@HorridHenrysNits that was exactly my thinking! I can kind of get the coffee and croissant but I genuinely would make something better than a Sainsbury’s chicken sandwich.

But anyways he happily went off to work today with a boxed up tuna pasta nicoisse type thing. Even text to say it was lovely. So all good.

£8 a day? Fuck that.

Oh and for those who’ve mention it - I have suggested that a croissant every morning isn’t exactly the best breakfast (though I love them too - I’d be starving by 11am)

Sounds good op. Get him to take a pot of porridge oats with blueberries. Add milk at work and microwave. Much healthier than a buttery daily croissant.

@benji - he actually always used to have porridge at his old place. Has been in “new job” for around 18 months and Has lost the habit.

I forget how lovely porridge is sometimes . It doesn’t sound exciting but I always love it when I have it.

As for getting out to stretch your legs as others have said, if you don’t have to worry about buying food, you can eat at your desk and walk for your whole break or take food out to a park or if you have a nice staff area you get your whole break relaxing with your lunch , not queueing to buy it.

I get amazed at the number of people who plead poverty but then spend a fortune on coffees and lunches, I was behind someone in a Costa recently, she bought a coffee, water, panini and a biscuit, she spent over £10, if she does this every day that's a massive £50/week.

What on earth is a "luxury salad"?!!!!
Maybe a salad filled with expensive ingredients like marinated artichokes, palm hearts, Serrano ham, cold asparagus, wild rice...

Frozen packed lunches are actually surprisingly fresh by the time it’s lunchtime if taken out of the freezer in the morning. They’re still cold.. they taste very fresh. And you make a variety on the weekend so you choose what you feel like everyday, or combine different ones.

Also since I dedicate half an hour to make them... I ger all the ingredients out and I get creative... because it’s just more worth it when it’s in bulk.

So usually they’re just so yummy

I do myself a smorgasbord 2 days in 10 (I work a 10 day shift pattern). I make gravadlax, hAve marinated herring, hard boiled egg, prawns, brown bread and ikea dill mustard sauce with salad. It's so exciting on the days I have it. I freeze the gravadlax sliced up, the herring comes from Morrison's and the prawns are just frozen that I stick in a tub.

Much better than a shitty meal deal

Another lovely, quick thing I make is a raw tuna poke bowl 🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤 inspired by the one they sell in Waitrose. All you have to do is boil some rice, the rest is assembly

I bring lunch to work every day except a Friday, but I deliberately never bring a drink, which means I have to get out and walk to the shops to buy something. Being in the building 8.30 - 5 can make me feel stir-crazy, but just that wee break makes me feel so much better, particularly in winter when I often feel like I don’t see any daylight.

I was behind someone in a Costa recently, she bought a coffee, water, panini and a biscuit, she spent over £10, if she does this every day that's a massive £50/week

But equally that could have been her one treat day of the week/month. You cant extrapolate one single purchase when you have no context.

There's no way I'd spend £10+ on lunch every day but if I was having lunch out as a once a week treat or just a random one off because it's the week after payday then I could justify it in my budget.

I sometimes buy a wild rice/quinoa pouch from Aldi. The night before I mix some up with salad , olives, tomatoes, sometimes add tuna or prawns or chickpeas and a spoon of humous, sprinkle of pumpkin seeds. 5 mins tops.

Just go out for a walk ! You don’t have to have a ‘buying lunch’ excuse.

Wow my weekly food shopping budget for me and 2 kids is £40-50. I have been paying £11 week also for school dinners but the second child is due to be charged for them in September so will send both with packed lunches. I pay £2 for a work lunch 2 days a week for myself. £8 a day is quite a lot to someone like me but if you earn well I guess it’s not.

Since when has buying decent wine been unnecessary

Daily barista coffees can be calorific too depending on what you have. Adding a Danish, plus shop bought lunches and it’s no wonder people are fatter these days.