To hate packing food to take to work

[waitingforautumn]

I live just outside and work in central London. Cost of living rising means I'm starting to feel guilty about the money spent on coffee, breakfast and lunch at work. I do somewhat 'budget' for this (i.e. am single, no kids, don't care for designer stuff etc, walk where I can rather than train or bus). However I do realise how much I could save if I were really disciplined about going to the supermarkets and stocking up for a week of homemade lunches and prepped breakfasts, which do sound appealing in theory..

Only issue is, I REALLY tend to miss buying things out - esp lunch. Just being able to pick something new each day, made with ingredients I wouldn't usually buy. I just feel like I eat more healthily/get more variety when I allow myself this. There's the option of sandwiches and baguettes (Pret/Paul/Leon type thing) plus lots of hot options where I work. I also love a good old Tesco meal deal so often have that for lunch too (love the mix and matching element).

Can cheapen breakfast by stopping at a supermarket bakery on way (£1 for a pastry rather than say £2.50). And it's still lovely (am a sucker for pastries and now associate office days with getting one). In the past I've made overnight oats and did keep that up for a while but got out of the habit after the pandemic return to work, and also loathe the washing up part at the office sink.😆

Is it me or is there something nice about strolling to work with a coffee you didn't have to make yourself, a fresh pastry and picking up a lunch you didn't have to plan way in adv or prep?!

I do wonder if this is quite a London thing with all the variety around. Have to be up around 6.30 to get around without the trains/tubes being busy so it feels to early to eat something before leaving home - and I'm always hungry when I sit down having had to walk past upteen bakeries to get in! I feel stopping for coffee/food helps make the working day nicer, I can pick something I fancy there and then. Few colleagues bring anything to eat from home and get all their meals/drinks out for the day so this really feels like the norm. We must all be spending anywhere from £5-£15 a day on all this. 🤔

Nobody single from my generation can afford to get on the housing ladder here anyway, even with decent savings. Some of my friends easily spend £35 a pop getting nails done every 3 weeks, which is outrageous to me. So I'm inclined to say whatever treats get you through life?!

AIBU? Am I lazy? Do I need to find another source of joy in my life? Writing this on the train on the way to work obvs and I have absolutely nothing on me for the day ahead!

Why don't one day you allow a take away coffee and the next linch. You'll save loads just by halving what you spend

"I do wonder if this is quite a London thing with all the variety around"

🙄

I can see the attraction with lunch, so many tasty options close by in London.

I'd be getting one of the lovely Kilner Jars, it's nice and contained so just watchbit at home.www.kilnerjar.co.uk/0025899-breakfast-jar-set/ and taking breakfast but keeping lunch out 3 days a week.

I'd carry on if it's your thing. You sound pretty frugal in other ways so why not?

Try making yourself your favourite pret sandwhich for a week?

PS tesco, pret and bakeries exist outside london

If it’s the one thing you love, then why not? You work hard and it’s your money. I personally don’t buy coffee as I dislike it or tea as it’s overpriced for what it is, but love a good chai or ice chai latte that I can’t do as well at home.

Not that you should have to justify it, but can you set yourself a good budget and say, if you reach it by Wednesday or Thursday, then take a packed lunch in those days? Or maybe lunch out 3 days, lunch from home 2 days?

From my health journey perspective, I find it easier to keep to my daily calorie allowance if I eat M & S lunches as I know what I’m getting. Like you, I also can’t be arsed with meal prep or the washing up so feel it’s worth it over all!

Plan one day for buying lunch out, and cut back on other days. Recalibrate your treat expectations.

Exactly. The rest of never stroll into the office with a nice coffee and food from lovely city centre centres. No one outside of London has this issue.

The local cafes will be delighted with your custom though, as they really struggled during lockdown with people wfh etc.

Indeed. You know OP the rest of us have variety too?!

I do wonder if this is quite a London thing with all the variety around. Have to be up around 6.30 to get around without the trains/tubes being busy so it feels to early to eat something before leaving home

Aye nowhere outside of London sells food or has trains 🙄🙄🙄

Eat what you want if you can afford it, if you are trying to save then limit yourself. You can justify it til the cows come home but if you need the money then stop wasting it

Thank you for this genuinely kind and helpful response😊it is reasonable to suggest

To others - I don't mean to offend anyone by mentioning that London has variety. There are literally 30+ places less than a 10 min walk from my desk where I could get a hot or cold lunch from! I don't just mean I succumb to a Pret or Leon everyday!

I saved a lot by doing packed lunches. I used to often forget to buy lunch items so having a online shopping every weekend to plan my week helped. Coffee was the biggest eye opener. Took my own jar of douwe egberts rather than use the machine coffee. Ended up saving 40-50£.

Look I understand what you mean OP, it's just feels a bit more special on an otherwise boring commute. Do you have an espresso machine or similar at home? What I did to cut down on eating out was buy myself a really nice matching insulated water bottle and coffee cup. Make myself a cappuccino at home and bung a par baked croissant in the airfryer for 5 mins to eat on the train. I even put it in a brown paper bag just like a bakery 😂

It's a nice little ritual I have in the morning, I meal prep too and honestly I've saved probably £50 a week doing it..

DS was telling me about the Tesco meal deals and they sound really healthy and excellent value. I'm not sure you;d get it a smoothie, humous, crudites and a wrap for that price if you made stuff yourself.

I'd do alternate days. 2-3 lunches out and 2-3 super healthy home made lunches. You could always make enough at dinner for left overs if it would travel and reheat well.

Coffee out is just a really rare treat now. Fresh coffee, cafetiere and froth your own milk or oat milk (heat it and whisk in a jug if you have no frother) will save you £££. It costs about 30-40p instead of £3.50 for a really good strong fresh coffee with foamy milk.

OP I hear you. For me, buying a yummy lunch in London was pretty much the only thing that motivated me to suffer the commute and sit in the office all day.

How about taking in some crackers & fresh soup from a supermarket to have one or two days a week but at the beginning of the week & storing st work. Pastries make sense to buy from the supermarket.

I live in a rural area and drive to work without passing any supermarkets or takeaways
my lunch can be anything from sushi to soup, salad, crumpets or leftovers from previous nights evening meal
I do take any opportunity that I get to have coffee though even if I have to go out of my way to find a coffee shop
As it’s normally espresso it doesn’t break the bank or the diet

Thank you! Noting down all the most helpful tips and plan to do something with them! x

God I get this from my London relatives. "We have here what's known as A CAFE, sometimes we also visit a SANDWICH SHOP, there's so much variety here that you wouldn't know about, living in the North and licking moss off a rock or whatever."

I was very similar after the pandemic. I’ve reigned it in a bit now and only buy lunch 2 or 3 times a week.

I have breakfast at home or bring in some fruit. In your case, I’d think of a few things that are easy to prep/carry in (either for breakfast or lunch) that you know you will enjoy and try to reduce buying out by 50%.

My work recently bought a good quality coffee machine and they provide the beans, milk and teabags which helps a lot.

Try making it a Friday or Monday treat only for a month and see how much you save. Then you can decide if its worth it

Meh. It is up to you if you wish to spend your money on eating lunch out everyday. I personally would not. I went to a cafe recently for a meet up, the food was standard, not worth the money. Takeaway sandwiches, pots of pasta are to me, a rip off.

"Recalibrate your treat expectations" is a brilliant line and defo food for thought 😆