How much do you spend on lunch and coffees etc on work days?

[fourikeachairs]

Forgot my soup yesterday and wound up spending a stupid amount of money on my chicken salad and coffee. Twenty four bloody quid. Prices have risen so steeply in the last while.

What is a normal spend for you in a local lunch place?

I will spend up to £10 for a takeaway lunch, and last time we ate lunch out as a team I spent £16 but that was with me not drinking alcohol. The same takeaway used to be £3.85 when I first started (London) many years ago. I’m just thankful they haven’t closed!
Free hot drinks at work, and fizzy drinks.

I used to get a £10 allowance for lunch when visiting head office and there was a pretty right next door, it would get me a sarnie can and snack and if I was luckh a coffee these days I reckon just sarnie and drink maybe a small snack.

Pretty? Pret

nothing, not since my early 20s,
i take my own lunch
and if i forget go to sainsbury's for a meal deal

I don't spend any money on work lunches or drinks. All brought in from home.

You ate in cafe/restaurant, thats an expensive way to do it.

My employer provides a basic selection of sandwiches, and fruit. There's a cheap employee coffee bar, its not the best though so i do treat myself once a day to a more expensive coffee from a small place near by. In between i just have cups of tea (free).

My boss and i were saying the other day, we really notice that its the younger/lower paid staff who tend to spend more buying lunch away from the office, whereas the older & higher paid staff are often just eating the sandwiches provided or bringing something from home.

Before anyone says "how do you know who earns what" we lead the team and approve all the salaries. So we know exactly what everyone earns.

I don’t think people realise how much they spend on food/ drink on a work day. I worked with young people who would come in with a coffee and then go out for one mid morning and then go out to buy lunch. I used the kitchen and brought in a packed lunch.

I used to work away a lot and would earmark part of my 'car allowance' for coffees/ lunches etc (I had evening meals /breakfasts paid for)
I'd easily storm through a tenner a day

I agree. If people added up everything they spend over a year on stuff they could bring from home with a bit of planning, they'd be shocked.

That said, £24 for a chicken salad in a restaurant when you've forgotten your lunch is a bit extreme. I live in a big, fairly expensive city and you'd have to actively seek out somewhere you'd pay that much for a salad. You could get a decent main course at The Ivy for that.

How can they not realise? It's basic arithmetic. A tenner a day is £200 pm for a 5 day working week. Likely over £2k pa. £20k in 10 years etc etc.

About £8 and that's central London, tend to get a drink from Costa or Starbucks plus a meal deal for lunch. Only go in twice a month though.

I take a packed lunch to work but eat breakfast at work, and only drink the free tea/coffee. I spend £2 a day on breakfast.

Home made salad probably costs £1.50.

I work 1 day a week in central London. £3 for Tesco chicken salad sandwich if I forget homemade, plus work coffee & water. I usually bring sandwich & fruit from home which costs about £1.50 and is much nicer.

The last time I ate what my colleagues eat, it cost £11 for a wrap. Madness.

I take packed lunch

All drinks at work are free

About £10-£12 and work in central London 1 or 2 days per week. Would go to pret for sandwiches, get a bagel, chicken wrap from a local cafe or something along those lines maybe with chips or side and a coffee.

Packed lunches aren’t “free” though, you still have to buy the ingredients.

My DC take packed lunches to school.
Roll 43p
Cheese 20p - or tuna more like £1.
A few cherry tomatoes, 10p
Crisps 25p
Yoghurt 38p
Apple 30p
Chocolate bar 15p
A little bit of butter, mustard, mayo 2p?

So still £1.80 -£2.60 per day. (Obviously cheaper ingredients are available, but still not free, and not dissimilar to a commercial meal deal.)

I take salad or soup to work, costs about £1.50-2 a day plus coffee about the same per week.