I need to stop eating at Pret

[CherryBlossomPie]

I cannot afford it. I'm living like its the 00s and its not. Its 2025 and I need to just save the money.

If I invested the £7 a day I spend there do you know how much I'd have in 16 years when I turn 60?

£53,000.

Anyone else up for a starting from scratch to stop eating lunch out thread?

I'm successfully down to a once a week Pret breakfast habit (she says, having only been in the office once this week!).

So just need to keep working on my planning and timing!

Does cooked bacon freeze well?

I took soup in today - it was absolutely not enough food. I was all out of fake interest in conversation by the end of the afternoon 😆

Is that all you took? Maybe add a roll, piece of fruit, some nuts and a yoghurt?

Well done tho OP (sorry don’t know about bacon!)

I make up a harissa chicken and spinach pasta on a Sunday that does 3 days, then make some
more mid week. I love it. I have it with some salad / salad dressing. It is so cheap and tastes great.

I do love the Pret Tuna & Cucumber baguette but I go into the office every day (through choice, eat far too much when near the fridge at home!!) and so definitely wouldn’t be paying Pret prices. I will sometimes have one when travelling, and can claim back!

That sounds really nice! Do you have a recipe? I've got some meals on rotation but I'm going to get bored of them!

I did not spend a penny today 😇

Ratatouille halloumi bake (homemade) - was delish.

I tried this. But ended up with some sort of shrivelled dried bean. Crispy chickpeas they were not 😆

It’s really nice. It’s a variation of this original recipe. I use milk instead of cream, and make it spicier using some chilli flakes too. It’s super easy to make. I just use the frozen cubes of spinach.

https://www.zizzi.co.uk/recipes/casareccia-pollo-piccante-pasta

Can I join? I’ve recently drastically reduced eating out at lunch and I’m saving loads. TBH having a homemade lunch, even if it’s leftover cannelloni as it was today is so much nicer than what we have nearby, and I don’t have to go and get it.

i also take a ‘smug bowl’ with a smaller main portion most days.

i get a handful of frozen blueberries that have been exploded in the microwave, add Greek yogurt, chia seeds, mixed seeds, flaked almonds, Manuka honey, matcha powder and chopped fresh fruit on top.

This would cost a fortune in somewhere like Pret.

I’m home tomorrow and the day after so it will be Turkish eggs with nice toast.

although I do spend my savings on nice containers as I do love a bento box.

My proposed savings earlier in the thread was on ditching alcohol.

I am 10 days in and yesterday changed my DD to my ISA to a slightly higher amount (only an extra £50) which I think I can do now as long as I stick to not buying wine! I will see how that goes but I feel pleased having this extra investment into my own future- by removing something financially negative and adding something positive!

Love that! Great step forward.

I'm definitely liking feeling like my spend is more in control. Not getting my card out as often is a habit I like!

For various reasons I haven't been bringing in lunch from home this week - and buying stuff instead. And I'm starving and lethargic by 4 - whereas the rice or bean or lentil salads I was bringing in with protein were keeping me going!

I defo noticed more energy and less need to reach for a cookie or brownie with my healthier eating too! In context I don't think the odd day or week matters too much.

But change Is unsettling. I've found that since switching from my long term Pret habit, I've developed IBS symptoms. I know it will pass and its already improving but it's rather annoying.

Can you pinpoint any particular change in your diet that might have caused the IBS? Eg if you were getting Pret salads without gluten in, and are now having more bread/pasta for example?

Not really - I was using Lions Mane supplements and don't think they agreed so have chucked them away! I'm also eating more lentils and beans. It is getting better though.

i work from home mainly but before I had got into terrible office habits. The worst thing was farmer j. Lovely but bloody expensive and suddenly realised I was spending £12 a pop in there for lunch. I think part of the issue is peer pressure and it seems really normal when everyone heads out to lunch but actually if you add it up it costs a fortune.

Husband and I take our own lunch 99% of the time. Sadly nowhere near my work to buy anything nice.
I’m curious about all these jobs where people have time to go out and buy lunch though. We are both NHS clinicians and it would be a massive luxury to have time to go out and buy lunch. Usually lunch is spent at our desks doing admin sadly.

I’m a lower level civil servant. I work v hard. It’s 7am and I’m stood on a train platform waiting for a train to London for a long meeting. I won’t get home until 1030pm. But, I block out one hour at lunch for work in my diary. It’s not healthy to stare at a screen for hours and my employer makes sure that one hour is protected. We do not have a work-through-lunch culture at my organisation. I will also be able to take back an hour or so for out of hours travel at the end of the week. Not flexitime, but flexible working at its best.

Just buy a fresh pepper, cut and freeze your own x

I bought a salad in pret on Monday and was slightly disappointed with it....so every other day this week, I made my own salad, which was much nicer! (And nowhere near 6.50) I prepped enough for 2 days on Tuesday/Thursday.

Oh god I love these when I go on Eurostar

I never buy food or drinks at work though
Just get a decent insulated lunch bag, bento boxes and ice packs
I make my packed lunches in 2s
So Mon, Tues then Weds, Thurs etc
Friday is something from my stash of freezer leftovers
It takes a few minutes to pack lunch and throw it all in a box, and save yourself a fortune.
Chilled prepacked sandwiches are packed with salt and fat to boost the flavour so they can be super chilled for days to stop them going off but taste of something -so bad for you .

Absolutely this
The trope is an example of short term thinking
Eg one avocado on toast won't buy a house but the example given here of £7 a day = 53K shows how it adds up

Plus it's never just £7
That's the price of a couple of coffees

I don't know if I mentioned this back in the thread but I have a cousin who has supported her DH through a serious gambling problem. He has lost their home(s) twice. (They are not in the UK). It's absolutely desperate for them. They are now late 50s and renting at enormous costs. But they make a point of eating out at a particular restaurant every Sunday. It's their pleasure and joy and I get that. But it's circa AU $200 a week for them and their son still living at home. I really understand the instant gratification and the thought of 'well, there's nothing we can do now so may as well enjoy it', but $ 800 a month is insane to me.

But that said, my planned cost of living savings was around ditching alcohol. I have been hit or miss, but mainly hit. Last month i had over £200 extra in my bank account before payday. That;s 50% of the $800 i mentioned that my cousin 'wastes' on eating out. An extra £200 on something that literally is chucked down the toilet. Madness.

Cost of living is really hitting us, like many. We have a big holiday that is already paid for but we need to strip things to the bone now. School holidays as well- we went to a local attraction and paid £60 for an exceptionally shit experience. That scares me. Thankfully our local cinema has £1 family film sessions a few times these holidays.

This is such a great thread, and it’s so reassuring to see that I’m not the only one who does things like this!

I can easily spend £10 on lunch every day at work. And often run out of time to make lunches for the children so they have school dinners.

I know the root cause is always feeling overwhelmed and running behind, so to plan, shop, then prep my lunches is just too many steps for me.

I just want to say I love this thread and I've read all pages in one go and picked up a few ideas.

Personally I don't even think Pret is that good anymore. The last time I got a salad it just wasn't the same.

By the way I used to go to Café Nero daily, it was my small treat which I must've spent £3.50 daily, Monday to Friday. That works out at less than £20 a week which doesn't sound like a lot, but it's about £1,000/year which would mean I spent about £10K on coffee alone!

Someone bought an office toaster! I have some homemade bread and what I estimate to be a perfectly ripe avocado. I will nip to Waitrose for a free latte and live the millennial dream.