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 spend a bit of time on prep at the weekend which makes salads very easy.

I have jars of all different types on nuts and seeds already.

Then I do things like hard boil eggs, mix up tuna mayo with red onion and sweetcorn, grate some carrot etc. Also make a couple of easy dressings (peanut/vinaigrette etc).

Then it's quite easy to throw together a salad in the evening fur the next day. I bought some small screw top jars for the dressings and nuts so they don't have to go on the salad until I'm ready for it.

I do buy an M and s lunch when I am working in one particular office, roughly 5- 6 times a month, I prepare my own the rest of the time, so I probably spend about £40 a month, I'm not planning on stopping that, it forces me to get away from my desk and as it's not my usual office I get travel expenses of roughly £20 to get there so justify that way to myself.

I've been doing DIY coffee and lunches for work since the start of the year and put what I used to spend in Pret aside in a pot (£30-40 a month at least - more if I also bought breakfast on the way to work!) I batch cook as well. Ido have a "real" coffee once a fortnight as a treat! Will be counting up my money jar before Xmas break and see how much I've saved £££ v buying any extra lunch ingredients in my shopping 😁

I take my own lunch in and feel so much better. It was a big part of my losing a stone last year. I take home made soup, or salad, or leftovers. I’ll make a salad with a pouch of lentils and it will last 3 days. Or take soup from the freezer. I’ll get olives, feta, roasted peppers to put in the salad.

@BitOutOfPractice This is what I am going to do more of. It is even a good idea for when I or the kids are at home. I also like to assemble it when I am at work so the bread does not go soggy so use a sandwich container with separate compartments.

Okay, well i have not yet RTFT but my mother stopped smoking when I was 24 (I am now 52) and put all the savings into a separate account. In the first year my father insisted she spend it on jewellery for herself and she bought ridiculous amounts of emeralds and diamonds. After that she shoved it into their mortgage for their second home and helped to pay that off within 5 years.

My expensive waste of money is alcohol. I pretend I spend about a fiver s day but actually it evens out to at least double that - taking into consideration that I go to the pub roughly once a week. Just spending a fiver or so a day does not seem like much- but as the OP has identified it adds up to crazy amounts very quickly. The money I save- well i expect alot of it will go due to COL. But I hope to split the savings between my ISA and my family holiday account.

I'm a bit confused by this as to me, the Pret sandwiches taste exactly the same as ten years ago? What has changed? I used to buy lunch there every day, but I'm on a different career path now and only go to work like twice a week. I usually get my lunch elsewhere but the last time I got the cheddar and pickle baguette it tasted the same?
What's substandard?

I SHOULD spend less on lunch but one of my big motivators of going in at all is getting something nice that I can't easily make at home

I agree, I used to have it occasionally and it was always delicious and felt worth it, have been disappointed anytime I've had it recently (admittedly not much).

Good for you OP, i take a packed lunch to work, but once a week or so try and new eatery- i find this scratches the itch of having a nice lunch i don't have to bother prepping but still saving money week on week overall.

Admittedly branches are probably all different, but for me the bread is drier, more stingy on the fillings and they don't seem to have as much fresh bits like the salad but for a lot higher price.

I earn very well and the last time I was in pret (over a year ago), I walked out with nothing as the prices were so ridiculous. I am terrible at spending money on crap but I couldn't abide this.

Years ago I added up the amount I spent on coffees, was shocked, and bought a machine for work instead. I am saving that money. I plan to retire early by self funding a few years, every little helps me toward that goal. I'd rather have that than the cappuccinos. Find your motivator. Good luck!

I was disappointed when they stopped doing those posh bounties. I loved those.

Why are people so judgemental? Working life can be hard & boring. A bought lunch is a nice treat. So what? We all spend money on different things-cigarettes, wine etc. Are we expected to never spend our money or treat ourselves?

My DH hás been taking a packed lunch for 38 years after I told him the sandwich van was too pricey .
Would be saved thousands tbh .🤣🤣

I used to get pret maybe once a week. I like their bacon and egg half baguette, but couldn't bring myself to pay more than £3 for it.
I like their tuna and cucumber baguette, I maybe have it once a month. I don't know what they mix with the tuna but it tastes better than I make myself
I take my own lunch the rest of the time, and don't drink coffee (inside or take away) but sometimes on a Friday the fridge is a bit bare, and I get a meal deal or a pret

It's fine if you can afford it. But often people can't or at least should really make sure they've sorted more important things to spend their money on first.

Lots of people complain they 'can't afford anything nice' or their budget has been derailed by 'unexpected expenses'.

But it's hard to be sympathetic if they're spending £10+ on coffee and lunch each day so they already have quite a bit of nice and have spent money they could have saved towards entirely predictable expenses like car repairs, broken washing machine etc.

So true, I must admit to bringing lunch as it’s hard to get a chance to go down the road to buy stuff and our canteen is overpriced

Sign up to mystery dining company, Pret are always on my lists of visits.

It isn't crap. The smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwiches are delicious and so are the chocolate chunk cookies, the latter I have a rota with a co-worker to buy when we are in the Faringdon office twice a week. I only rarely buy sandwiches from Pret these days because there is no need, there is a microwave in the office (didn't used to be) so I bring in food I cooked the evening before. Buying a sandwich is convenient on the (rare) occasions where to make a sandwich in advance I would have to buy fillings that I am not going to use before they expire.

Just because YOU PERSONALLY don't have a need to go there doesn't mean anyone who does is thick. Take your head out of your backside and stop being so arrogant.

That is an amazing save! Do it!

I love pret. I do prefere 50K£ at 60 better though

For a simple sandwich say cheese and pickle easy to make at home, but I did like Prets chicken and avocado….

The problem with packed lunch….is it doesn’t last till lunch.

That’s a bit extreme. We’re all different, and prioritise different things.

I personally really like Pret and buy lunch there a couple of times a week. But on the other hand I hardly ever drink alcohol so while I might spend £15 a week at Pret I won’t be spending £15 a week at the pub like someone else might choose to do. Horses for courses and all that.

I was very amused when passing through a busy motorway services to see a pret uniformed staff member eating an M&S sandwich tucked around the corner. Made me have a think about buying at Pret tbh

I was a frequent customer to Pret, (might buy a coffee more than once in a day) but rarely go there now. I take lunch and make up a flask of tea or coffee since the pandemic.

I had a late appointment after work though and needed something to eat, last week a hot wrap in Pret without a drink cost me about £7!

Coffee shops in general have priced themselves out IMO. I don’t go to Pret, but still have a coffee out occasionally, but consider it a luxury now and brace myself to feel a bit ripped off.

I take my own lunch most of the time but if I can’t for any reason I get a Sainsbury’s meal deal over a pret. For £3.75 I get a decent sandwich, carrot sticks and hummus and a smoothie (that normally costs nearly £3) which I have for breakfast the next day.