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 often make chicken fajitas for pack lunch. I cook a few chicken fillets when the oven is on in the evening. Then use it with seasoning, and frozen peppers and frozen onions to quickly cook a fajita mix in the morning. (Add salsa, sour cream or cheese) it's way nicer than any of the fajitas I've had in a meal deal. (I get unreasonably uptight when Tesco runs out of frozen peppers which is quite frequently)

Nope but it's cheaper, OP can save half the price for a similar sandwich!

Honestly, I would prefer to spend the money on lunch every day than do this. 🙈😂 I don’t mind a really straightforward homemade packed lunch like dinner leftovers or a sandwich or baguette occasionally but I actually think it’s worth paying for the ease/not having to think about it.

I always think salad takes ages to make, the MN massive salad crew must spend their entire lives chopping things
But I suppose one compromise could be to make an easier sandwich, soup or leftovers most of the time, also batch cook brownies and take supermarket alternatives for crisps, yogurts, pastries (frozen to heat up each day, air fryers are brilliant for this) etc which are far more expensive in Pret etc.

Then once a week or so, buy lunch but make sure it's something that's worth it, ie not something like a cream cheese and smoked salmon bagel, that you can make at home in seconds.

If anyone needs any extra encouragement, I got a really nice insulated lunch bag from TK Maxx, that came with its own Massive Salad tub.

I usually take packed lunch (mostly leftovers, or often batch cooked soup, maybe salad with cous cous or pasta, but rarely sandwiches), because I'm really bad at choosing when faced with a fridge full of choice and I hate fridge cold food so don't want any of it if I'm at the point of needing to buy and eat it now and I've not had chance to get it earlier in the day.

Plus a lot if what's on offer isn't that great and I can make as good if not better myself and the nice stuff that I actually like is expensive so, while I have a decent disposable income, I'm not so well off that I can afford to spend that amount regularly without thought because that would take too big a chunk of my 'non essentials' budget.

As chain cafes go I would say pret have pretty healthy sandwiches.

Day 1 of not spending!

I'm making a list of things I need from here / based on what I already eat.

I have a really good egg sandwich alternative.

I've been having scrambled eggs with cottage cheese on toast for a few years when I was previously working from home as a second breakfast. I can't do it now as too much time and faff, so I need to turn it into an egg sandwich.

So, boiling the eggs in advance works really well, then mix with zero fat cottage cheese, and salt and pepper and EVOO for healthier fat, pumpkin seeds for crunch, and either sliced tomatoes or cucumber, in between bread of choice.

UPF bread doesn't actually agree with me that much so I need non UPF sandwich bread and crispbread options.

I've been having those Crosta Mollica wraps which are about £2.15 for 4. Also Jason sourdough rolls for a home made bacon roll.

But it will put up costs of cost saving endeavours!

Is a breadmaker worth it?

Any recommendations for other non or low UPF supermarket bread or crisp bread options?

Should add - cottage cheese has a higher protein advantage over mayo, so is more filling for longer.

Breadmakers are great but the bread only tastes good on day 1&2 because of the lack of nasties, plus they are expensive and take up a lot of room in the kitchen.
Cost wise I would focus first on getting into a routine of making your own lunches, even if the ingredients aren’t the cheapest it will still be less expensive and healthier than buying in.

I am interested in your scrabbled egg and cottage combo, I like both but wouldn’t have thought of combining them.

There's this supermarket bread that is sold in Lidl, Aldi, Morrisons and coop. Perhaps others. It is sold as own brand but obviously identical across the stores. Comes in a brown paper packet with plastic window, very thickly sliced. Tiger, malted or seeded loaves. No emulsifiers.

I try and make extra quantities of whatever we’re having for supper. And also keep a whole lot of home made muesli cookies etc in the freezer. I used to be a big fan of Pret but not only do I find it ridiculously overpriced now, I really don’t like their food.

Decent supermarket bread will still work out far cheaper than bought lunches.

M&S do a sliced farmhouse leaf that isn't as crappy as many supermarket offerings.

if you use Too Good To Go, you can usually get a Pret bag for a fiver. Normally it has 2-3 sandwiches/wraps/toasties, a pastry and some kind of yoghurt pot. The dates are 'today' but it's good for a couple of days if you plonk it in the fridge.

Tell me more…?

Your egg sarnie sounds great.
Personally I wouldn't worry too much about the UPF in bread, just buy a decent quality supermarket one. But breadmakers are very good in my experience too, I would say buy a second hand one from FB marketplace (or wherever) rather than a new one though, there's always plenty available as quite a big proportion of buyers find they don't use them after all. Then pop it back up for sale if you don't get on with it!

Look up HGEM Mystery Dining.
I find it's mostly airport Prets rather than high street branches on there but I always check when I am passing through an airport. You have to answer about 60 questions within 24 hours of your visit and submit specific photos. It's not too tricky but debatable whether it's worth the time or not.

I batch-made soup at weekends until by a miracle work started providing lunch for us. Veggie (often whatever’s left in the fridge) & lentil soup tends to work out cheaper than buying bread & sandwich filling, OP! And if you’ve had a roast at the weekend you can bung a bit of leftover protein in.

Thanks for this- I saw one in my local Waitrose, no emulsifiers but also not a Sourdough. Think I might give it a go.

So I've bought two jars of hot chocolate (one for work and one for home) for the chocolate craving.

And I got the Waitrose bag of frozen pastries. They are tiny ! But 12 for £4 so reckon two a week = 6 weeks.

£12.60 investment so far.

Pret soups are the only reason I go into the office! I love them.

As others have said, Too Good to Go bags are totally worth doing if you can be bothered.

op I buy cooked chicken and berries, keep your lovely pret sandwhich

I started a new job this year, and they give all employees £12 per day to spend on Deliveroo for lunch. They also have a fully stocked kitchen with drinks, chocolate, yoghurt, toast, etc.

I can't tell you how much money I have saved on lunch/drinks and snacks, it honestly is the best working perk I have ever had, it probably saves me at least £150 pm

Go you, OP.

I take a hard boiled egg, an apple and sunflower seeds in a tupperware pot. It's such an easy, quick grab in the morning and is equally easy to eat at work.

The £12 per day is a benefit in kind btw so you'll be taxed on it. I've worked somewhere where they paid for parking and lunches.