Is £64 a month for food IN WORK too much?

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This is the absolute minimum of what DH spends on food in work. H works four days a week. Two of those days he has two breaks as it is an 8 hour shift. I think it is far too much considering after taxes he is paid only £700 approx. Thoughts, anyone???

£2 per working day. It's too much if it is more than you can afford. Can't he take food in with him?

It's more than I spend on food at work, but for many people it wouldn't even register.

I tend to take my own food though, as stuff at work is both grim, and overpriced.

What proportion of your household income is it?

Yep. Take your own (sorry, his own). Cheaper. Healthier. I am cheep skate though. Have to be as on tight budget.

I try to ensure that I make meals that will have enough leftover for him to take to work but it isn't always possible. I sent him with sandwiches today and he keeps drinks in his locker (cheaper when bought in bulk). I have been wondering for months where the hell our money is going ... now I know! The canteen in his place of work is really good, you can get a decent hot and relatively healthy meal for £1.20 (smallish plates) but he does have a big appetite to buys chocolate bars etc too. I shall be keeping a closer fist around the purse strings >:{

Sorry, so he buys*

It's a fair chunk. It's roughly what I would spend on a weeks groceries (exc fruit and baby essentials)

Far less than I used to spend on lunches at work, but I could afford it at the time. If you can't afford it, then he'll need to take food in instead.

Packed lunch is definitely the way forward, but also remember the snacks. He could still have his choc bars (or even something healthier!) if work snacks could be factored into your normal shopping budget. I've learned to do this as I have teenagers and a dh with a big appetite. When I wasn't doing it, dh was buying stupidly overpriced chocolate from vending machines and cakes from coffee shops, and the teens were simply scoffing all the things I'd put aside for packed lunches. But you can get, e.g. chocolate and crisps far cheaper in supermarket multipacks. It's spending extra up front in the normal shop, but saving on bits and pieces frittered away during the working day.

Individual choc bars cost a fortune. If he likes and burns off his chocolate, buy a huge bar for a pound and split it up.

It would be very easy to spend at my work. I take a packed lunch with me.
Very difficult to spend at DH's where he prides himself on spending less than £1/day for 2 courses.
The £1.20 fora meal sounds like good value, but if you can't afford it - or if your sending in leftovers, and he's still buying a dinner, maybe a rethink is needed.

Agree with the suggestion to buy multipacks on offer in the supermarket, and either let him take it all in, or put out a reasonable selection every day, so the vending machine isn't required.

Duly noted. Thanks all :D

If you are short of money then it probably is too much. Work out what it would cost for a packed lunch. But on the other hand if he is getting a good meal for 1.20 that's very cheap. Could you not look at other ways to save money.

Packed lunches with soups; wraps, rolls, snacks, fruit and selection of food that he can graze on during the day. Buy chocolate bars in your weekly shop rather than him buying in the canteen.

I'm ashamed to say I used to spend that on a couple of costas a day when I had a significant salary. But I could afford it.

Now it's packed lunches and use the kettle for us.

I work in central London where you can easily spend £5+ a day on lunches and coffee.

If he is really against pack lunches, buy some of the items from the supermarket and let him take them in eg
A crossaint near work is £1.50 but 30p in lidl for a fresh one.

Cans of fizzy drink are 40

..... 40p in a multi pack but 70p in the local shop.

I normally bring in lunches from home like left overs. A can of soup I can heat up in the microwave, beans on toast. I can buy a ready meal for £2.50 in the supermarket compared to £5 in a cafe.

Easy to spend on work food. £4 is not a lot, I know it is if you don't have the money, but what I mean is you don't get much for it.

It might be cheaper to spend the £1.20 on a decent hot meal supplemented with supermarket bought multi pack snacks rather than wholly home made food.

I work in Manchester city centre and if I don't get organised in the morning will spend a fiver on lunch. It soon racks up, so £64 a month for 20 days doesn't sound too bad.

I'm a teacher and that sounds cheaper than school dinners! But like others have said, it's cheapest to take in your own. X

Thats four quid a day. I think thats a lot given that his meal is cheap.

Can't he take in his chocolate?

I spent £4.44 on a sandwich, a few chips and a small bottle of fresh orange juice (NHS canteen). I do try to take packed lunch most days. It does add up esp if I go for a cup of tea on afternoon break!

I like the occasional Snickers at work, they are 60p or you can get 4 for £1 in ASDA. His hot meal sounds reasonably priced so maybe you could just find out what snacks he buys and get a stash from the supermarket?

To eat in our canteen would be about £5/day, but as I also wfh a lot, get paid lunches and dinners for meetings, and occasionally take in my own lunch, so it works out about £10/week. Whether it is too much depends on income, and it sounds like quite a high proportion of your husband's. My dh spends about that a day, every day, but our income is quite high (top couple percent of country I think) - and I still nag him to take in a packed lunch