Brown-Bagging VS Going out to lunch

Just a couple of curiosity questions sparked by my local tv station.  If you work (or if you have ever worked), do you brown bag or eat out?  When you eat out, do you look for cheap and quick or do you go to whatever is closest and choose something different each day?

Here is the stations basic set-up.  They went to the grocery store and bought a weeks worth (5-days) of food to pack lunches.  They spent $40.10.  Now they are on day three of the experiment and have spent $30.80 at a restaraunt.  They are going to this fish place I think every day.  I missed the location yesterday and today.  Monday's lunch, though, was $8 and change. 

Now, when I worked and went out to lunch frequently, I would go to a deli one day and spend not more than $6 and to Burger King the next and spend maybe $4.  If I still worked, and was inclined to eat out, I know I would not spend more than $4 per day due to the wide variety on the value menues at fast food places (Wendy's even has a salad on theirs).  My last job, I only went out to eat 1 time per week.  I prefer to brown bag it as it is healthier food.

 I brown bag it most days, but I generally take leftovers.  We have a microwave and a refrigerator.

momsays:

They went to the grocery store and bought a weeks worth (5-days) of food to pack lunches.  They spent $40.10. 

I only normally work 2 or 3 days a week and am lucky enough thatI can come home for lunch.  That to me is a real treat. Gives me a real break away from work!!

However, I am really curious to know what kind of lunches they are packing if it cost them over $40.00 and for how many people.  That strikes me as totally excessive.  Maybe my Scttish heriatage is coming out.

well I think that most people that are taking their luch may utalize LEFTOVERS. That will help the budget even more. My husband has been taking his lunch since I've known him. He used to take sandwiches every day, he got tired of that now he asks for "snacks"

TYPICALY I PACK:

peanutbutter crackers that I make (7)

gronalla bar from Nature Valley

a pack of Lance crackers

bag of chips (that I pack)

something sweet this week its little debbie oatmeal pies.

bottle of water

can of Coke.

DH works 10 hour days and gets a 15 minute break (when he eats the Lance crackers) and a 30 minute lunch. He can snack around the shop as long as its something quick--- they consider anything you can eat with out microwaving or eating with a fork a snack. 

tastycook1:

momsays:

They went to the grocery store and bought a weeks worth (5-days) of food to pack lunches.  They spent $40.10. 

 

I'd like to know what kind of food their packing. My husband works in the natural gas/oil field in southwest Wyoming. I spend that much on his lunches for 1 week and sometimes their out in the field for 2 plus days. He has a huge cooler that most people use for drinks as a lunch box and a second one for drinks. We buy cases of bottled water (no water on a gas/oil rig to drink), gatorade, lunch meat. I make my own bread so we never have to buy it and he also takes leftovers that we have made into mini t.v. dinners. We never buy hot pockets or the such...we just make it and freeze it at home. He takes crackers, dried fruit, granola, ect. All my hubby's drinks for work are bought at the grocery store because its cheaper than the gas stations they stop at before they go to work.

 Rachelle

My husband & I brown-bag it.  We both work where we have microwaves (my office has an apartment-sized refrigerator with a tiny top freezer).  I haven't ever totaled the cost of our lunches for work but I would say they are very inexpensive.  We take a lot of homemade soups (I'll make a big pot & then freeze it in microwavable containers)...leftovers from dinner, if I do buy lunchmeat, it's because it's on sale.  Also take pasta salads...all homemade (we're on a low-salt, low-fat diet) so a lot of lunchmeats are 'out' - unless it's a heart-healthy turkey breast.  Add some raw veggies & something home-baked like low-fat nut bread...add a piece of fresh fruit...even if we both tried to buy lunches for around $4/day...that would add up by the end of the month.  Even when our sons were home & had summer jobs on a golf course....I still made HUGE lunches for them to take & they didn't cost too much.

We have a full residential size kitchen where I work, but our boss doesn't like the smell of food in the office. So, I usually go out - even if it's across the street to my DH's office and eat with him.

Both my dh and I have always packed our lunches for work. He always takes 2 sandwiches, a thermos of coffee (no matter what the weather is he has to have the coffee) and 3 frozen bottles of water (he's fine with tap water). He has to leave for work before I get up so I make the sandwiches before I go to bed and put the water in the freezer and he packs it in his  cooler. I keep things like packs of crackers, snack cakes, mini candy bars, etc. and he will usually take whatever he wants to snack on as well. I have access to a microwave and refrigerator so I take leftovers unless I have planned to use them for dinner. Lunch is provided in our office 1 day a week so that's 1 day I don't have to pack lunch. I don't snack much so I generally have a sandwich and a bottle of filtered water  that  I sometimes mix with crystal light.I have a reusable water bottle that I fill and put in the freezer to get cold. I figure we have saved a lot of money over the years by taking our lunch. Every dollar saved gives you a dollar to spend on something else or more importantly to save for when you really need it.A person could easily spend $100 a month ($5 a day) on sodas, water, coffee, etc. multiply that by 2 people working and that could potentially be a lot of savings in a year's time.

I pack my husband's lunch every day - usually a sandwich - pickles - fruit - potato chips,can of iced tea,  etc.  Try to vary it so he doesn't get bored. 

I vary my lunch - lots of times leftovers, sometimes I grab something at Subway and always treat myself to a lunch out on Friday.  I usually get a steak salad (1/2) for $4 and enjoy the company and the celebration of it being Friday.

Janet

Okay, this is the list (majority of it anyway) of items they bought.  There are two that would last more than one week.  However, they were taken into consideration for the overall cost of brown-bagging it.

Bread - they bought a multi-grain kind. 

Lunchmeat - Oscar Mayer Ham

Cheese slices (small package)

Apples - 5 total

Chips - bag of Lay's

Mustard

Mayo

Lettuce

Tomato

Some kind of pre-packagedbeverage

Yogurt (??)

No store brands? No wonder it was so expensive.

I always packed a lunch for my husband. Typical was: small wide mouth thermos with some kind of home made soup. A sandwich  of some kind (some times a stew and wh whw muffin instead of soup and sandwich. Some kind of dessert, pudding, jel_o or fruit. All sandwiches were made with home made wh wh bread. NO chips, no sweets and such.

The same for me when I worked except I didn't take as much.

I went to lunch one time, and that was when the daughter of the store owner invited me to go to lunch.

It is no wonder so many people are in debt for cars and other "goodies" instead of  saving money and paying cash for a good used car or for new appliances. Why work and then throw money away for restaurant food?

I've been a brown bagger since high school.  Today DH takes a lunch every workday (I guess I should say worknight since he works 11:30 pm - 8 am).  I start with three basics, a sandwich, a piece of fruit, a sweet treat (usually homemade cookies) add some juice and anything else I feel he needs.  He can't go out to eat and this way I know what he's eating is good.  (He's a "sneaky eater" and should watch his weight!)

I'm a SAHW and my lunch would go in a bag if I had to take it anywhere.  Bagging it sure does save money with the price of eating out.  Cold cuts seem to be the biggest expense and I rarely buy them.

They reminded us again of items bought yesterday as they were wrapping up the story.  There was NOT any beverage included, and it did include prepackaged mini-oreos, a small jar of peanut butter and a small bottle of honey.  The total for the week of lunch groceries was actually $40.51.   The total for going out to eat was $51.72.  That is a difference of $11.21. 

I personally do not feel they did the story in a realistic manner.  When I worked I had, at most, a one hour break.  Who has time to go to a sit down place, order, wait for the food, eat and then get back to work on time?  I suggested, via e-mail, they do it over again in a more realistic manner.  My last job I had a 30 minute lunch break.  There were 2 fast food places I could go to and get back on time.   The other suggestion I made was to have it gender based.  This was a man who can pack it away.  How about showing how women do it?   I bet if they had a woman go out and do this same experiment they would find a much lower total on both sides.

Kim

This topic very recently became near and dear to my heart (actually my wallet)----

When I had a family and cooked regularly I would always bring leftovers, etc. to work, but now that I live alone I decided to make my main meal at noon and buy it from the cafeteria where I work.  During the summer I almost always make a chef salad type salad from the salad bar, and a piece of fruit.  Sometimes I will have the special of the day (we are talking hospital food so sometimes the "special" isn't very special, lol).  I also would stop and get a muffin each AM and if for whatever reason I had to work late I would get dinner at the cafeteria also.  It is important to note that we do not get an employee discount, but that is another story!!

About 2 months ago the cafeteria starting offering the benefit of payroll deduction---they would just swipe your name tag, you signed the receipt and off you went.  I didn't use this until about a month ago and decided that would be quick and easy, not have to stop at the ATM, etc.

So I went about my daily routine at the cafeteria and only had 2 days in the 2 week time frame that I had to work 12 hour shifts so 8 of the days were for the muffin in the AM and lunch.  I just about had a stroke when I got my pay stub and saw the payroll deduction for the cafeteria was $82.47 for 2 weeks.  That was a real eyeopener and I have brown bagged it ever since!!!  I went to the grocery store and purchased only what I would need for my morning muffin and lunch for one week and spent $24.79.  That included fresh fruit, yougurt, deli oven roasted turkey, bread and tomatoes and cucumbers.    The muffins alone was a tremendous savings.  I was spending $1.79 every morning and got a box of 4 from the bakery for $3.69!

So, I am now a brown-bagger!!