Author Topic: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)  (Read 12444 times)

MinimalistMoustache

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Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« on: March 29, 2014, 04:52:15 PM »
The author sounds a bit more Mustachian than some of the commenters:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jillian-berman/why-buying-your-lunch-at-_b_5020896.html?ir=Business

Personally, I prefer lunches I've made.

MacGyverIt

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2014, 06:50:45 PM »
Aside from the Mustachian angle, I always bring my lunch b/c I want total control of what is *in* my lunch.
I've found the cheapest organic spinach nearby; on Sundays I make my weekly "organic egg white/whole egg-grass fed meat-spinach" casserole (YMMV) which lasts the entire week and I know exactly what is in it (BOGO and/or organic on sale) versus the insanely expensive salad bar at the office (no organic, ~$8-10 per salad).

Save money and maintain control over your quality food intake!

- Mac

Lorin

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2014, 10:16:59 PM »
I hate waiting in line and then waiting to get my food at lunch - it just all takes too long. I do like having a walk at lunch, though, but I don't need to buy lunch to have that.

GreenAcres

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2014, 07:34:01 AM »
It seems like some of the people were complaining about not getting to leave their desk if they pack their lunch.  I enjoy lunch at my desk while working and then a 30 minute walk around downtown.  It is very relaxing.  On the occasions where I forget lunch and have to get it, I find that I miss my break time walking.

dcheesi

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #4 on: March 31, 2014, 08:45:10 AM »
One of my friends from work skipped out on free food at the office one day, because he was just so desperate to get away from work for a while.

MrsPete

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #5 on: April 16, 2014, 06:12:07 AM »
Since we teachers only get 26 minutes for lunch and our cars are parked literally 1/4 of a mile away from our classrooms, leaving for lunch isn't even an option.  However, we don't eat at our desks -- we share lunch in the staff room.  Once a week (rotating schedule) someone brings lunch for everyone, and we all look forward to that.  I definitely enjoy that sliver of time with adults every day. 

However, I will add this, though it seems against the grain:  You should pay attention to the social aspect of lunch and be sure you're "playing" at a minimal level at least.  In some companies, a lot of not-so-obvious office politics go on during lunch, and if you NEVER go out with the group, you can be seen as a person who doesn't care to interact positively with the group.  It's like this at my husband's office.  He likes to come home for lunch or take a walk, but he is careful to "go out with the guys" often enough to stay in the loop. 

davo

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #6 on: September 19, 2014, 07:13:50 PM »
I like to eat at my desk then take a coffee break and read on my lunch break.

I've started going out to lunch occasionally with coworkers to be social. I've learned so much about the office from those few lunches and its helped me work better with people in the office.

So I'm finding a balance. I usually go out with them less than once a week. 

Davids

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #7 on: September 19, 2014, 08:10:27 PM »
I pack my lunch Mon-Thurs and go out for lunch on Fridays. Have to get out of the office once in awhile.

Johnez

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #8 on: September 20, 2014, 08:12:52 AM »
Pretty surprised, that was one of the best reads I've come across from the HuffPo.

I bring my lunch. It's actually even cheaper than the author imagines if she decided to use dinner to make lunch or decides to whip up lunches for the week on the weekend.

Also, I find sandwich lunch completely tedious. Takes forever to gather up the stuff and put it together, and worse they're only good for about day. Bread and lettuce go bad too quickly for our 2 person household unless we're committed to using it all up.

I laugh when my coworkers come storming in from the fast food joint across the street. It kills literally half their lunch break, every day. I'd rather relax than sit in a drive thru window.

sly

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #9 on: September 20, 2014, 08:51:33 AM »
Ok that's it. No more being lazy, next week I am bringing my lunch to work. It's gonna be boring and plain, but it will be cheap.

It's hard here in NYC because there are so many cheap eating options nearby, plus I love using my lunch as a excuse to leave my desk and walk around, but Ican't keep spending 10 dollars a day on lunch.
« Last Edit: September 20, 2014, 08:53:20 AM by sly »

Johnez

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #10 on: September 20, 2014, 09:00:37 AM »
I don't see how lunch brought to work is boring. A burrito is a burrito, no matter if you get it from Chipotle or made it yourself!  It's like the saying goes-only boring people get bored. My lunch is never boring.

Also, I didn't realize the prevalence of office workers here till recently. Man I feel bad for you all, but isn't there some benches outside to sit on, or something outside beside a restaurant?

Spork

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #11 on: September 20, 2014, 09:24:45 AM »
She lost me with the picture of the receipt for low fat yogurt.  (Yogurt is meant to be full of flavorful fat.  That is what makes it delicious.)

We don't even buy "work lunch ingredients."  I just take the left overs from last night's supper.  I'm going to guess most people (maybe not the author of the article) don't do this because last night's supper was also a single serving from a restaurant.


Albert

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #12 on: September 20, 2014, 10:31:42 AM »
Bringing lunch from home is obviously cheaper, but there are advantages in eating together with colleagues as well. Particularly in a company like ours where so much is based on communication during lunch meetings in a canteen. Considering the overall price level here our canteen is not expensive (8$ for a main course plus salad and/or soup).

socaso

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #13 on: September 21, 2014, 08:28:20 AM »
I don't understand people who says they crave the variety of eating out. Every place I've ever worked I've seen the people who eat out every day go to the same 3-5 places near the workplace. Also at my current workplace everyone orders delivery or brings their purchases back from the restaurants. I don't miss out on any workplace gossip because I'm eating my home made lunch in the same place they are eating their purchases lunches. It's the same routine every day. They wait til they are starving to order, then they figure out who from the group is ordering with them so they can meet the delivery minimum. They order, and someone clocks out but the food doesn't arrive til that person's break is over so they clock back in but stay in the back eating. It's almost funny except it holds everything up and there are lots of people wandering around with low blood sugar and rumbling tummies. Actually until I wrote all that out I never really realized what an impact it has on workplace productivity. So buying lunch is a lose-lose-lose.

msangi

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #14 on: September 21, 2014, 09:15:48 AM »
I bring my lunch from home most of the time but I'm lucky enough that it is not an issue from the social point of view. Most of my colleagues either bring something from home as well or go to grab something and then come back to the kitchen/to the park where we eat together.

If you are in the position of being able to adopt a similar solution I'd recommend you to give it a try.

Hotstreak

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #15 on: September 21, 2014, 10:27:42 AM »
I bring my lunch from home on most days, and I eat quickly enough that I can go for a nice two mile walk afterwards and still come in under an hour.

Once a week I go out with some friends from the office.  We can get so buried in our work that we don't talk much, and that means missing out on happenings down the hall, news on new ventures and other office politic type things. 

Pooperman

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #16 on: September 22, 2014, 10:22:27 AM »
Ok that's it. No more being lazy, next week I am bringing my lunch to work. It's gonna be boring and plain, but it will be cheap.

It's hard here in NYC because there are so many cheap eating options nearby, plus I love using my lunch as a excuse to leave my desk and walk around, but I can't keep spending 10 dollars a day on lunch.

I work in NYC too. I bring my lunch every day because it makes me die a little to spend $10 on lunch... ever. Well, I bring lunch 4 days a week because company pays for lunch on Fridays (through seamless, usually about $12.50/meal). I can understand the occasional networking meal as a professional, but every day?

Leftovers work best as lunches. Better than sandwiches in my opinion. Having brown rice and beef stew today!

minimalist

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #17 on: September 22, 2014, 01:45:07 PM »
I bring my lunch everyday eat with people that bring their own lunch or buy their lunch (cafeteria, take out, food truck, etc). I don't see why I would need to buy lunch unless people were going to a sit-down restaurant, which is rare because that ends up taking over an hour.

Write Thyme

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #18 on: September 22, 2014, 01:51:31 PM »
Almost everyone at the office here brings lunch. We get 30 minutes. We are *kind of* in the middle of nowhere, the only options are a 5 minute walk to a gas station for their "deli food" or a 3 minute drive (can't walk; unsafe road) to Subway or a pizza shop.

Although one guy, every single day will drive to Subway and get a foot long. Every. Day. He says, "yeah it's probably cheaper to make it at home, but I just don't want to."

Frugal_Red

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #19 on: September 27, 2014, 05:40:02 PM »
I always bring my lunch, but then I work night shift and the only places open are a pizza joint and McDonalds! I like to take a few moments by myself and read.  Of course when the mood is right I'll join in on an impromptu pizza party with my co-workers. :-)

step_away

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #20 on: September 27, 2014, 07:36:08 PM »
I recently started bringing lunch to work (three out of five work days per week) for health reason as I need to lower my blood sugar and cholesterol.  I lose 25lbs and my BMI declined to 21.6 (normal) from 26.0 (slightly overweight) within the last four months.  My fasting sugar also went down from 124 (prediabetic) to 98 (normal). 

Though I'm saving some lunch money, I ended up buying new clothes.  Nevertheless I still count this for a win since my health has improved.  My back doesn't hurt anymore and my occasssional headache is gone.
« Last Edit: September 29, 2014, 02:35:04 PM by step_away »

golden1

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #21 on: September 30, 2014, 06:03:59 AM »
I take a walk everyday and also eat my homemade lunch.  My homemade lunches are cheaper and healthier than most of the take-out near me and it is also easier to do portion control. 

MandalayVA

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #22 on: October 02, 2014, 07:36:37 AM »
The ones that kill me are those who piously proclaim that they "brought in lunch from home," which always turns out to be a crap microwavable frozen dinner. 

I bring my lunch every day--the last time I went out for lunch was in the spring when the director of my department retired.  Every once in a while the department managers will buy us pizza, but it's always from Papa John's or a local place called Bottoms Up, both of which are terrible.  The joke about Bottoms Up is that you can always tell a Richmond native because Richmond natives are the only ones who like BU.

/bean soup and a tuna sandwich for me today

tofuchampion

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #23 on: October 02, 2014, 10:03:13 AM »
The ones that kill me are those who piously proclaim that they "brought in lunch from home," which always turns out to be a crap microwavable frozen dinner. 

I will admit that I do this fairly frequently.  I justify it because it's usually about $2 spent, versus $6 or so in the cafeteria.  I used to eat from the cafeteria almost every night, and was paying $60-$70 total every pay period (it's deducted from my check, so very easy to spend a lot and not notice).  So some Trader Joe's mac & cheese, or an Asian noodle bowl, or whatever, plus a few snacks from home, makes better financial sense, plus it comes from my grocery budget anyway, so no impact on overall spending.

It's not perfect, but hey, baby steps, right?

MandalayVA

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #24 on: October 02, 2014, 11:10:55 AM »
The ones that kill me are those who piously proclaim that they "brought in lunch from home," which always turns out to be a crap microwavable frozen dinner. 

I will admit that I do this fairly frequently.  I justify it because it's usually about $2 spent, versus $6 or so in the cafeteria.  I used to eat from the cafeteria almost every night, and was paying $60-$70 total every pay period (it's deducted from my check, so very easy to spend a lot and not notice).  So some Trader Joe's mac & cheese, or an Asian noodle bowl, or whatever, plus a few snacks from home, makes better financial sense, plus it comes from my grocery budget anyway, so no impact on overall spending.

It's not perfect, but hey, baby steps, right?

Okay, since it's Trader Joe's you get a pass.  :D

Beric01

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #25 on: October 02, 2014, 01:07:15 PM »
I bring lunch to work every day. I remember reading this article about 6 months ago (linked from some other site) and it was the one that finally pushed me over the edge to start packing my lunch.

My lunch costs me $2: A meat/cheese sandwich on wheat, a tin of yoghurt and a banana. Could be cheaper, but I'm still working on that. Right now I'm just glad to not be spending $6-10 on lunch every day!

coin

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #26 on: October 03, 2014, 09:40:54 AM »
My job is in the middle of the industrial wasteland, where your options are BYO, greasy tuck shop or going without.  Every Friday we do a pub lunch, which probably wipes out some of the savings from BYO lunches the other days of the week, but it's probably good to be social with my new coworkers.

This is a huge difference from my previous job, where I did bring in my own lunch but was frequently buying takeaway coffees and breakfasts because I was getting up really early in the morning.  Honestly, the takeaway coffees and breakfasts were just an excuse to get up from my desk and away from the work that was stressing me out.

I've lost 4kgs since starting my new job 6 weeks ago.

Elderwood17

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #27 on: October 03, 2014, 02:32:41 PM »
I bring a lunch every day and take some time to walk outside or read.  Even when I worked where there was a cafeteria I preferred a few moments of quiet versus the throng that was always down there.

Seņora Savings

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #28 on: October 16, 2014, 12:57:26 PM »
Wow, I'm definitely into bringing lunches to work, but this article wouldn't have convinced me.  She sure makes going to the grocery store once a week and throwing some food on bread sound hard. 
Quote
First of all, most people like things that are easy. Packing lunches can be sort of inconvenient. I often find myself rushing around on Sunday nights to make sure I have enough time to buy my turkey, apples and bread for the week. If you're the kind of person that packs your lunch before work, you usually have to set aside a little bit more time in the morning -- cutting into much needed sleep.

Also, $4 for a turkey sandwich and an apple?

MandalayVA

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Re: Bring your lunch to work - a bad idea? (HuffPo article)
« Reply #29 on: October 16, 2014, 01:58:38 PM »
Wow, I'm definitely into bringing lunches to work, but this article wouldn't have convinced me.  She sure makes going to the grocery store once a week and throwing some food on bread sound hard. 
Quote
First of all, most people like things that are easy. Packing lunches can be sort of inconvenient. I often find myself rushing around on Sunday nights to make sure I have enough time to buy my turkey, apples and bread for the week. If you're the kind of person that packs your lunch before work, you usually have to set aside a little bit more time in the morning -- cutting into much needed sleep.

Also, $4 for a turkey sandwich and an apple?

$4 for a sandwich and apple is cheap in Manhattan.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!