I'll do an experiment to see how much money this could save me vs time. Everything is expensive in CA, never-mind Orange Orange County, so although $11 may sound like a lot, the groceries aren't much less. One other complication, I don't turn my refrigerator on often, only for special occasions where I'm home for an extended period of time, such as 3+ days without leaving for work. I'm so sensitive to wasting energy at home that I can't bare to have a refer cooling while I'm away for 14 hours a day just to keep a few items cool. The refer runs on propane and 12v.
The refrigeration thing makes it different, especially if you don't have a fridge at work. I also live in CA (Santa Barbara), so I know me some expensive food. Having a full kitchen and prepping my own veggies keeps my salad cost down. Though not pennies - it's still probably $3-5.
Is there refrigeration at the office? I ask because when it comes to being frugal and all, I've got some good stories of coworkers.
- Coworker A lived up near the Bay Area but worked here. She would drive down every Monday morning and drive home every Friday night. She had a rented room during the week in an AirBNB, but no kitchen privileges. So, she used the work kitchen. She had her own mini-fridge near her desk, and would keep lunch makings in there (quesadillas, salads, fruits, vegetables), and would just prep in our kitchen. She made breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
- Coworker B is, ahem, living in a "toy hauler" in the parking lot. He was living in a 5th wheel but the rent on his space got to be too high. So he bought a house a few hours away for his wife to live in, goes there on the weekend. So, he uses our fridge to store his food (though is more into frozen corn dogs and such).
- Coworker C was living in a rental with not enough fridge space, so she'd fill our communal work fridge with piles of greens (chard, kale, whatever) and other food and prep at work.
When we had a full on 4 shifts running, there was always someone cooking in our kitchen. We had a full sized fridge, a toaster oven, and a microwave...but about 70 people. The night shift folks bought an electric skillet and a crock pot and would cook on their breaks and have these huge meals. The kitchen is tiny, almost no counter space, and only a small square 4-seater table. They made it work though! And probably ate in the conf room at night. During this time I bought a $50 used mini-fridge because there was no room for my lunch in the fridge at 8 am on a Monday.
There are things we can learn from keeping food cold while camping, too. Like using ice packs. But if you are as dedicated to eating lots of healthy greens as I am, and you are limited due to your schedule (in and out a lot), some of them will work, and some probably won't. And shopping for days at a time will only work sometimes.
