Stop buying sandwiches

svb53

This is so me. And definitely not helped by the fact that my store is 3 doors down down from a BP petrol station with a Budgens in it, and also has a bacon butty van parked outside it 6 days a week. And i've just heard that plans have been submitted for a Greggs to open next door to me. BUT, i've taken lunch the last 4 days to work, and somehow managed to have 4 NSDs. Coincidence?

izzydogsam

Horace wrote: »

Take the sandwich and eat it outside away from the office - sit on a park bench or something.

I could do this really easily if the weather's OK - lots of nice places to walk to close by, and would have the added benefit of a bit of exercise too! :j

Horace wrote: »

I think its a case of being organised at the start of the week when you do your meal plan (you need a meal plan when you go shopping anyway).

I've been trying to do this for our main meals so it wouldn't be a massive leap to do it for my lunches too (though it was obviously too much of a mental leap for me to make as I'd not thought of it for lunches before! :D

Horace wrote: »

Don't take cash to work with you either and that way you are not tempted into buying rubbish.

Definitely a good tip. I put my credit card in the freezer to remove me from temptation and it worked a treat. I'll leave my purse behind too when I start back at work next week! :j

firesidemaid

definitely agree re. the leaving money at home;)

i always have a selection of stuff in my locker and normally buy yogs and fruit each week. then if i forget to take anything or make sandwiches i know i can have a pack of crisps, a yog and a banana/apple.

it doesn't bother me as i know that by eating that i am saving money. i also generally will eat my food in my breaks and like to walk into town for a) the exercise and b) trawling the charity shops for stuff to sell on ebay:rolleyes:

MessyMare

I have a similar problem, but with diet coke...honestly the amount I drink I probably don't have much of a stomach lining left; however I can't drink hot drinks so it's the only way I can get caffiene! But I keep sneaking to the shop next door to work for a couple of bottles.. which turns into a couple of bottles...some crisps...a bar of chocolate...and I wonder why I've turned into a bit of a porker! So I'm going to try to not buy any...I bring two bottles from home for each 15 hour shift, that should be enough to get me through! Need to take my debit card to work with me in case of a car based emergency, but I will stop taking spare change to work.

bella.wella

I do this. Drives me mad! Think its half laziness (making time to prepare lunch at night) & half the fact that often I'll end up eating it before lunch & end up starving which results in buying more to eat.

Any solution to get over doing this?

firesidemaid

bella.wella wrote: »

I do this. Drives me mad! Think its half laziness (making time to prepare lunch at night) & half the fact that often I'll end up eating it before lunch & end up starving which results in buying more to eat.

Any solution to get over doing this?

try eating less but more often - if you feel hungry eat half a sandwich/handful of crisps, then do the same again later. cup of tea and one biccy in morning, same again in afternoon (or 2 if rich tea or jaffa cakes;))

some folks on here make sarnies for week and freeze them, taking them out each day/night before

LilacPixie

variety is the key, roll on day wrap the next maybe a salad or pasta salad even some soup or a baked tattie. I tend to favour a salad, lettuce, onion, cucumber beetroot, sweetcorn, colslaw and some chicken or tuna makes a very filling lunch, reasonably healthy and quite cheap in comparison to shop bought.

focus888

doodledo wrote: »

Maybe we should have a challenge not to buy them lol

I was thinking that lol we could share what we are having for lunch so everyone else gets ideas and we dont ever get bored x

debtbegone

I started taking my own lunch at the start of November and found once I got past the first week it started becoming routine for me.

This link *should* take you to the post where I made a wee list of what I took to work http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=27323193&postcount=99

That was 20 days, some repeats but I enjoyed every one of them. I've got not micro/toaster at work, just a kettle so I invested £6 in a small thermos - fab for soups and heated stews/curries!

I found that making my lunch the night before made me more determined to take it with me. I've gotten a bit slack with the mad christmas/new year rush but the amount I'm saving by bringing my own lunch, snacks & filling a small bottle with juice/tap water rather than buying a can or bottle everyday is crazy.

And I've printed out an average spend when I buy lunch into the demotivator at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/protect/demotivator/ printed it out and stuck it on my wall

There are also some good threads with lunch ideas. I think there might be some links at the beginning of the nsd threads but check out the oldstyle board for more ideas.

What I did at the start was just to compile mini lists of what was in the cupboards, fridge & freezer. One for breads, wraps etc One for main fillings (tuna, cheese, ham etc) and another for "extras" (salad, sweetcorn, sauces etc) then just pick 'n' mix from them until I went for a bulk up shop

Hope that helps someone!

I did also find that my own food started tasting way better than shop bought once I'd been doing it for a wee while, think my body was getting used to the better food.

izzydogsam

ColleenPamela wrote: »

I have a similar problem, but with diet coke...honestly the amount I drink I probably don't have much of a stomach lining left; however I can't drink hot drinks so it's the only way I can get caffiene! But I keep sneaking to the shop next door to work for a couple of bottles.. which turns into a couple of bottles...some crisps...a bar of chocolate...and I wonder why I've turned into a bit of a porker! So I'm going to try to not buy any...I bring two bottles from home for each 15 hour shift, that should be enough to get me through! Need to take my debit card to work with me in case of a car based emergency, but I will stop taking spare change to work.

I was doing EXACTLY the same thing with the diet coke. I got really narky and headachey when I didn't have any either, so I packed it in

Someone on MSE gave me a tip of taking a bottle of sparkling water and a carton of fruit juice to mix together to wean me off the diet coke but to still have a fizzy drink. It worked a treat and when I have proper fizzy drinks from time to time now, they taste really sickly sweet. I've been feeeling and sleeping a lot better since I packed in the diet coke a few months ago, and I have saved quite a lot of money! :j At almost £1 for a smallish bottle I was spending a small fortune