Saving Pennies Whilst Working 3 January 2010 at 11:08PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Debt-Free Wannabe 44 replies 10.5K views

JasX

Noselfdiscipline wrote: »

Talking of moneysaving and work, anyone have any idea how much you would save by recharging mobile phones and ipods at work instead of at home?

I remember seeing figures of 5p-15p a charging cycle. so guess it depends how big your battery is and how long it holds its charge....

you'll all hate me, I get a free hot lunch at work

BenEvans

Ah, I used to work somewhere with a hugely subsidised canteen - good quality hot food for about £1 a day....

Haven't got that any more but packed lunches are the way to go to save money, and maybe treat yourself to a shop bought lounch once a week? I used to do that but soon resented the extra money compared to a packed lunch, and stopped!

BeautyandtheBeast_3

take a packed lucnh and a book - sit and read and chill! xx

Gottodothis

I cannot bear sandwiches and i refuse to pay the ridiculous £4.25 for a jacket potato with cheese, so i bring my own.

When i cook dinner at night i either put a spud in the bottom of the oven at the same time or cook extra dinner and take that to work with me.

Every friday i meet with a friend and we have a pub lunch we take it in turns each week to pay. we always have a large lunch to share. that is my treat for the week. The rest of the week i either surf the web or read in my lunch hour.

With the money that i have saved by not buying lunches everyday I have bought myself a treadmill!:T

spykey_uk

I go home for lunch but realise that not everyone has that luxury! :rotfl:

Fill a thermos with soup, bring sandwiches, or microwave meals if your office has one (mine doesn't )

I think the important one for me is not to go into town, because as soon as I do that I'm toast! Take a book with you to read on your lunchbreak, or a DS if you have one, go for a wander (in opposite direction from town!), go to free museums etc.

It is tricky, one I could do with improving myself! :rotfl:x

superfran_uk

I have had jobs where i'd go out for lunch almost ever day at a pub or go shopping on my way home from work - although I could afford to at the time as I had no mortgage and if you can afford to, there's no harm in it really!

Nowadays I'm much more careful with my money and I'm also trying to lose weight for my wedding so I have extra motivation not to spend money on fattening takeaway sandwiches, jacket potatoes or pub grub. I work 2 minutes away from the town centre, and I tend to stay in the office over my lunch break and bring lunch (soups, salads, cracker bread and cream cheese, tinned spaghetti, sometimes leftovers to re-heat) - particularly when the weather is so grim, it's not nice to have to go out to buy food!

If it's nice weather, I'll eat and then go for a quick wander round the shops - but leave my wallet locked in a drawer! If i really want something I can go back and get it after work, if I still think I need it!

My office is quite good though and has a microwave, fridge etc. Once we gave a guy £1 each and he made a massive spag bol which we re-heated and had for lunch. It did take some planning as we all had to bring in plates, but was a genius idea and very MSE, and we've been meaning to do it again (maybe with something like a curry!) - although it wasn't great for productivity as we were all sleepy in the afternoon!

imamoneysaver

i work in a shopping centre so I'm always tempted by every food place you can think of no more than 2 mins away, let alone all the clothes shops!

I used to buy M&S for lunch everday, costing at least £4 a day. I take my lunch to work with me now though, leave my bank card at home and have no more than £10 in my purse. I also try and stay in work during my breaks, although that means usually working through my lunch hour!

When I go shopping I buy rolls on offer and freeze them as theres only me and they have a low life. I keep some ham, butter, beef, whatever I want really at work so I can make them fresh at lunch- they taste much better than made the night before and suffocated in cling film! Every few weeks I make a big batch of spag bol/ casseroll (sp?) and freeze about 6-8 portions. Just take them and a few rolls out of the frezzer the night before and by lunch time I have a cheap filling meal!

xxx

foxgloves

My partner & I worked out we were spending about £2000 a year for the two of us to go out during our lunch break & buy sandwiches, crisps, drink, etc. We've taken packed lunches ever since. It doesn't have to be sandwiches and in any case, you can make nice fillings yourself - home-made doesn't have to be substandard to M&S and co. Can also use leftoever rice, pasta, potato, whatever from the night before to make salads......in winter, we often take home-made soup in a flask or for nuking, or when we're cooking, we'll put extra portions away of things like pasta bake, curry, stews, etc, as my husband sometimes likes taking something that isn't sandwiches. You just get used to it. I'm part time so on days I'm not working, I'll do the packed lunches ready for the next day, on days we're both working, whichever of us isn't washing up after our evening meal will make the packed lunches for the next day. I just keep thinking of the £2000 we used to waste and couldn't go back to all the bought in lunches now.

wildthing01

Noselfdiscipline wrote: »

Talking of moneysaving and work, anyone have any idea how much you would save by recharging mobile phones and ipods at work instead of at home?

would this not count as stealing from the company??????

rictus123

Really,most companies(aslong as the direct owner is not there) do not care imo.