Countdown to Freedom

gallygirl

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS wrote: »

A woman I work with buys a coffee on her way to work £2.50, a sandwich, crisps, coke for lunch let's call that £4 which is beng conservative I guess, then buys another coffee in the afternoon, £2.50 - so £9 a day, £45 a week. Lets assume 48 workng weeks a year £2,160 a year

It's not just the money (though if you do want to shock her get her to look at Martin's demotivator tool - when she finds out she's working all January just to pay for her lunches that may give her a wake up call :eek:. ).
In my naughty days I used to do buy lunch, coffee etc and I didn't really enjoy it, it was just what I did. Now if I do buy a baguette or pasta etc for lunch I see it as a real treat. Coffee is bought only when I am at a railway station early enough to get it - my reward for being organised . I've had 3 in the last 2 days, which is way more than usual - but only paid for 2 because of my loyalty card . I really enjoy the anticipation (get out more woman ).

unhappy_shopper

I have always taken in my flask of coffee and packed lunch to office. Sometimes, it is hard to resist when colleagues invite you to join them for lunch: I take my sandwich along and eat with them (all the while thinking I have saved £x)

coldcazzie

Manwife takes lunch every day, and then occasionally has a lunch as a treat as well. He used to enjoy getting paninis from a nearby shop at his old office as they gave a discount to the staff. He does get free coffee from work though, which is nice, but it's so bad that if he gets q real coffee from the canteen he's bouncing off the walls all day, and then falls asleep in the car on his way home :rotfl: :rotfl: I suggested taking sachets in (my mum cleared out her cupboard and donated us about 20) but to do that he'd have to take milk in too and we've not got a tiny flask. He takes breakfast too - Morrisons sell "breakfast to go" sets - a gel filled bit that you put in the fridge/freezer and keeps your milk cold, plus a tub with a lid for the cereal, and a fold up spoon that sits in the lid. He feels sick if he eats before he leaves, and it messes up his blood sugars, so he eats about 9am at his desk.

I have to admit though, we do struggle with "interesting" packed lunches. I'm going to have to make them for me and the kids every Monday from now on (refuse to buy lunch for 4 every week) and frankly I'm dreading it...

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

I was pretty good before - I managed 3-4 days with a packed lunch but either tiredness got the better of me or there wasn't anything to take for a packup. I'm going to attempt to get to Christmas with a full record of packed lunches! Stocking up on bread and cheese helps plus rescuing small left overs from MrMRN and putting in the freezer makes even tired days no excuse.

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

MRN, that sounds like a pretty good challenge to me - only packed lunches until Christmas it is :T

I bought some bargainous pittas the other day, small ones, then added salad leaves (HG), red pepper, spicy sausages chopped up and a little mayo - as literally everything bar the mayo was either bargainous or HG (the mayo is bulk purchase so cheap ish anyway), lunches (and dinners the previous night) cost around £1.20 for 4 of us :T

Had a fab night with friends - I drove and drunk so much water I feel I may explode.

Hope everyone has enjoyed the sun today - I had a gloriously lazy afternoon reading in the garden and did NOTHING

Best wishes Tilly x

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Morning, just about to sit in the garden and have breakfast and then volunteering for a couple of hours.

I have a small pile of ironing but I am not missing the day spending time indoors on that, or cooking.

We are having bargainous salmon this evening with a nod to an old Delia recipe. I am covering it with cous cous, with flecks of chilli, fresh ginger and a dash of sherry, then roasting in the oven.

All of the above will take about 10 mns and can be forgotten about untill I pop it in the oven, set the timer and forget about it again.

Another lazy afternoon on the cards and hopefully, a snooze in the sun. A NSD though, so that's good news.

Enjoy the sun, Tilly x

Mortgagefreeby50

Yum, that sounds good! Do you wrap it in foil or roast uncovered? I love Delia, she never fails me with her timings for roasting meat.

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

Hi Tilly,

Salmon sounds yum. And total bargain on the lunch components.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Hi MFby50, I roast covered for 10 mins, then uncovered as I like the cous cous to go a little crispy.

I bought a big box of ginger the other week so there is a definite oriental feel to cooking at the moment, plus the health benefits too.

Tilly x

Tilly_MFW_in_6_YRS

Morning MRN, dinner and lunches only came to £1.20 - so that fed basically 8 people over two meals - not bad :T. 15p per meal - may need a few more of those before Christmas

Tilly x