Lunch and daily coffee

tiger135

Any tips on reducing the costs of these?
Prices have gone up so much.
I used to get a medium latte for around 2.50 , a small latte is now 3.25. I like having one coffee a day while I work in a van so have a daily Costa drive thru visit.
On top of that food has gone up, out local bakery chain has nearly doubled in price! Their meal deal is now 7.10 for a sandwich cake and drink.
Even if I get a co op or Tesco meal deal for £4 I am still spending £7.25 a day.

Saver73

All the supermarkets sell boxes of sachets to make latte and cappuncino at home. You could make it at home and put into a reusuable cup to drink in your van.

£2.00 for 8 sachets in my local supermarket thougn there are cheaper brands and lookout for offers.

I only buy lunch once a week, usually on a Friday. The rest of the time I eat sandwiches made at home or leftovers from the night before.

p00hsticks

tiger135 said:

Even if I get a co op or Tesco meal deal for £4 I am still spending £7.25 a day.

If you are referring to the National Co-op and you use them frequently, then paying £1 to get a members card (and remembering to use it!) will give you 50p a time off their meal deals.

It would also be worth looking into any other loyalty cards for places you use as well - I think Tesco may also reduce the price of their meal deals for Clubcard holders, and Costa also has a 'Costa Club' loyalty scheme. 

The MSE way, of course, would be to make your own lunch at home, but I do understand that if you are working in a potentially hot van all day it;s not always very appetising by lunch time.

comeandgo

If you are in a van could you not get a cool box and take your own sandwiches?  

sleepymans

Worked for 44 years and only ever ate lunch out on Fridays, and not even then every Friday. Coffee or tea on a flask and pack ups made the night before for Mon-Thus. Always wonder how todays workers afford to buy lunches out most days? Seems such a waste!

sarah1972

sleepymans said:

Worked for 44 years and only ever ate lunch out on Fridays, and not even then every Friday. Coffee or tea on a flask and pack ups made the night before for Mon-Thus. Always wonder how todays workers afford to buy lunches out most days? Seems such a waste!

Absolutely agree. Seems madness to me when homemade coffee and sarnies are much nicer too 

CliveOfIndia

sleepymans said:

Worked for 44 years and only ever ate lunch out on Fridays, and not even then every Friday. Coffee or tea on a flask and pack ups made the night before for Mon-Thus. Always wonder how todays workers afford to buy lunches out most days? Seems such a waste!

I've always done this for as long as I can remember.  Make a packed lunch the night before, stick it in a Tupperware in the fridge, saves having to faff around in the morning, just grab it from the fridge and head to work.  It starts to get bloomin' expensive if you're buying lunch every day, even if it is a supermarket meal deal of whatever variety.

It costs a fraction of the price to make it yourself - plus you get to choose exactly what you want in your sandwiches, and in what proportion (e.g. tons of mayonnaise, just the merest hint of mustard, whatever it may be and what your preference is).

Rosa_Damascena

tiger135 said:

Any tips on reducing the costs of these?
Prices have gone up so much.
I used to get a medium latte for around 2.50 , a small latte is now 3.25. I like having one coffee a day while I work in a van so have a daily Costa drive thru visit.
On top of that food has gone up, out local bakery chain has nearly doubled in price! Their meal deal is now 7.10 for a sandwich cake and drink.
Even if I get a co op or Tesco meal deal for £4 I am still spending £7.25 a day.

A lot of this is just habit. As an adult I have not been in the habit of eating lunch - originally a money saving effort when I left for university (after skipping lunch countless times at schools) and was budgeting for the first time, and since then it has stuck. Even now if I have lunch it is usually for social reasons. 

The thought of spending a disproportionate amount of money on a sandwich was nutty in the 80s, and that has never left me. There are loads of ideas on the OS board for lunch ideas if you have 10 mins to spare every morning.

molerat

When working the only time I ever had a bought lunch was when the firm were paying for it - meetings with bacon roll and coffee on arrival, cooked lunch then cake and coffee in the afternoon, those were the days .  The rest of the time it was packed lunch from home.

MattMattMattUK

I have am insulated travel mug for when I want a hot drink in the car, I make the coffee at home it stays warm for hours and it costs pennies. I make my own lunch most days, sometimes leftovers from dinner the night before, sometimes sandwiches, wraps, salads etc. Other times I just eat a decent sized breakfast and do not bother with lunch. I do not do that because I am short of money, but because spending money on buying coffee and lunch every day is something I deem a waste of money. Would I rather buy a coffee and lunch every day, or make my own and have an extra £1,800 a year to invest/overpay my mortgage/spend on a holiday/spend socialising etc.

Van_Girl

I buy Caramel or Vanilla Latte sachets from Aldi or Lidl, they are around 90p for 8. If I'm out on site visits, I make one in my travel mug, and honestly, I think they're much nicer than what you buy from Costa, for a fraction of the price.

Meal deals - if you're feeling a bit lazy, just get a pack of pre sliced rolls (12 for £1.85) and a couple of tubs of sandwich filler (£3ea. - egg mayo, chicken & bacon, coronation chicken whatever) and make up a couple in the morning while the kettle is on. Multipack of crisps (6 for £2.25) and a can of pop (£2.75 for 6) - and you've got a meal deal for £2.14 a day, ish. Add the coffee and that's £2.25 a day

You could make that even cheaper if you went for own brands