Lunch at work

olb81

Is it cheaper to make your own or do a supermarket meal deal?
I am happy with cheese sandwich basic type things and maybe a coffee or can o drink
Let me know what you do for work lunches?

ButterCheese

I'm a bit limited as I'm gluten free and dairy free.  And the only place within walking distance from work is M&S or the hospital canteen.  They are both extremely expensive; I've paid £9 for a sandwich and drink before.  Asda or Morrisons or Aldi would be cheaper but still £4 at least.  It's not really comparible to making your own sandwiches at home.

This is one of the main reasons I work from home all the time.  I can do a jacket potato and cup of tea for under £1.50 including dairy free butter!

ButterCheese

olb81 said:

Let me know what you do for work lunches?

Funny story - I used to always work in the office before Covid and often took in a ready meal for lunch or breakfast because it was easier than making sandwiches and sometimes cheaper.  One day I took in a curry, was hungry so microwaved it for breakfast (at about 8am).  A rather old fashioned spinster woman walked in, proclaimed that "I can smell curry", looked at me eating it and said "unbelievable" and stormed off

elsien

I always take my own.
Sandwiches made from yellow sticker bread and fillings, hummus, or some sort of pasta, some fruit and a flask of tea.
Cheaper than the meal deals. 

TheMilkmansDad

Before covid, I used to go to Tesco on Monday lunchtime and spend £20 on food for the week (bread, cheese, salad snacks etc) and make my own lunches, leaving everything in the work fridge overnight for the next day. Meal deal back then was £3 - so £15 for the week. But I'd easily end up spending far more on snacks and the meal deal wouldn't fill me up; whereas my £20 spend had me stuffed and still take surplus home on Friday.

elsien

ButterCheese said:

olb81 said:

Let me know what you do for work lunches?

Funny story - I used to always work in the office before Covid and often took in a ready meal for lunch or breakfast because it was easier than making sandwiches and sometimes cheaper.  One day I took in a curry, was hungry so microwaved it for breakfast (at about 8am).  A rather old fashioned spinster woman walked in, proclaimed that "I can smell curry", looked at me eating it and said "unbelievable" and stormed off

Not seeing the relevance of anyone’s marital status to their dislike of the smell of curry first thing in the morning. Strong smelling food in the work kitchen can be antisocial at any time of day.

Peter999_2

I used to love my meal deals on a lunch time.    Unfortunately I've now got diabetes type 2 and therefore can't have bread anymore (or pasta, or anything with high carbs).   I miss the meal deals and I still think they are great value.

MyRealNameToo

olb81 said:

Is it cheaper to make your own or do a supermarket meal deal?
I am happy with cheese sandwich basic type things and maybe a coffee or can o drink
Let me know what you do for work lunches?

Assuming you are ok without soda then doing your own are almost certainly cheaper. With soda will depend very much on how much your can/bottle is. 

We have an Amazon Fresh below the office and at £3.60 it's fairly cheap especially given that the "snack" can be a Cornish pasty. 

Where the meal deal has it is the ability to pick what you fancy in the moment. To get home made prices down you need to get the volume discounting so you can't buy fresh if you only want a southern fried chicken wrap ones every couple of weeks and sarnies the rest of the time. 

Mine is heavily driven by how the Mrs is, when she's on form I take my lunch, often a hot meal in a wide mouth thermos and when she's isnt then its the local shops. 

Brie

I'm retired now but I used to love my leftovers for lunch.  If there was some pasta I might add some lettuce, cheese and chopped tomatoes and a bit dressing or chili that could be put in a pot to be microwaved.  I was lucky that for a long time I worked where they had a somewhat subsidised staff restaurant so could get a plate of chips for 60p (4 years back) and would top that or a jacket potato (90p) with my reheated chili. Sometimes I'd take sandwiches but they usually got eaten about 10:30 instead of a lunch time.  

My alternative was to keep a couple of boxes of cuppa soup (the ones from a Polish deli are nicer (less salt and sugar) and usually cheaper), some oatcakes, and some muesli bars.  There was a kettle at work so herbal teas were also always a nice break.  If I wanted to buy a muesli bar I'd likely have been charged close to £1 whereas I'd buy a few boxes when on offer for 5 for £2.  40p for breakfast was much cheaper than paying £4 for a bacon butty at the overpriced shop across the road or even in the staff restaurant where it might be £2.50 (which was still quite cheap).

Not a big fan of meal deals as they rarely have a combination I like.  I don't want to pay money for water which I can get from a tap for free, I don't drink anything with sweeteners in it, so it really limits me on the drinks.  Sandwiches could be ok & I did occasionally treat myself to a nice one from M&S before they shut down.  Must admit we did have a great place near work that did divine fresh roast sandwiches - so hot roast pork or whatever and really nice wraps all made to order but you'd normally be looking at £5 for the privilege.  Free leftovers were a much better value.  

BridgetTheCat

I work from home now but previously worked in an office without easy access to shops except for a petrol station and Subway. About half the time I brought lunch in. I found the easiest way was to make a double portion of dinner the night before and pack one up for lunch - pasta, paella etc could be heated in the microwave. Or make a pasta salad or couscous with feta and cherry tomatoes. Sandwiches can get very boring.

singhini

ButterCheese said:

olb81 said:

Let me know what you do for work lunches?

Funny story - I used to always work in the office before Covid and often took in a ready meal for lunch or breakfast because it was easier than making sandwiches and sometimes cheaper.  One day I took in a curry, was hungry so microwaved it for breakfast (at about 8am).  A rather old fashioned spinster woman walked in, proclaimed that "I can smell curry", looked at me eating it and said "unbelievable" and stormed off

🤣🤣🤣 
That's too funny 🤣🤣🤣