Historically I have been a lunch packer. When I was working at Enterprise there was little other option. If I didn't pack my own lunch I would be eating fast food everyday (gross). Typically I would pick out and SSBF would buy something for the week during our normal grocery shopping. My lunches, which were eaten over the course of a 10 hour day, normally consisted of a sandwich or similar, yogurt, 2 pieces of fruit, pretzels, and a granola bar.
However, at Under Armour that have an elaborate cafe with plenty of healthy options on the menu that are loads more appealing then my turkey and cheese with mustard and pickles. The other edge that buying my lunch has is the social aspect. For the most part my counterparts all purchase their lunch and usually go over to the cafe together. Which makes it a great time to get to know people and make some new friends. I am torn. I am opposed to spending more on my lunch, but really, really want to be able to bond with the people I am working with.
Because I am in love with excel I made a break down of the estimated costs to show you guys what I'm working with:
| Packed lunch | Cost/Week | Cost/Day |
| Turkey | 5.50 | 1.10 |
| Cheese | 2.50 | 0.50 |
| Bread | 2.50 | 0.50 |
| Granola bar | 1.50 | 0.30 |
| Banana | 1.00 | 0.25 |
| Misc fruit | 4.48 | 0.90 |
| Pretzels | 1.75 | 0.25 |
| Yogurt | 3.00 | 0.60 |
| Avg cost for Packed Lunch | 22.23 | 4.40 |
| Under Armour Lunch | Cost/Week | Cost/Day |
| Salad | 15.00 | 3.00 |
| w/Grilled Chicken | 25.00 | 5.00 |
| Iced Tea | 3.95 | 0.79 |
| Cookie | 2.95 | 0.59 |
| Fruit | 4.50 | 0.90 |
| Yogurt | 3.00 | 0.60 |
| Avg Cost for Under Armour | 29.40 | 5.88 |
| or | ||
39.40 | 7.88 |
These are rough estimates of course and for the UA lunch plan I still factored a piece of fruit and yogurt because I tend to need a snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Based off of these numbers I would estimate spending about $10-$15 more per week on lunch and $120-$180 over the course of a year. Money that could be well spent on a new pair of shoes or handbag.
A third option would be some kind of combination of the two but this option will mostly likely still result in higher spending, but a less dramatic amount.
What do you guys think?
Should I Pack or Purchase?
This is a dilemma. I think that for the sake of getting to know the people that you work with, spending a little extra a week for a short time would be justified. After a while, you could wean off and begin to pack lunch 2 or 3 days a week. Eventually, for the sake of your wallet (and SSBF) you can treat yourself 1 day of the week to buy lunch and the other days pack and save!
ReplyDeleteI don't understand - can you not bring your packed lunch to the cafeteria? That seems to be very odd for a workplace.
ReplyDeleteThat's definitely an option Alya. I actually did that twice in my first week. The lure of the cafe is so overwhelming though. Its like, hmm, cold turkey sandwich or delicious gormet salad. Plus a lot of times when other people bring their lunch they eat it at their desk. I don't know. It's a strange workplace dynamic.
ReplyDeleteBuying is in.
I would pack a lunch 4 days during the week and treat myself 1 day a week. It is healthier and cheaper.
ReplyDeleteI would bring the packed lunch to the cafe. Start a new trend. And let yourself buy lunch occasionally, say once a week. The best of both worlds without spending as much.
ReplyDeleteI agree exactly with the two above, bring your lunch to the cafe and then one day a week buy! It's definitely still a budget conscious move, and you won't miss out on the bonding :)
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