Comments on: Tips for Bringing Your Lunch to Work

By: Tips Photo

Tips Photo — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 08:37:16 +0000

Thanks for the great tips.

By: Robin

Robin — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 19:21:31 +0000

Your comment re a nice bag not really being a non-essential hit home for me. I have found that having a variety of containers and a couple of fun bags makes me more likely to bring a lunch. I drink a lot of water but would add that you can have iced tea almost as easily. I fill a 32 ounce wide-mouth bottle with water and put in a tea bag (if you like your tea stronger you might want to use two) and put it in the communal fridge in the morning. By lunch it is ready to sip.
I also keep items in my desk that just take hot water — Thai House Rice noodle soup is a favorite, I usually add some peanut butter or a small can of salmon to make it more substantial.

By: Nicky

Nicky — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:19:12 +0000

Great tips! I’ve been bringing my lunch 80% of the time or so for the past few years – and it really does help the bottom line in the bank and on the scale.
We live in an apartment and can’t buy in bulk (no storage) but I do buy regular size bags of pretzels, snacks, etc. and put them into single serving Ziploc bags so they’re always ready to be packed away. I also keep a couple of cans of the heat-and-serve soup at my desk for emergencies.

By: Jeffrey Yamaguchi

Jeffrey Yamaguchi — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:47:56 +0000

Kelly — thanks for the excellent tip on the fruit and vegetable cutting.
Angela — yes, you are right that the cost of coffee can add up… I am a major coffee drinker, so that would really be a feat for me to cut back on that… a challenge for another day. And it is true that you have to be respectful about breaking out your lunch at certain cafes and delis, and donut shops, absolutely. Laying out a whole table of plastic containers of your own food is not the way to go… You have to gauge the place, whether it’s appropriate to eat your own sandwich or whatever. Some places really don’t mind and some places it would totally be out of line. Thanks for pointing that out.

By: Angela

Angela — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 10:11:02 +0000

These are great tips! I’m amazed sometimes at how many people eat out every single day and then wonder where their money went.
Your only suggestion that I have a problem with is “order a coffee at a nice cafe and eat your lunch there” — first of all, the cost of buying coffee at a cafe every day can add up quickly; maybe it should be a special treat like buying lunch. More importantly, though, when you *do* buy a drink at the cafe, it’s actually rather rude to get out your lunch and eat it there. Most cafes sell a variety of foods as well as coffee and tea, and using their table (and forks, napkins, etc) to eat your own lunch is pretty inconsiderate.

By: kelly

kelly — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 23:51:48 +0000

We got into the bring our lunch habit about 2 years ago and have kept it up. (Go, us!) These tips are excellent — we learned most of them the hard way, so excellent work putting them all together here!
One thing that we’ve recently started doing is to cut up all of our fruits and veggies for the week at once. Say, on Sunday night.
It’s much easier to do all of the cutting at one time and there’s no, “Aw… but I don’t want to cut up veggies…” excuse when it comes time to pack lunches!