When I was in school, I brought my lunch every day. However, I didn’t like sandwiches – the jelly always soaked through the bread, and I wasn’t a fan of lunch meat. So I was the weird kid who brought a container of salad, complete with a miniature serving of dressing stored in a Bayer aspirin bottle, served with a mineral water to drink. Getting a new lunch box was a huge thing each year at back-to-school time, until I got too old for lunch boxes and started carrying fashionable [but tree-killing] brown paper bags.
These days, since I’m working outside my house over seventy hours a week, packing a lunch is a habitual thing. Since I’m actively trying to be more selective about what I spend my money on [read: savings account entries and shoes, rather than daily lunches and dinners out], bringing a lunch is a point of pride. It does require a small amount of pre-planning, which was an adjustment, but it’s been worthwhile. Here’s why:
- It saves me money. I can make a soup and salad at home and then bring it with me for about three bucks, instead of paying seven-fifty for the same at the deli downstairs, or upwards of twelve dollars if I end up going out somewhere with my workmates. [Arguably I'm missing out on the social and morale-building exercise of eating with my coworkers, but let's be honest: about forty percent of the large meetings we have are catered, so we do quite enough eating together.]
- It keeps my eating habits in control. Let me clarify: I’m not on a diet. But I know if I run out for a lunch when I’m famished, I’m more likely to order an extra side, and two cookies, and a fancy-delancey latte instead of a regular drip coffee. So it’s better if I avoid the temptation altogether by bringing delicious things from home every day.
- It saves me time. Eating at the office means I don’t have to leave. If I left for lunch, I’d cut an hour or so out of my work day. And since I don’t do working lunches, that means I’d have to stay at the office later to make up the lost time. This way, though, I clock out and spend twenty minutes eating at my desk, and then get right back to work immediately, instead of waiting to be served, sitting in traffic, and spending a ton of time figuring how to split up the bill.
So what can you do to make things easier?
- Make a week’s worth and then pack it all at once. Since it’s been freezing, I’ve been consuming spicy soups like it’s my job. When I make them for lunch, though, I make a huge pot, and then put them into single-serving jars repurposed from my kitchen [cheap and easy, and microwaveable!], store them in the fridge, and take one each day. If your preferred lunch of choice doesn’t require any cooking, you could take this a step further and bring a sack of ingredients [lunch meat; cut veggies for salad] to your office’s fridge every Monday, then assemble the lunch every day. Easy, huh?
- Recyclable disposable containers. I’m trying to stay away from containers I use once and then toss out. But I don’t always remember to bring the container home with me. If you have this issue, use recyclable containers [my soup jars are a perfect example], so that way if you don’t want to bring them home, you can toss ‘em in the recycling bin.
- Put it in an obvious place. Write LUNCH on your bathroom mirror in lipstick, if you’re prone to forgetting. Or on your palm in Sharpie. [Full disclosure: I did this and then woke up with the word LUNCH smeared across my cheek. Classy, but at least I didn't forget.]
- Get a lunch container that you don’t mind carrying. The mini-cooler is functional and all, but if you want something more chic, why not a bento box?
What do you guys like to eat for lunch? Do you pack it all at once
Related posts:
