Talked to a neighbor about eating out and realized I was blowing $200 a month on lunches

Last Tuesday my neighbor Mark mentioned he brings his lunch to work every day and saves like $50 a week. I did the math on my usual fast food runs and coffee stops, I was spending around $200 a month easy. That hit different because it wasn't about giving up something fun, it was just being lazy with my cash. I started packing leftovers last week and already have an extra $40 in my pocket. Anyone else have that moment where a simple conversation made you see a big leak in your budget?

3 comments

3 Comments

williams.sage13d ago

I read something from a financial blog a few weeks ago that said the average person spends around $16 a day on lunches and coffee, which works out to about $300 a month. That number really stuck with me because it's basically a car payment or a chunk of rent money just going to food you barely remember eating. The trick I heard about was setting up a "brown bag fund" where you put the money you save from packing lunch into a separate account, and it's wild how fast it builds up. My sister does that and she used her savings after six months to book a weekend trip. It's crazy how a little habit change can free up cash for stuff you actually care about.

ryan_barnes13d ago

Wait did you see that study or article that came out a few months ago about how the average fast food lunch costs like $12 now with tax? That blew my mind because I was paying $8 for a sandwich combo and not even thinking about it. Then add in a soda from the gas station in the afternoon and you're at $15 easy. I started doing the same thing after my coworker showed me his homemade burrito bowls that cost maybe $2 each. The trick for me was buying a good thermos so my soup stays hot and I don't get tempted by the drive thru on cold days. It adds up so fast it's scary.

sage_green12d ago

Oh man @ryan_barnes, that $12 thing is brutal - I literally choked on my $3 gas station coffee when I did the math on how much I was blowing on lunches every month. I started meal prepping too but my first attempt at burrito bowls tasted like sadness and regret, so I'm still working on it. But yeah, even my sad homemade lunches are saving me enough that I'm almost scared to check my bank account in a good way.