How I don’t brown bag and I’m happier for it
moneyrelations :: Nov.06.2007
Hello, stranger! New here? How about subscribing to my RSS feed? Thanks for visiting!
Here it is: I’ve finally succumbed to the perfunctory PF “brown bag” lunch post. Why have I waited this long? The truth of the matter is, I’m not exactly your most frugal PF blogger.
I buy my lunches.
Crap, now that I’ve confessed, am I going to be kicked out of the PF community?
Buying lunches has always been a social activity for me, ever since I was in grade school. After lunch, us kids would walk off school grounds to the brilliantly situated confectionery to buy junk food almost everyday. Actually, I would, since I had a disposable income from being a newspaper delivery girl since I was 12. I don’t recall ever having an actual allowance. Since I could afford my lunches and I was also saving money, my mom stopped making my lunches all together. After all, it was my money and I’ve always been pretty self-sufficient.
Later on at my first real job, the lead programmer had a wife who was a very bland cook. He used to tell me that lunch was his only meal that tasted like anything. Trying to be friendly, I tagged along with him. I had a lot of shawarma plates back then.
Fast forward to my current job where people usually work through their lunches and stay at their cubicles. The social networking aspect is no longer there and yet I still found myself dropping around $50-$60 a week on lunches. Nicht gut. Even I could see how wasteful it was but I have a weakness for sushi… So, I made a deal with myself: I can have sushi once a week, versus 2 or 3 times a week. For the rest of the days I would make my sandwich wraps from groceries I kept in the company fridge. That worked well… for all of a month.
I’ve come to the realization that it is not in my history, nature, mental make-up, DNA to brown bag or do leftovers. If the food sucked the night before, logic dictates that my taste buds would probably not approve the day after.
Therefore, I’m letting my inner hungry goddess free - but within limits. I’m going to try to limit my lunches to $5 daily and still treat myself only once a week be it a Friday lunch with co-workers or my favorite sushi place. I should clock in at $35 a week on lunches. That still sounds like a lot but I’m okay with this and it’s realistic for me.
The bottom line is just be true to yourself and not to deny the pleasures of life if it is within your means. It just so happens that it is my pleasure to have others cook for me.
P.S. Before y’all go jumping to conclusions that all that junk food or eating out has made me a lard-ass, or that my avatar actually represents what I look like, nothing can be further from the truth. Psst, I’m not really chubby nor am I 23″ inches tall…
Not frugal ::
19 Comments »
Did you enjoy the post?
Subscribe to Money Relations and the Comments as well.
Share in Social Media
Related Posts:
So what’s with the doll?
Eeek! D-O-L-L is a four letter word! She’s a hand sculpted Cabbage Patch Kid, from Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia!
I used to be in a CPK forum and for laughs, I would create these photo comic strips. They were quite hysterical even if the pictures I took were horrible. So, I needed an avatar and she wanted to be famous
She also has a sister that’s just dying to get on the blog.
Maybe I’ll repost some of these strips here sometime when things are slow. Maybe tomorrow
I’m glad somebody else said it.
I think my habit started at an incredibly boring desk job I used to have. I was trying to “save money” to go to school to get out of that crappy job, so I promised myself I would only buy lunch once a week, and force myself to brown bag it the rest of the time. That lasted about three weeks. I realized that for the sake of $5 a day, I was denying myself the only real moment of pleasure I had at that job. No way it was worth it.
I started following my stomach from that day forward and I haven’t looked back. Yes, I know I’m blowing nearly $50 a week on my habit, but honestly? I still manage to save money for a rainy day so I don’t see the harm.
I figure it’s far better for my long-term sanity to make sure I’m smart enough not to overpay for big things like houses and vacations, than to worry about making sure I spend no more than $0.72 every day on a PB&J for lunch.
Works for me. Having money isn’t really good for anything in and of itself if it doesn’t buy you the power to be able to enjoy your life more — in this case, ensuring a steady supply of tasty lunches.
If you start going into hock to pay for it then we can have a rethink but for now I wouldn’t sweat it. The latte factor goes out the window if lattes are the most important thing in the world to you.
Whoo, thank goodness, GiV. If we ever get kicked out of the PF club, let’s go to lunch together
Patricia Lovett-Reid from BNN/TDW does these seminars and she relayed this funny story at one I attended. An 80-year-old guy was in her previous seminar and was asked what he wanted to do with his money. He answered he wanted to buy a new car but he hadn’t yet. PLR asked him why, and he replied that he was waiting for Nortel to go back up. Dude is 80! He could afford it! What’s he waiting for? A week later, as a follow-up, he emailed her with the note: bought the damn car.
Well, it was funny when PLR told it…
In any case, if people are responsible with money, then learn to enjoy the rewards.
Thank you! I can’t even START to start about the PF brown bag cult. I don’t even know where to begin. I’m shaking as I type this.
I was on a PF forum one time and I made some comment about getting a really good deal on oatmeal. The premade kind with cinammon or whatever. This woman FREAKED out on me. Just ballistic-o. No reason, whatsoever.
Here’s my thing. I have never owned a car - I have been taking public transportation for thirteen years. I got cable last month. No cell phone, no Blackberry, one credit card for emergencies. I figure when I get slammed by post-partum depression in the middle of winter and can barely get it together to buy groceries, let alone cook them, I’m entitled to a little bit of store-bought oatmeal.
What is it about PF types? Why do they give a sh*t what I have for breakfast? What is the big deal?
You go, girl. You buy your lunch. I’m proud. And thanks for stopping by my blog, by the way. It was nice to see you.
I can’t even begin to tell you how guilty I was of the same thing when I worked in an office. Even if I’d pack, I’d be so friggin’ fed up with the office monkeys I had to get out. Something about getting lunch was calming to me.
Plus, I suck at cooking. Ask anyone in this house, including my dogs. If it involves anything beyond boiling something, I start to get very, very nervous.
OMG, you two are like tag-team girl power. I like it.
Use public transportation - check
No cell phone - use the company’s, check
No Blackberry - check
One credit card - check
Can’t cook worth a lick - check
Yeah, you two pretty much describe me.
Hilarious comments and I haven’t even read the main post yet…
I’ve always been annoyed at the “brown bag your way to millions” b.s. - I used to eat out a lot but the last few years I got tired of it so I usually bring my lunch (in a white plastic bag) three days a week and go out two days a week.
I find lunches out are a very social event (and I rather enjoy them).
Mike
Hi Mike!
Well, sometimes it does pain me when I crunch the numbers on how much I’m blowing in lunches a year. Meh, but what can I do? I’m only human. Must.not.think.
[...] How I Don't Brown Bag and I'm Happier for it by Money Relations [...]
My first job out of college I ate out every day with my boss and a couple of co-workers. Now that I’m older and married I’ve tried my best to do the brown bag thing, but it just doesn’t work for me. It’s not that I mind brining my lunch, I still do several days a week, but I just don’t like cold food! I bring leftovers from home when they are available (my wife and I are both good cooks) and I get something in the cafeteria or go out the rest of the week.
Some people are just too tight with their money for their own good. So, great, you take crappy cold food to work every day to save money. You aren’t going to know how to enjoy that money once you’ve made something of it anyway. Saving money becomes part of your lifestyle. If you go too far, it will be hard to get back to a less frugal state later. Only be as frugal as you feel comfortable. Don’t deny yourself something you enjoy in order to save.
We keep our “Dining Out” category in the “Fun” part of our budget. Groceries go in Committed Expenses.
Hi Curtis. Thanks for stopping by.
Wonderful point. It is often hard to revert to a less frugal stage later in life. Often, people promise themselves that they will travel when they retire. Unfortunately, when the time comes, they find themselves in too poor of health to keep that promise. But their other frugal habits will be still be with them, like getting the cheaper cuts of meat, making excuses not to dine out, etc. I don’t want to come across to readers as splurge all you want, but just if it is within your budget. Enjoy life’s blessings while you can.
[...] here’s a great response “How I don’t brown bag and I’m happier for it” from the blogging doll at Money Relations. This is another featured article in the Nov. 12 Carnival [...]
On the opposite end, I have started to bronw bag more and the reason isn’t for the money mostly althoug it is part of it. About a year and a half ago I got transfered to a “satilite office” at my job. I went from downtown Brooklyn with a nice varity of spots, to JFK internation airport, in the cargo section. In the complex I am in are vending machines and the close options lean heavily toward fast food. I have gotten sick of just eating “crap” so in order to enjoy a good meal I have had to move toward the brown bag.
Hi Jane, thanks for the feedback.
You must be racking up huge savings. And you’re right; it’s important not to compromise health. Junk food is so cheap and convenient… Although, Subway isn’t bad and I have that on my weekday rotation as the daily specials cost $3.50 for half a sub. That’s the only way that I can even keep $35 as a realistic budget with sushi Fridays.
[...] How I Don’t Brown Bag and I’m Happier For it by Money Relations - I guess passing on the brown bag doesn’t make you evil after all! [...]
[...] permission, once/week when desperate, to grab the chicken sandwich. My lifestyle, somewhat like money relation’s, makes eating home every single meal pretty challenging. Building in a realistic pressure valve [...]
My lunches have actually tasted better since I ‘brown bag’ it.
Hey there, Jackie.
Tastier, healthier and cheaper too probably. I wish I had the discipline and the foresight. Good luck on the contest from Bloggin-Ads!