I recently read an article about a survey done by Visa Canada about how often Canadians buy their lunch out and what it costs them. Here are some of the highlights:
- 60 per cent of Canadians eat out once or more a week
- The national average cost of buying your lunch is $8.80.
- Sixty-one per cent spend between $7 and $13, while nine per cent sometimes go as high as $25.
- Ontarians eat out the most (I can certainly attest to the fact it’s very common in Toronto!), whereas the virtuous folks in Quebec, Alberta, and B.C, brown bag it more.
- Those meals add up over time. After tax, eating out three times a week at $8.80 each time can add up to about $20,000 after 10 years.
20,000 dollars? That’s crazy!! I have a co-worker who buys his breakfast and lunch every day (although he tries to spend no more than 4 dollars on lunch). That still really adds up though.
There’s also the nutritional impact – a lot of what’s out there is deep fried, greasy, or covered in sugar laden sauces.
I’ll freely admit that when I first started working downtown, after being out in the “boonies” for almost 10 years, I bought lunch almost every day. Being me though, I wanted to be cheap – so it was often McDonalds, or a bagel with peanut butter and jam. It didn’t do my wallet or my waistline any favours! It took a move out of town, and a big increase in my transportation budget to make me realize I had to cut back somewhere, and lunch was one place I could do it. I still do buy my lunch sometimes (like the day I got a filling, so I had to find something very soft to eat!), but I try to make it a once a week thing, or a special occasion thing.
If you’d like to start bringing your lunch more, but just don’t seem to be able to do it, here are some tips:
- Pack up leftovers immediately into lunch sized containers
- Make something up (like sandwiches) on the weekend and put them in the freezer. Take one out each morning.
- Buy stuff to eat at work – cans of soups, crackers, peanut butter etc.
- If you’re lucky like me, you have a grocery store nearby – I would buy lunch meat and cheese for the week, then a fresh roll each day, and make a sandwich!
Do you buy lunch a lot or know people who do? Are you surprised by how much buying your lunch out can cost you?
I work with so many people that buy lunch every day. I can’t help but notice and roll my eyes sometimes. The same people spending a fortune on lunch every day also complain they have no money for other things. It is crazy.
It is so cheap to cook lunch for yourself. Really?! We bring fresh lunch every day. Not only do we like how much we save but we also enjoy the health benefits. We can control what we eat and what options we have for food. When you eat out you are limited.
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I used to be pretty bad about buying most of my work lunches from fast food chains. All that sugar and salt was just so tasty. Now that I’m trying to be more conscious of both my health and finances, I just couldn’t do that on a regular basis. Since I’m currently working from home, making my own lunches is pretty easy. When I go back to working in an office though I plan to make a lot bigger dinners so that I have leftovers more often. Those usually make the best lunches.
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Wow, this is super interesting. I am surprised it’s only 60% of people. Is that 20K over and above what it would have cost to make the same lunch and bring it from home?
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First off – I’ll confess. I’m on course this week and bought lunch today. It was yummy – shwarma (spelling?) but not cheap!
Miss T – so true, people complain that what they buy isn’t cheap and isn’t good – but buy it anyways!
MM – I hear ya. I was such a McDonalds girl! Working at home definitely helps you reign in the urge to hit the food court.
Daisy – No, I think it’s 20K total – not the difference. It’d be interesting if someone did a study of what brown bagging it cost vs eating out.
It just makes more sense to brown bag it. You save money and guaranteed what you make at home is 10 times healthier than anything you buy at a restaurant or fast food place. I usually make a big meal for dinner then freeze the leftovers. You do this for a few nights a week and you’ve got lots of lunches to take with you!
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Yup! Now, with Mr. Canuck Buck around leftovers are sometimes hard to find
. He preps his breakfast sandwiches the beginning of the week though and I’ll cook up something like my quinoa dish.
On a rare occasion (a treat if you may) I’ll splurge and buy lunch. But normally I brown bag it! I eat our leftovers (mostly mine from the night before anyways) which saves me from buying a lunch and from wasting food that is perfectly fine. Other days, I’ll make a lunch using stuff I have at home-sandwiches, salads, etc. I feel much healthier for it and my wallet likes it too!
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I’m with ya. Today was not a super healthy day – they have snacks at my course as well. Brown bagging is generally the way to go!
I’m not one to talk because I spend a lot on eating out. I feel like my living situation justifies it a bit though since we don’t really have access to a kitchen… (we share with BF’s parents, and they are particular about their kitchen). We get bitched at for taking up a tiny space in the fridge and we always have to wash their dishes or do things their way. In the kitchen I like to cook freely without being scrutinized so both my BF and I just avoid being in there. I can’t wait until I move so I can cook at home again. I’m going to be bringing my lunch to school whenever possible.
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When I was working in an office i used to bring my lunch monday through Thursday and then I would go out on Fridays. I worked for a major bank and we had a really nice cafeteria that served us lunches and they were subsidized but I could still save a nice amount of money each month by opting out.
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I am really lucky that I work on a remote site where there is no option to buy food. The only thing is the weekly Tims coffee on Fridays that our van gets. I end up stashing things like bagels in the freezer, instant oatmeal and bags of apples, for those days that you just can’t get it together. The only other option is hickory sticks from the vending machine downstairs!
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Brian and I are all about bringing food from home, usually leftover dinner or sandwiches. We enjoy leftovers though, so it’s not a big deal. Our budget would completely balloon out of control if we bought lunch at work.
My co-workers generally buy food at $6-8 per day and his co-workers go out for lunch too. I find it funny when I pack him something simple and cheap like perogies and sausage and his co-workers get jealous!
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