In most of the US that's a crazy amount to spend on lunch, but this hypothetical also included public transit so we're not talking about most of the US
Just a fast food hamburger and fries is $9-something where I live. The yellow curry at my favorite Thai restaurant is $12-something, plus a tip. Add a soda to either one and it's another $2-3.
I'd say it's about $15-20 for an average lunch here, in Seattle. transit is fairly cheap, $5.50 to and from work unless you live far enough to go through a couple zones, at which point I think it's still under $8 round trip.
Yea 25-30 is a sit down meal somewhere, in reality most office drones are picking up something quick from fast food or a convenience store for >$15 a day.
You’d be surprised. I was busy at work one day and starving. Almost doordashed a burrito and chips from Chipotle till I saw it’d be almost $25 before tip.
I would be surprised but you said DoorDash, that adds like 40% after you count in DoorDash fees, the raise in price from the restaurant trying to get their fees back, plus the tip.
just make sure it doesn't smell, stain, is difficult to eat, is easy to prepare, easy to clean and you've measured out the right amount to prevent wastage.
or just let me work from home?! which is better in every way?! for everyone involved?!
And all of this is why the lunch meat sandwich is the king and standard of packed lunches. I normally swap between packing a lunch meat sandwich or a pb&j for lunch or I’ll go broke grabbing takeout
I agree WFH is good but I feel like people exaggerate how hard it is to bring your own lunch. I ate an apple with nut butter today because I was too lazy to meal prep. Yeah, I have low standards, yeah it's not exactly filling but whatever. I've saved hundreds by just sucking it up having a shitty lunch when I'm too lazy to meal prep.
TO BE CLEAR:
I 100% support WFH. Fuck greedy, lazy employers who refuse it for no reason, we should all continue to fight for WFH. Acting like there is no alternative to buying lunch every day is a cop out.
It’s not that it’s super hard to bring your own lunch, but it’s definitely hard-er. People just get mad when their employers won’t recognize that there’s a difference between wfh and commuting.
I guess this is going to depend heavily on the kind of job you have.
My workplace provides coffee of the highest quality, breakfast, snacks and all kinds of drinks. I also get access to ~$10 per day to spend on lunch - which to be fair doesn't really cover the whole cost any more - but still, it helps. I also bike to work, so there's not really any cost there to speak of.
Depending on how creatively you decide to do your accounting, I arguably gain from going to the office. Then again, I could spend 5 days at home if I wanted without any problems. I'm choosing to go in anyways though
The last time I was in an office regularly they gave us a free buffet lunch every day. Then we got bought by a big company and it turned into soup and salad. Then we got sandwiches. Then they stopped it entirely. Then I quit.