I headed over to the pantry at work the other day to get some coffee.
I opened the fridge to get my milk and I noticed the fridge was completely stuffed! It looks like more and more people are bringing their own lunch to work these days.
By no means is this a scientific study, but if I had to guess, the current economy is spooking many of us and we feel the need to cut back on expenses where we can.
I’ve been bringing lunch to work a few days a week and I tend to get a comment here there such as “Yeah, I gotta start doing that myself!” It looks like more people now are.
We hear about the economy in the news and sometimes all of the big numbers go past without much notice.
So Circuit City is closing? I’ll get my electronics elsewhere. It’s hard to see how the news affects you and your neighbors. Even all the talk about the economic stimulus doesn’t always equate to how it will affect me and the person sitting at the cube across from me.But seeing the fridge full knocks it home! The economy is affecting us whether we like it or not.
It’s the little things, like bringing lunch to work, that show us how the economy is concerning us.
Some other things you may notice around you:
- More people using the company coffee machine rather than getting from outside.
- Less talk about getting a brand new car.
- Less talk about vacations. Or the vacations are scaled down.
- The big lunches are smaller. Maybe still going out but not to the more expensive places.
- More carpooling.
- Taking less expensive forms of public transportation or even walking. My wife has been picking me up a few times to help lower costs.
- You don’t see as much new clothes on people.
- Your co-workers don’t go out as much after work.
- More talk about at least having a job.
- Instead of hearing about the brand new gadget someone bought you hear about the great deal they got.
What little things have you started to notice around work as a result of the economy?
It is so true that people are making these changes. And good for them! It may not be “patriotic” to spend your money wisely and think about your purchases, but if we all did it, we might get out of this and re-build the economy on something other than debt-fueled consumer spending.
Anyway, my husband is bringing lunch as well. He was asking where we could cut back so we could save more, and wondering what could be done. So I printed out a our spending and he saw that he spends about $70 a month on lunches. It’s amazing. So he’s cutting back to $30 a month (saving $40), we’ve switched phone and satellite providers (saving $55 a month total) and going out to lunch twice a month instead of every week (saving $30 a month). It seems like small stuff when you’re spending it, but added all together, it’s $125 a month that we can put in extra.
Miranda’s last blog post..Forget Economic Stimulus: Get Your Own Financial House in Order
@ Miranda – A little frugality goes a long way. An extra $125/month is a great savings account! If we all were cutting back just a bit then the current economy wouldn’t be as bad.
It is amazing to see where your money goes when you track it though!
I live close enough to work that I go home for lunch, so I don’t have a head count on how many brown bag at my workplace.
But it is quite common – and not just with the worker bees. Many of the higher-ups also bring lunches to work.
Monroe on a Budget’s last blog post..Anybody want to have a coupon party?
@ Monroe – Do you see this as happening recently or have the people at your job always brought lunch?
I remember an old job I had that was down the block from my place. It was great going back home for lunch. No way I could do that now.
I have noticed that as well. I always bring my lunch to work, because it is cheaper and also healthier. But I would usually go out once a week, but recently not even that.
@ Craig – I’ll admit I still go out to lunch occasionally but I make it a point to keep it to less expensive eats in the area.
That is a really good point – I work in healthcare so I haven’t experienced as many of setbacks as some of my other friends have, but even among my coworkers we are eating out less.
Anna’s last blog post..Girls Growing Up in Adverse Environment More Resilient than Boys
@ Anna – It’s interesting to hear that in other fields there’s some cutting back.
@ Frugal CPA – That’s the big questions isn’t it? When the economy recovers do we go right back to our old habits which helped get us in this mess or do we change for good? I guess time will tell. I think some will continue their frugality.
I wonder how much of the frugality people learn during the recession will carry over into better times.
frugalCPA’s last blog post..Life Insurance: Term, Whole Life, or What?
I work from home so I can’t offer any insight to any brown-bagging increases, but two things I have noticed recently that seem to be a result of the recession:
1. NO magazine selection whatsoever at the library – most issues are almost always checked out! I used to be able to walk in and grab whatever magazines I wanted to read; now, I have to put current issues on hold because they are never at the library. Perhaps more people are canceling subscriptions these days?
2. I have been getting E-mail coupons from several retailers almost daily…I used to get them sporadically but now they come several times a week. I’m guessing they are desperate for sales.
Hannah’s last blog post..Newman’s Own Coffee
@ Hannah – Can’t vouch for the library magazines but I have definitely seen a LOT more email promotions.
What if we plan for the rainy day before hand so that we may not end up as puppets at the hands of economic slowdown and continue living as if nothing happened before. Think over it!!
@ Tony – Yeah, that’s what we should do. Unfortunately it’s not what actually happens in general. Even with planning, there are things you can’t foresee.