Friday Food - Frugal

This actually isn't going to be a post about food. Sorry. Instead, it's going to be a post about fiscal responsibility, of sorts.

I work in an office that has about 25 people (I think we're still under 30 people), and I am amazed on a daily basis how many of them go out to eat for lunch. Sure, they go out to "quick service" places, or the new Whole Foods market down the street, but they're still buying lunch out almost every day.

And, as I watch them come and go, I've been trying to figure out if I've ever done that.

I remember a time when I was working in retail when I would go to a bagel place once each week and get a mixed bag of "day-old" bagels, and then use those to make sandwiches for the week. Even surrounded by mall food, I only bought lunch about 15% of the time.

When I worked in box offices, I probably ate out - or ordered in - a little more, but definitely not every day. And when I was working my really weird hours in a phone queue (5pm to 2am), a lot of places weren't even open when I wanted dinner, so it was either bring it in or go to the 24-hour grocery store down the road.

All of which goes back to say that I really just don't get how the people I work with can afford to eat out so much.

Of course, it might bother me in part because we're near a pizza place, so when people go out, I often have to sit in my office and smell pizza. Kind of a lunch-Grinch jealously thing.