This is touchy subject!  People get very defensive about this! 

If you spend $10 a day on lunch... Not too hard to do in most cities like NYC! 
$10 x 20 = $200 / month$200 x 12 months = $2,400 a year
throw in a coffee every day or every other day, depending where you get it, and you are up to $2,500 a year.  $2,500 x 10 years = $25,000
$2,500 x 20 years = $50,000
$2,500 x 30 years = $75,000
$2,500 x 40 years = $100,000
and that is without interest or inflation of any sort. 

Luckily, I saw a chart sorta like this when I was 16 years old, when I got my first job, and it made a BIG impression on me.  Yes, you may say, what does $10 here and there matter.  But when you add it up over the span of all your working years, it is some SICK money.  And this is just one example of how Americans just throw their money away, without thought, and without even realizing how it all adds up, little at a time.   And thus practically everyone is in debt.  It takes me pretty much no effort at all to make a sandwich, make a humongous batch of soup or curry or sauce and freeze it in individual containers, or to throw some leftovers in a container.  I cook, and just make extra for lunch.  I also coupon, so I get groceries dirt cheap or free - but even without this advantage, packing lunch can save some serious coin. 

I love to eat out too, don't get me wrong.  But balance is the key.  I pack most days, and "treat" occasionally, usually when a new place opens up with something really good, just to try it. 

When I sit next to colleagues, eating their $10 salads, talking about how much "money is a struggle", waaawaaaawaaa...I roll my eyes and sigh.  I point out maybe they can pack their lunch and always the answer is: "I have no time".  But they have time to watch TV, to surf the internet, go shopping, play video games, play Facebook Farm games, go for manicures, go to the movies, walk around the mall.  For that they have time. 

But money is a still a struggle, and it always will be until it gets through to them why.  And I am sure someone will comment on this post too with some smart-alek comment, instead of reflecting on their own spending habits and trying to learn from this- and that is ok.  I am gonna put my neck on the line here, and post it anyway. 

Hopefully some 16 year old will see this, and I will have then paid it forward.   
 

Damn, that reminds me I need a cup of joe and a bagel.
Keep this economy turning!

I work with a lot of salespeople doing projects for them and their clients. Most of them give me gift certificates to this place or that place including Starbucks. I don't think I could ever justify buying stuff in that place for those prices if not for the fact that it's someone else doing the buying.

Yup my first job out of college I spent way way too much money on food.  I wish I could go back and get money back.  Everyone who raises their kids should do them a big favor and make sure they learn how to cook.  I learned much later on after I got married but it's a huge plus to be able to do that. 

I try to avoid buying coffee but it's hard to resist sometimes after lunch time when you feel you need a pick-me-up.  But I buy from mom-and-pop shop in my office building never ever star*ucks. It's like 1 and some change for a medium coffee.  Also a little trick I've learned over the years is take some Nescafe Clasico or Medaglia D'Oro, you know the better brands of instant coffee and mix it with warm milk and a little liquid coffeemate late or vanilla flavor. It will taste just as good as anything you get in Star*ucks for way way less. Also I almost always bag lunch. Usually left overs from something either myself or the wife cooked.  I work in Financial District so I quickly realized on my salary I would not survive buying lunch and coffee all the time. On average you gotta pay like $10 for a decent lunch in that area.

Bring some days, buy some days. Don't waste money on mediocre local lunch options, go for something good. It's a sad Kids In The Hall sketch, but I really do get excited about that good sandwich I have waiting for me. Sometimes I skip lunch altogether. Depends.

That Good Sandwich sometimes gets forgotten on the kitchen counter and I can't concentrate for the rest of the day because all I can think of is eating it as soon as I get home.

The day you forget The Good Sandwich is the day much cursing takes place in the elevator on the way to the office when you realize it.

My female doppelganger:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Tk5s...

SHE CAN HAVE IT ALL!

Total fucking bullshit.  I track my expenses.  Eat out everyday in Manhattan (though often its take out I bring back to my workplace), and eat out in restaurants one to two nights per week.  Per month its never over $700 and its been stable for some years.  The daily $4 coffee is for retards or overpaid retards.

Lawlz, so you're spending $8,400 a year on coffee and lunch. Congratulations, retard, you're above average.

Everyone should use services like Mint. It's very useful.

I drink the bad office coffee for exactly this reason.  It is bad, but it has the necessary dose of Vitamin Caffeine.

Good luck, Jamie!

I drink 2 cups before work and generally eat something substantial at home. Then on my lunch break, limit myself to nothing more than a $1.50 for coffee and never more than $5 for lunch. It is possible in this city, if you aren't a fat ass that needs to gorge mid day.

SUmmertime is the best because of all the fruit carts. 3 bucks of fruit is a LOT of filling fruit!

You know, I used to pack my lunch.  Then I realized the $5-7 I spend to buy something to eat every day is so much better than pulling out a sad Tupperware of whatever-the-hell you made at home.  I don't care if it's sliced kobe beef on toast points, there's something depressing about pulling out your sack lunch or standing in front of the corporate microwave waiting for that "ding."

Haha! Not to mention that you're basically forced into eating in the office. I do not like eating at my desk unless it's a snack or a quick breakfast bite.

Going out to lunch gives me an actual break from work, see the sun, run an errand. I do keep in mind what I spend and it's usually the same as you. It's already in the budget!

can't you just get out of your office for some other reason?

Its a two edged sword. Save money and look like the kid in school who was allergic to everything, or drop $50 a week on mediocre local food and fit in with everyone else.
At least I'm in on my office's coffee group. We brew it there, so its cheaper than Dunkin.