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Getty Images / Getty Images file
A man eats his lunch at a Burger King in London.
The next time you stop in for a morning latte or head out for a restaurant lunch, take a look around – and don’t be surprised if you see a lot of young men standing in line.
A new survey of workers finds that men spend significantly more on coffee and lunch than women.
The survey, from staffing firm Accounting Principals, also found that younger workers spend more than older workers on lunch and coffee during the workday.
Overall, those lunches out and coffee breaks are costing workers a bundle. American workers who buy coffee and lunch spend an average of $1,000 a year on coffee and $2,000 a year on lunch, based on the survey of 1,000 workers.
About two-thirds of workers buy lunch and half buy coffee during the week.
Men were slightly more likely than women to go out to eat, but they spent a lot more. The men who buy their lunches spend an average of $46.30 on lunch each week, compared with $26.50 for women who go out to eat.
Men who buy coffee spend an average of $25.70 vs. $15 for women.
The caffeine fix is a bigger hit on the wallets of 18- to 34-year-old workers. Younger workers who buy coffee spend an average of $24.74 a week on coffee, compared with $14.15 for workers 45 and older who buy coffee during the work week. Younger workers also spend far more on lunch than older workers: about $45 a week vs. $32.
Not surprisingly, a third of those surveyed said one of their goals for 2012 was to bring their own lunch more often.
Accounting Principals, a unit of Adecco, commissioned the survey in December.
Tip of the hat to Consumerist, which first reported on the study.
Related:
Frugal food: Brown bag options that won't break the bank
Starbucks raising prices in Northeast, Sunbelt
Leave a Comment:
What are folks brown bagging?! Our employers have us working such rediculous hours in fear of our jobs in this poor economy, that we can't even get home to make dinner.
By the way, I wouldn't have known there was a stereotype except for this article. Thanks article! For bringing up dead stereotypes!
Mike -- Times were better when I was working but even then the workload was so heavy a lot of times that I would eat lunch at my desk while working. I would make 4 or 5 sandwiches on Sunday (skip the mayo; makes them soggy), usually meat & cheese, freeze them, and then bring one to work each day. They would keep fine till lunch time without refrigeration.
When I first got married and before grad school my husband and I would spend ten minutes every morning making ourselves tasty meat sandwiches with cheese, tomato and lettuce as well as some sides such as a handful of chips or crackers and some fruit.
A few years later now i just stock up on frozen burritos (79 cents) and leave a pint of plain yogurt and cut up vegetables in the break room. If I feel like a break I'll buy a loaf of bread (place down the street sells fresh loaves for $2) and make peanut butter sandwiches for a few days instead.
ah, those 3-martini lunches.... especially the D.C. crowd.
A friend told me he had lunch in a wealthy Atlanta suburb last week, and hundred-dollar bottles of scotch were being bought and downed at other tables as they ate. I'll have to ask him if any women were buying and drinking it : ).
Mike - 588190 - who is "our"? Is that a royal "our"? Speak for yourself!
Of course, the 'health nuts' (that really don't know anything about eating healthy), will be screaminging inanely about this one. They'd rater eat little cups of toxin and preservative laden 'healthy' foods than eat something fresh. You can easily eat out all the time for lunch, eat well, and avoid things that have had weeks to suck every bit of plasticiser out of it's little cup or individual pastic wrapper. Homemade soup and a half-deli sandwich beats out a Whopper combo or a yogurt and a sandwich from a plastic bin that has more garbage in it than a vat of crude oil...
or a salad? that's what I eat every day for lunch.
It's quite amusing that the article talks about men "splurging" on lunch, and uses Burger King as the photo.
1) As if people like Burger King
2) A Burger King lunch can hardly be considered "splurging," either in terms of pricing or quality
3) Nice advertisement
I like BK
I would consider eating at Burger King splurging. For many people eating fast food versus taking their lunch is the difference between having an emergency fund or not.
If I liked to eat garbage, I'd be eating at BK (or McDonalds, Taco Bell, etc) every day.
I bet you like turtles, too.
I like turtles ???? WTF is that suppose to mean. BK garbage ???? Junk food yes.
"I like turtles."
Don't be surprised if MSNBC received ad money for using the BK picture. That's the nature of media today. And you're right, who the *bleep* eats at BK besides 350 lb. guys who are on their way to massive heart attacks before the age of 40?
I'm not surprised, I even stated:
I go out to lunch several times a month. When I do I go by the rule to not spend anymore than I make in an hour! It works!
good idea; I could have two decent lunches that way : ).
Oh, hey look, another Allison Linn/ MSNBC column on women good/ men bad. What's next? Newt Gingrich saying something offensive and Mitt Romney dodging a question? Yup, all three are predictable.
Hmmm- the article points out that a stereotype that was derogatory towards women was incorrect. You would rather hold on to faulty mean spirited stereotypes than know the truth?
Men spend more because they are physically larger and need to eat more. Plus, eating out has become more expensive in this economy- more of that change we were promised we could count on.
I can buy two bags of salad for 5.00 and eat lunch every day for a week. I can add some veggies or sunflower seeds for a little more. Plus I don't have to think about it. Fortunately we have a large nice kitchen at work, a fun lunch group, sliding glass doors looking on to a patio, and I do live close enough to home or restaurants if I want to go out. I usually save that time for running errands or Dr. appts., though - which might actually be the biggest reason women "brown-bag" it. I'd rather save my leave hours for vacation.
I eat a bowl of soup most every day... is that splurging?
The guys have to splurge on lunch. Their wives have 'careers'; aren't home and can't cook worth a c$ap.
Ummm.....and "the guys" can't cook their own food because???
That's something I've always wondered. If I don't make my husband lunch, he'll eat out. No exception. I've been with him 13 years now, and I have never seen him make a sandwich. He'll literally go hungry rather than make his own.
It only takes me a minute or two extra to make him his lunch while I'm making mine, so I don't feel like it's worth arguing over, though. He helps out in other ways. :)
If their wives are working, why can't these men prepare their own lunch?
A pack of Bagels $ 1.76, A small tub of Cream Cheese, $ 1.48 (It lasts me two weeks), Coffee Provided by work; Raman Noodles - Soup in a cup, .28 x 5 = $ 1.40, Water Provided by Work. Breakfast and Lunch eaten at work, $ 4.64. As a woman I buget pretty well, its men whom are spendriffs.
cheaper yes. that healthy? you'd be surprised how close your caloric intake is to a smaller fast food meal.
bringing my lunch allows me what I want to eat and snack on for less money than machines or local fast food places additionally, I don't spend on gas getting there.
Eating out at Burger King is now considered splurging? Are Americans really THAT poor these days?
I eat in a company canteen almost every day, usually together with various colleagues and I spend about 10-15 dollars a day for it. However it's a proper hot lunch not some idiotic cold sandwich or salad which has been sitting in my fridge for a week.
When you are struggling to keep a home, be able to afford health care and medicine, and care for a family, $200.00-300.00 a month is a lot to feed one person one meal out of the day.
Are Americans really that poor these days? Just asking shows that you are on the other side of the fence and have no clue what the bulk of the nation is going through. Lucky you. You got yours. Ignorance is bliss.
I bring my dinner's leftovers to work as lunch the next day, or I bring a filet of frozen fish and veggies for lunch. That's what I brown bag. I know it's healthy, I know what's in it versus hidden ingredients, and I have a handle on the approximate amount of calories I am consuming. It's also cheaper. Sometimes, I substitute the veggies for a salad. A bag of salad costs about $2-$3 with the BOGO at the local grocery store, so 2 bags last me for the whole week. I probably spend no more than $15-$20 for 4-5 days worth of food, including other ingredients added to the salad.
I try to make it a point to go out to lunch once a week with a co-worker or sometimes alone, just to get some fresh air (usually on a Friday), but I refuse to spend more than $10 on lunch, which I believe is quite reasonable. I find it ridiculous that some people spend $25 for lunch daily. That's what I would spend on a dinner entree, not a small lunch, and then they complain that they can't buy themselves a new shirt because they're broke?!
...and just like that you stink up the entire office with your snapper.
I hope I'm talking about your leftovers
As a young man, when I go out to eat, I'm going to get what I want. I'm not going to count calories and don't care if there's trans fats or hi fructose corn syrup in it. I'm not thinking about life in 20 years, I'm thinking about the pain in my stomach right now. I've noticed that women are a lot better at bringing their lunches and eating healthier or at least try to project that they are.
Also, I would bet money that single men spend a lot more on lunch than married men.
This is a stupid story. Men generally eat much more than woman. I bet adults spend more on lunch than children too.
sometimes I skip lunch and just go catch a beat in my car. A good wank and then a 20 minute nap and I'm refreshed for the rest of the day
Woman as a rule are cheap. There are exceptions of course, but generally speaking CHEAP.
wank and a nip...ROFLOL