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Speaking of budgeting.... (Read 850 times)

Scout7


    I'm guessing that you're less than fully serious... Maybe not.  I'm actually surprised that coffee isn't free in all work environments.

     

    I've had only 1 occasion that I recall where I've gone to work where I couldn't find a coffee.  My day was miserable, and that business trip was never repeated, nor will it ever be repeated as long as I can help it.

     

    Time for a fill up now....

     

    Most of the places I've worked did not have free coffee.  What most departments at my current location have done is buy a pot, and rotate through the responsibility of buying coffee when they empty the container.  Not really free, but much cheaper than going to Starbucks or wherever.

      Most of the places I've worked did not have free coffee.  What most departments at my current location have done is buy a pot, and rotate through the responsibility of buying coffee when they empty the container.  Not really free, but much cheaper than going to Starbucks or wherever.

       

      Dang, I guess I really like the benefits I get with my job Smile.

       

      We used to get a document every year from HR titled "The Hidden Benefits" trying to remind us why our company is better than others.  With it, we'd be told of the value of this, that, and the other (ie. bank holidays, free $xxxK in life insurance, ...).  I never kept it, or read it.  But I doubt that coffee was a line item on "the Hidden Benefits" list.  But based on what I drink, that should have made the list.

      Life Goals:

      #1: Do what I can do

      #2: Enjoy life

       

       


      ultramarathon/triathlete

        You'd be willing to pay $55,000/year for coffee and croissants?

         

        Really meant to emphasize the point it's important to me to have breakfast with my wife.  And it would not be $55,000 a year since we do have some vacations and occasionally miss a day here and there.  I'd bet at 10x we'd be closer to $35,000 a year.  

         

        Realistically, I'd pay 3X what I currently pay to keep doing it :-)

        HTFU?  Why not!

        USATF Coach

        Empire Tri Club Coach
        Gatorade Endurance Team


        ultramarathon/triathlete

          My gosh, where do you people work that you get such perks like that?

           

           

          My old company had (for free)

          coffee/tea (good stuff, not that flavia crap)

          soda (many varieties, ironically it was there that I stopped drinking soda)

          bagels every Friday morning (NYC bagels, not the kind from wherever you guys are from Joking

          health insurance 

          orange juice/milk

          a full bar (lots of alcohol clients supplied us and we drank heavily --it was an advertising firm)

          a ping pong table and a "flip cup" table (and a section of the large open office to fit both)

          very attractive co-workers (not free really... wellll...)

          a softball team with professional jerseys (Adidas, a client, supplied those)

          other random things I'm probably forgetting

           

          My current company has:

          free crappy coffee (no tea)

          a gym (priceless, though no frills)

          subsidized lunch in our greenhouse

          no bar (sadly) but all the free children's books one could want (and we publish them all!!)

           

          hahahaha

          HTFU?  Why not!

          USATF Coach

          Empire Tri Club Coach
          Gatorade Endurance Team

            My gosh, where do you people work that you get such perks like that?

             The law firm I used to work at had:

             

            • coffee
            • decaff coffee
            • Tazo tea bag, pretty much every flavor they offer, with each available in regular or decaf
            • Swiss Miss hot chocolate mix
            • Swiss Miss sugar-free hot chocolate mix
            • Coke
            • Diet Coke
            • caffeine-free Diet Coke
            • Cherry Coke
            • root beer
            • diet root beer
            • diet caffeine-free root beer
            • Dr Pepper
            • Sprite
            • 7-Up
            • ginger ale
            • grape juice
            • orange juice
            • cranberry juice
            • water, cold or piping hot

            All free.  Crazy.

            "I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."

            -- Dick LeBeau


            Feeling the growl again

              I'm guessing that you're less than fully serious... Maybe not.  I'm actually surprised that coffee isn't free in all work environments.

               

               

               

              I was dead serious.  Not only don't we get free coffee, the cheapest you can buy is $1.85 for a large (only $0.20 less for a small).  No subsidies on the food/drinks, outsourced cafe so it's a profit center for them.  They fine you if you get caught with a coffee maker in your cube (fire hazard).

               

              To boot, about 5 years ago the efficiency guys decided to take out the water coolers, so if you don't want to pay for water you have to drink it from the tap in the break room.

               

              The company gym is a half mile away.  To run at lunch I change in the locker room we only have for the lab rats to change in and walk out the back door where the bosses are less likely to see me dressed like a buffoon.  But they are going to start building a fitness center attached next year...and a cash bar for after hours.

              "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

               

              I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

               

                -Coffee sidetrack-

                 

                For coffee snobs who need good coffee, but don't want to pay big $$ to Kuerig or Starbucks,  Check out home-roasting.  Once you sink the cost into a good roaster, you will always be drinking fresh coffee.   Buying the beans green is relatively cheap when you consider the quality.

                 

                Check out www.SweetMarias.com  (and no, I don't work there or anything) for information and stuff to buy.  There are many places to buy green beans too, like Greencoffee.coop and greencoffeebuyingclub.com

                 

                It is not as cheap as Folgers or whatever free crap is offered in most workplaces, but at around $5/lb its a good price/quality IMHO.

                 

                -resuming discussion-

                 

                This cheap engineer brings his own lunch everyday.  I'm just always on the prowl near the conference rooms looking for free leftovers to supplement.Smile

                2014 - Get 5k back under 20:00.  Stay healthy!


                Prince of Fatness

                  At work....

                   

                  Free coffee

                  Water cooler

                  Microwave

                   

                  That's good enough for me.

                   

                  The coffee set up is one of those Bunn machines.  To make coffee...

                   

                  Fill the pitcher with water to the line.

                  Put a filter in the basket.

                  Add a packet of coffee.

                  Pour water in machine.

                   

                  That's it.  Easy right?  Well then I must work with a lot of stupid people because there is never coffee made when I go to get it.

                  Not at it at all. 

                    Wow, y'all have some awesome employers. We get absolutely nothing. We have a space to keep the microwave, mini fridge and coffee pot that workers purchased themselves (several years before my time, so I'm fortunate to use them for free now) but we have to supply all our own stuff.

                     

                    Heck, there hasn't been a cost of living increase at my employer for over 8 years.

                     

                    But, back on the budget, I have never gone out for lunch at work, or gone out for coffee. I make my coffee at home and take it in a thermos. I french press my coffee for about $0.15/cup, or I make a latte with my espresso machine for about $0.40/cup (including flavor). Leftovers every day. Most my co-workers bring frozen dinners, which are so expensive and so unhealthy. 

                     

                    Well, I think about once every four months I'll go out to the vending machine and spend $0.75 on a can of Coke if it's an exceptionally long/stressful day. So, that's $3/year Smile

                     

                    - Anna 

                     

                    I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous, or a buttonhole,

                    not because it did anything spectacular,   

                    but because it never forgot what it could do.

                     - Naomi Shihab Nye 

                    Julia1971


                      I'm so bad about bringing my lunch I started a thread about it.

                       

                      There was a time in my life when I ate out for breakfast and lunch every day and ate out for dinner a few days a week.  I'm guessing I also spent something like $25/week on "groceries" back then.  (Scare quotes around groceries because I'm guessing it was only beer, wine, spaghetti and sauce).  It was definitely more expensive than eating in, but the convenience was worth it for me at the time. 

                        always bring own lunch-usually leftovers.  have bought lunch maybe 3x in past 3 yrs.  occassionaly employer surprises us & provides lunches, usually stuff for sandwiches & raw vegis/dip, sometimes soup or chili, pizzza or??  when that happens I just save my premaid lunch from home till next day.  every once in a while a local business (subway) brings in sandwiches/coupons for us.  good marketing strategy as it is right across street & several people go there (or Thai restaurant)  almost on daily basis.  Me? I'm too cheap & on a very tight budget.

                        don't know how the part time people can afford to buy their lunches all the time but some do.

                        stadjak


                        Interval Junkie --Nobby

                          Unfortunately, left-overs promote eating alone.  Most companies these days do not provide a reasonable group area for eating.  Furthermore, bringing left-overs to a lunch joint to eat with colleagues is discouraged by fears of the Health Board.

                           

                          Eating with colleagues is an over-looked and often critical part of team building.  Developing co-workers as people and friends fleshes out the experiences of your day.  Too many people treat their work hours as wasted time traded for money, thinking that life starts when they get back home.  Work is probably a third of your life, with sleeping being another third.

                           

                          Sometimes it is worth the expense.

                          2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do

                            Team building?  We engineers call that wasted time - time that could be better spent with your calculator or Finite element model.Smile  Leave that team-building stuff to the marketing people - we have work to do.

                             

                            Seriously, most of the colleagues I "work with" are in other locations.  Everything is virtual with tele-cons and webex meetings.  Most of the time, I have no idea what the guy in the cube next to me is working on. (I do try to learn a few names though, just to be polite.)

                            2014 - Get 5k back under 20:00.  Stay healthy!

                            stadjak


                            Interval Junkie --Nobby

                              Seriously, most of the colleagues I "work with" are in other locations.  Everything is virtual with tele-cons and webex meetings.  Most of the time, I have no idea what the guy in the cube next to me is working on. (I do try to learn a few names though, just to be polite.)

                               

                              Such an impoverished existence.

                               

                              I was part of, and now run, a team of 20 engineers.  5 years of met deadlines and only a handful of weekends.  More importantly, we are a team and succeed as a team.  It's hard to speak of this without triggering the "corporate bullshit" flag, I know.  I'm allergic to that stuff.  But I can tell you we have 5% attrition over 5 years and a very high commitment to our mission.  Honestly, that's mostly because we aren't just 20 engineers slinging code.  We're a team who know each others' hobbies, kids' names, and favorite donuts.

                               

                              These are the people you work with, and probably spend more of your day with than your wife/husband.  Get to know them as good people and your life will be enriched.

                              2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do


                              Feeling the growl again

                                I schedule lunches with colleagues all the time.  They usually buy, I usually bring my own.  Neither of us seems to care how the other gets their food, but we enjoy the time together.

                                "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                                 

                                I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                                 

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