Is your NJ work lunch secretly costing you $5,664 a year?

A new report highlighted by Food & Wine puts a number on something a lot of working people have felt for a while. Buying lunch during the workweek can run about $5,664 a year for someone who grabs food out most days. That breaks down to roughly $109 a week, assuming a five-day schedule. The report points to rising menu prices, delivery fees, and the little add-ons that don’t feel like much in the moment but stack up fast over time.

That figure did not shock me. It felt about right.

The real cost of buying lunch every day in New Jersey

Years ago, lunch out was just part of the routine. Most days it was a deli sandwich, nothing fancy. Every now and then, a fast food drive-through if the morning ran long. During my first run at New Jersey 101.5, a couple of us would head to the fresh food and salad bar at the ShopRite in Ewing, right near the station. This was before COVID, when salad bars were still packed at noon and nobody thought twice about it. A decent container, some grilled chicken, maybe a scoop of pasta salad, and back to the studio.

Back then I had a rule. Keep it under ten bucks. (And THAT was up of my limit of five in the 90s.) That worked for a while. Then ten became impossible, so the new ceiling was fifteen. Fifteen dollars started to look normal for a basic lunch and a drink. But then it kicked in when it started creeping up past fifteen.  THAT is when I finally realized this was getting out of hand. That was the shift. Lunch started coming from home more often than not.

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How inflation and delivery fees changed the lunch habit

Since the early 2020s, bringing food in has been less about discipline and more about common sense. It is cheaper, and it is usually better for me. Leftovers, a sandwich I made myself, a salad that does not depend on how heavy someone else’s hand is with the dressing. It is not glamorous, but it works.  However the average cost of packing a lunch is up to $7.30 a meal in 2026!

That does not mean I never order out. About every other week during the show, Kyle and I will order something in. Pizza. Jersey Mike's. Our favorite, Chick-fil-A. Because we are on the air at lunchtime, delivery is the only real option. The usual total comes out to about $22 per person. For me, that is a number one meal, chicken sandwich, waffle fries, and a Coke. If I pick it up myself, it is closer to $13. The extra nine dollars is the delivery fee, service charge, and tip. Convenient, yes. Also a reminder of how quickly convenience adds up.

Do that every weekday and the math gets ugly. Twenty-two dollars a day over a year lands around $5,700. That lines up almost perfectly with the national estimate. Seeing it written out makes it real.

$5,664 a year on lunch: treat or financial trap?

For some people, that $5,664 number might be a surprise. For me, it feels like confirmation. Lunch used to be a small daily expense that barely registered. Now it is a line item that can rival a car payment. Bringing food from home is not exciting, but it keeps the budget in check. Ordering in is a treat, not a habit.

In this economy, that distinction matters.