he always eats lunch out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't cook so much food.
Throw any leftovers out.
Simple. Nobody says you have to eat then because he doesn't.

Do this. It is very freeing. My DH simply doesn't like leftovers and neither do my kids. It is not worth my time to change them. The kids do eat the lunches I pack every day for them.

I take leftovers to lunch at least 3 days per week, so that gets rid of what we do have. I've become so exasperated with food waste that I cut our weekly grocery budget by almost 25% recently. They all whine a bit when they can't find snacks, etc. or don't know how to cook something for themselves. Fortunately, we live in a very urban, walkable area so we can pop out for food very easily or pick up something on the way home. From the back of the envelope calculations, I'm not spending more weekly than before even picking up food on the way home than I did before but there is significantly less waste.

[Anonymous]

Put his phone in the lunch bag. He won't forget.

[Anonymous]

Ummmm...eat leftovers for dinners.

Pack yourself a sandwich.

[Anonymous]

If you are cooking this is an easy fix - stop making too much food OR serve them for dinner, as-is or repurposed.

If he is cooking, throw them out (which I'd have a hard time with), talk to him about making a change to take them to work, or make a big fuss about him making extra food.

[Anonymous]

What kind of leftovers?

Listen there is office etiquette to not bring and microwave stuff like fish and other items that really make it unpleasant to be around.

And maybe he doesn't want to bring this Tupperware of chili and then bring that empty stained container back in his briefcase at the end of the day.

[Anonymous]

How are people this stupid? Just stop making so much for dinner!!! I swear some people look for reasons to be a nightmare spouse.

[Anonymous]

For a while at my work breakfast and lunch were important networking opportunities.

[Anonymous]

If money is not a problem, let a grown man decide what he eats for lunch. This level of micro-managing would drive me crazy. I work from home too, and because I spend so much time at home, sometimes I do get sorta fixated on a house-keeping issue too. I find exercising or scheduling lunch with a friend helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't cook so much food.
Throw any leftovers out.
Simple. Nobody says you have to eat then because he doesn't.

Plus 1. Especially last sentence!!!

[Anonymous]

Quit pestering him. Let him eat what he wants. (He's an adult.) You eat what you want. Eat out yourself once in a while. And don't cook so much food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, people who refuse leftovers have 1st world problems.

This.

[Anonymous]

Is it because of his workplace culture?

[Anonymous]

Well, he obviously does mind them, or at least doesn't like them enough to take them to work for lunch.

Instead of stressing over what he is or is not doing, try changing what you can. That leaves you with the options of 1) cooking less food so there aren't any leftovers, 2) cooking more food so you can use the leftovers for another family dinner, or 3) throwing away the leftovers.

Stop nagging your DH about taking them. He's a big boy, he can make his own decisions about lunch.

[Anonymous]

I actually had this problem.

I would cook dinner and put leftovers in a little snapware container and leave it in the freezer. But I would constantly forget to bring it to work.

Eventually, I just started hanging something on the front door knob as a reminder if there was food in the freezer. This helped. You just have to force yourself to not remove the hanger until you've put the food in your bag.

[Anonymous]

Maybe his coworkers like to go out for lunch and he likes to go out with his coworkers. Most of the guys in my office don't bring their lunches to work. (they all make more money than I do, so I bring mine.)