How much is lunch near your office these days?

If it’s Gangnam, I guess that’s pretty much the baseline... I’m in Pangyo, and 12,000 won is easily cleared here too lol

Agreed. These days, 10,000 won will only get you kimbap + ramen; if you want a proper meal, you definitely have to spend over 10,000 won.

I've been packing lunches since last year too, and I think I save about 150,000 won a month. But waking up 20 minutes earlier every morning is real work... Even packing just three times a week makes a noticeable difference. If you cook rice in bulk on the weekend and portion it out, and rotate through side dishes from the supermarket meal-kit side-dish section, it's not as hard as you'd think.

Well, I’m not so sure about that. It’s not that it’s expensive because it’s Gangnam; everything has just gone up. I’m in a small provincial city, and even here lunch is usually 9,000–10,000 won, and last year it was 7,000. If you pin it on Gangnam, aren’t you missing the real cause?

There’s a home-style set meal restaurant near my office that’s been around for over 20 years, and it’s 9,000 won. The taste is just average, but the owner gives good refills even while scowling, so I keep going. All the newly opened places start at 13,000 won, so I guess just becoming a regular is the answer.