It may sound crazy, but there's a small, mechanical device that can actually save your sanity, your career and your lunch, all in the very same, single act of preservation, even if your office manager can't wiggle it into the budget. Maybe your office is too conservative, maybe you should mention it during your hiring or raise review meetings, or maybe you should just pony up and make the investment in yourself. Your whole world will change once you trade under-desk legroom for the safety, security and peace-of-mind that is an executive refrigerator.No matter who buys it, you don't pay for the electricity, so never sweat the conservation end. Assuming you buy it new, which you should since repair costs as much as replacement, the energy consumption is somewhere between inconsequential and none-of-your-business, though easily "modest" in any case.
First of all, the cost savings by having your own, personal mini-fridge are tremendous. Instead of paying $.75 or more from the coke machine, you can bring in exactly what you want once every few weeks, and have your soft drinks at a fraction of what you'd pay from the vending machine. Even at pretty-okay prices, it would only take a year to earn your money back, and the convenience is second-to-none.
If you're the guy with soda in the fridge, and everybody knows it, you can "purchase" favor with co-workers who forget to bring quarters to work, thus earning special treatment at a cost of about a quarter a can.
Further, when it comes to lunch items, you can bring in anything you want with more than enough storage space. You can have a complete assortment of condiments on hand, and the sandwich (and other) goodies you bring in will never be stolen by anybody, since they will be cleverly preserved in the cozy confines of your very own cubicle.
Think also about the germ colony you'll avoid just by steering clear of the month-old nasties in the general refrigerator. Forgotten leftovers in the communal refrigerator are only as hygienic as the most slovenly of your co-workers, and some of those people live in outright squalor. Even if you're the slob, it's okay, because that benefits the whole office that much more, and now you'll only have yourself to blame for new penicillin colonies growing mere inches from your lunch.
The amount of storage space you'll get in your own fridge, no matter how small, is still vastly bigger than anything you can find in the break room. Just by having room for your soft drinks, condiments, leftover Chinese food and sandwich or salad fixings, you can stock better, and therefore save more money, all while increasing your personal convenience.
My biggest frustrations have always been based in people stealing my lunch, or throwing it away because today was the big clean out day, and my lunch wasn't labeled. It's not a big deal financially, but when I bring lunch, I expect to eat it, even when I'd rather waste money on other items. With your own fridge, YOU are in charge of how and when your foods are eaten or thrown away.
Whether you can convince your boss of not, buying a mini-fridge for the office is a smart move. If you pay for it, you can always take it with you when you leave. If they pay for it, it's a free bonus either way. Also think about getting your own microwave if the office is so rigid and cheap that lunchtime is a race to heat the Hot Pockets, but I'll cover that in a separate entry.