The Lunch Box Saver
Over and over I meet families who are spending thousands of dollars a year eating out. And over and over I challenge them to give up buying lunches and coffees and substitute food made at home. It’s often a hard sell. I’m not sure why since I love my own cooking much more than the food I can buy in a fast-food joint, though there are times when I have a hankering for something I don’t make particularly well (like Chinese hot and sour soup that I’m still trying to master). But, on a day-to-day basis, my food is waaay better than what one of my fams referred to as, “outside”food.
A couple or so ago, I handed a chick a lunch box with my face on it and told her to use it. While her hubby was the primary cook in the family and would often make her lunch, she’d leave it behind spending between $8 and $12 a day on food at work. Hello! $12 a day, multiplied by 5 days a week, multiplied by 50 weeks a year equals $3,000 a year. That’s right, THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS.
Creating a lunch for work does take some time and planning. The first thing out of most people’s mouth is, “I don’t have time in the mornings!” Really? Then get up earlier you Lazy! Are you telling me it’s not worth $3,000 a year to you (in after-tax dollars) to get up 15 minutes earlier in the morning? Give your head a shake.
Ken and I pack lunches for the kids – yes, I still do this for my children even though they’re old enough to do it for themselves because I LIKE TO DO IT! We get up at 6 a.m. so we have time to shower, pack the kids’ lunches, and make Malcolm pancakes before school. I want to make sure they both have a healthful lunch, which brings me to my next point.
Another great reason for bringing your own lunch to work is so that you get to make healthier choices about what you eat. You control the ingredients. You control the freshness. You can be as creative as you want to be. One of our favorite salads is lettuce, red pepper, watermelon, and feta cheese. No dressing needed because the watermelon is so juicy. Yum! You’d be hard-pressed to find a more healthy or delicious salad.
Then, of course, there’s always the sandwich. My daughter hates soggy sandwiches so we end up packing each ingredient separately so she can assemble it at lunchtime. My son is mad about fruit so we pack him two or three different fruits every day. To keep everything cold we either freeze a juice box for the lunch bag or include a cold pack. In the summer, I fill a water bottle half way up and freeze it, then add fresh water to the top before adding it to the lunch bag. You can do this with homemade ice tea or iced-coffee too.
Salads and sandwiches, of course, are easy. But there are lots of people who want a hot lunch but don’t have a microwave at work or are on the road.
Hey, ever heard of this marvelous invention called a thermos? They’re brilliant. Soups, fried rice, chili, lasagna, just about anything can go into a thermos, so you can make extra at dinner and pack the leftovers for your next-day’s lunch. Alex used to complain that the food wasn’t really hot so I now pre-heat my thermos by pouring boiling water in first for a few minutes, then dumping the water out and adding the food that I’ve reheated really well. No more complaints.
Some people say they buy lunch because they love the social aspect of eating out. Hey, I’m as social as the next guy. But being social and going broke is DUMB. So pick one day of the week when you’ll eat out with friends and give yourself something to look forward to. Maybe you’ll choose Wednesday (hump day), or Friday to celebrate the end of the week. Whatever day you choose, lunching out once a week instead of five will cut your spending a ton.
Better yet, start a Lunch Club at work and pick one day a week when you each bring something to contribute to a group lunch. Or challenge each other to find the cheapest good food in your area, and take advantage of the Lunch Special. All-day breakfasts at $2.99 can’t be beat for value.
Be creative. The idea is to have a great life and save some money, at least until you’re debt free. Hey, if you don’t owe nobody nuttin’, then you can swallow your money to your heart’s desire. But if you’re in hock, then you owe it to yourself to use all the tricks at your disposal to get back into the black.
June 5th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Lots of great ideas. Another tip for sandwiches: I started toasting the bread lightly before assembling the lunch sandwiches. It circumvents the soggy factor.
I think it’s also great to speak up at work about how much buying lunch costs and try and sway others to bring their food. We KNOW just about everyone is carrying debt and overspending, so it can’t hurt to convert a person or two to conscious and appropriate spending.
June 5th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Hear Hear Gail! Have been packing lunches and snacks since I can remember.
As a kid, mum would lay out everyone’s lunch box on the counter and each one of us had to put in fruits of our choice and fill our water bottles {non of us was crazy about juice}, the night before. Mum was up early making the sandwiches.
We had a set menu for sandwiches - Tuna Tuesday and Thursday with salad either in the sandwich or in a box. Monday and Friday was cheese and pickle sandwiches with a standard green salad on the side. Wednesday was whatever there was - left over home made pizza, pasta salad, potato salad with some kind of meat in it, etc etc. Sometimes we got egg salad sandwiches instead of the cheese and pickle. Sandwiches were made with heavy duty buns like Kaisers or Italian rolls, etc.
The standard salad was chopped and tossed by the us, the kids. We were allowed to change the menu - but had to give advance notice and help in making it the day before.
Today, I do the same thing with my family - lay out the lunch boxes, get them involved and everyone is happy! Coffee for my husband is a jar of good quality instant coffee - find your hot water at work darling and make yourself a cuppa whenever you wish! Because my husband works an early shift, we are up at 5:15 am, working together on the lunches and talking about what each of us is planning to do during the day - love this time together!
It’s amazing how much money one can save - not to mention the comforting thought that you know what you are feeding your family is heathy and clean { nothing landed on the floor and then in your plate - yuck - being watching too many resturant documentaries!}.
Just another tip - make extra meals on Thursday and Friday, or marinate barbeque meats in zippy bags ready to throw on the bar-b-q in an instant - summer is here and we are all busy in the yards and what have you - hungry? Pull that extra dish out of the ice-box, a nice piece of crusty fresh bread, toss a simple salad and away you go! No stress, no mess!
Takes a few minutes of extra planning - but it is sooo worth it! Involve the family - it’s easier to plan and assemble packed lunches together.
Thanks Gail - you rock lady!
June 5th, 2008 at 11:29 am
I tTOTALLY AGREE.!!!I believe that ALL Meals(lunches, supper) can be healthier and ready if we just spent a bit more time(make the time…)to organize the meals for the week(PLAN AHEAD)…Actually I think taking time to plan can apply to ALL areas of our life…..as Gail mentioned in one of her blogs….take the time…do NOT BE LAZY!!!
June 5th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Gail,
That salad sounds yummy!!
What kind of feta cheese to you use?
June 5th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Right on … As grade-school as it sounds to some, I believe packing a lunch instead of going for take-out has been the single biggest budget booster and health change I’ve made in my mid-30s growing-up process.
I still drop $1.50-$2 on a chocolate milk and another coupla bux on a sugar-free energy drink….and sometimes a cinnamon bun… but man, chowing down on a home-built flaxseed and turkey wrap feels like I’m doing my bank account and body such a favour compared to a take-out burger and fries.
June 5th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
I prefer my own lunches to take out as well. When I make them in the morning I can think about what I feel like and take it from there. My daughter also prefers her “gourmet” lunches to pizza slices! Last week she asked me to take leftover spagetti, sauce, meatballs, garlic bread and some veggies and fruit…on PIZZA day! She said her friends thought she was lucky! lol
June 5th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
I make my and my husband’s lunches 95% of the time. I just can’t justify spending that much money on lunch food. Quite often we eat leftovers from dinner.
As for getting up early to make lunch - My husband leaves the house before 6. I have been making lunches at night for years!
June 5th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
My wife and I found we were eating out twice a week, on average, simply out of exhaustion. We had no idea what we were going to make for dinner, and didn’t have the energy to figure it out and would do take-out instead (Two take out dinners are as much as we typically spend on groceries in a week).
We are now trying to sit down every saturday (before grocery shopping) and planning in general terms what meals we’ll be having the coming week (strategic planning for us lazy types… home cooked meals in the first half of the week, and then left overs or easy “heat and serve” stuff at the tail end of the week).
Lunches are included in the planning. We’re just starting in on this, but so far it’s working perfectly!
June 5th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
When I was in high school I used to hate the lunch mom packed for me. I think partly because I hate sandwiches, and prefer “gourment” lunch. The university I went to, however, had microwaves installed in major cafés. Only then I started bringing in my own lunch. I know that we could go thermos, but I’m all for having microwaves installed in cafés and office lunchrooms.
So, there’s no need for me to get up early. I just cook more at night.
June 5th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
I’m lucky that my employer provided several fridges and microwaves for us. We have hot water on tap too. There’s no excuse to not be able to bring my meal.
Both my husband & I bring our meals. I might get take out twice a month. I do allow for a bottle of diet soda or a Chai tea a few days a week, but I can make 20 bucks last me 2 weeks for these items.
The shifts that we work often have us at work for both lunch & supper so we have to be a little creative with our meals. One thing I like to do is make a big pot of soup on Sundays to have for my shift. Plus I’ll make a salad like Tabouleh or one with Quinoa and lots of veggies which keeps for several days in the fridge.
I’m lucky that we both don’t mind leftovers or eating the same thing for a few days.
One thing I have been doing is buying cases of soda so I have a can on hand if I want it. That’s saving me money too.
June 5th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
Who buys lunch? It’s unaffordable. DH and I mostly bring leftovers. We deliberately with the two of us have too much dinner so we usually just eat it for lunch the next day.
Although since getting a real job DH gets $10/week to eat out for fun. He usually does good and socializes. But this is very little when you consider how much he makes.
Also to keep sandwiches fresh, put lettuce next to the bread, it keeps from getting soggy. Separate rice from entree to keep from soggy.
Another tip, always bring your own drink, who uses a vending machine? Buy 12 packs and bring a can everyday. DH in graduate school used to sell the sodas from under his desk when people were too LAZY to walk to the vending machine. He always used to stick 5 sodas in on Monday for him.
These are tips which allowed us to buy a house early, and save the maximum for retirement accounts.
June 6th, 2008 at 7:32 am
I deliberately make extra food the night before - it’s hard to be motivated to “cook for one”, so I make sure I cook extra. A few months ago, I decided to make food and then freeze extra leftovers that weren’t going to be eaten the next day - this works fantastically if you have a microwave at work!
Rice and pasta both freeze well and reheat just as well - now you have your own “microwave meals” that are a heck of a lot healthier then the ones you pay $2 for.
I’m all for putting my own ingredients in and knowing what I’m eating. I’ve eaten out three or four times in the last 10 months, and only because I didn’t think ahead and had no frozen meals ready when I was out late with friends the night before.
My co-workers regularly were eating out - I’d be the only person in my office on a regular basis, and when they started mentioning they needed to save money, I reminded them how much they spend on lunches - mine have to cost no more than $2.50 a serving, even if I’ve got something like ribs (I only buy those on sale!).
My coworkers see what I bring each day and are amazed that I can have delicious lunches for so cheap - and now they bring lunches a lot of the time, and we still get the social aspect in the office (much more so than running to a food place, standing in line, and eating as you hurry back to the office since there’s no more time left for your lunch)!
June 6th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Yes, yes, yes. Totally agree with you, Gail. Also, for those that don’t want to make their lunch in the morning? I don’t like to do that either, so I set aside time the night before so all I have to do in the morning is grab my lunch from the fridge.
I also keep on hand ‘back-up’ lunches for days that I either don’t have the time or forgot to make my lunch. Things that you just need to add boiling water to or pop in the microwave: ramen noodle cups, etc. They’re not ideal but on days that I do forget to make a real lunch, they save me from forking over $6-10 at my work’s cafeteria.
June 6th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Like one of the other comments left, my husband and I sit down every Saturday morning and plan our meals for the week. We hit the grocery store once, and we buy what we need for the week. We cook enough for leftovers to use as lunches. Our splurge is frozen pizza fridays. $10 Frozen pizza at the grocery store sure beats the price of delivery. We also keep a few of the frozen dinners on hand for last minute lunches if we misplan, which saves us from having to purchase lunch out for $8 a day. I often cook 1 extra meal a week in the slow cooker and freeze it for those nights when we’re just too tired or busy to cook up a storm. Pull it out of the freezer and re-heat! It’s a system we have been using for over a year now, and it works wonderfully. We also pack up our lunch kits at night so in the morning we just grab it from the fridge.
June 6th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
We do the lunch thing, always have. I’m part time now but my hubby and I are both paramedics and we bring our lunch boxes with us. During a twelve hour (usually longer) shift, sometimes you end up having 3 meals plus snacks at work. We are on the road, never in the same place with no scheduled breaks (if any at all), but we manage to have hot, nutritious meals and hot loose leaf tea throughout the day. Only thing, you must fork out cash for good cooler, tupperware and thermos upfront. but hey….
If we can manage to pack it with us and eat well under our circumstances, I am sorry but everyone else can too.
We always cook for 2 families, not one, freeze or store single servings. Lunches are usually prepared and stored in the fridge in Tupperware the day before, so all you have to do before you leave the house is put said lunch in the cooler with the ice packs. Way too lazy to do it right before the early morning shifts (would rather sleep or catch a cuddle with little babe).so must be done the night before to avoid the ‘well, i’ll just buy todays’s.
it can be done!
June 7th, 2008 at 9:01 am
My beloved daughter saw the lunchables/snackables commercials on TV and just HAD to have those for lunch. After looking at what was in them (and noting all of the chemicals!) I bought items for each one. I have a box of crackers and deli meat and cheese to make stackers, pizza bases and homemade pizza sauce (tom paste and italian seasoning) with meat and cheese to make the pizza lunchable and it goes on. We even make Subway sandwiches for lunch…all courtesy of the grocery store. Those Jello puddings….yup mommified those too. There is pudding or “fruity jello” (canned fruit mixed with jello) that I make at the beginning of the week and put into small plastic tubs. Cost WAAAYYY less that the pre-made store bought one.
June 9th, 2008 at 9:57 am
That’s an awesome idea, Claire. Lunchables were always a treat when I was a kid, and I know I would’ve loved it if I could’ve had them more often–when it’s cheaper and better for you than the packaged version, it’s a no-brainer.
June 10th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
I have always had a packed lunch for the most part. When I was a kid I would look at the lunch schedule for school and circle the days I wanted “hot lunch” and the other days I took mine. By about 3rd or 4th grade I had to make my own lunch which was fine with me because then I liked everything that was in it. In high school the food was so bad I took lunch nearly everyday. Then in college I would strategically plan left over before I went shopping on sunday. I ate on campus 2 days a week because I worked at the campus food court and they gave us a dollar amount to use for lunch. I also used this to my advantage. I usually had a few extra dollars so I would pick up a few non perishable items to eat later if I got snackish. Now that I work I still take left overs. Beyond the money that I save I am not in love with much fast food. For the most part the only days I eat out are when I am out of town for work.
June 15th, 2008 at 8:29 am
My friends tell me my stories about the lunches I make my boyfriend are shocking and hilarious. So I thought I’d share them with this blog.
Just over a month ago my live-in boyfriend got a job as a delivery driver for a transport company (kinda like FedEx). I must explain, for eight hours each day he is on the road, he has no access a microwave or fridge. The truck he drives has no air conditioning, and it gets hot out there. He drives by fast food restaurants all the time, and I’m sure he is very tempted to go in and spend a small fortune on take out, but right now he is so new and trying to keep up with the heavy pace of the job, that he can’t afford to take a few minutes to go in and buy lunch. He usually doesn’t take a real lunch, rather, he tries to eat while driving or takes a bite here and there between deliveries.
I enjoy cooking and was looking forward to making him his lunch each day. He’s a big guy with a big appetite, and an even bigger appetite (addiction) for soft drinks. I went out and bought him the biggest insulated “lunch” bag I saw that could pass as a lunch bag and not as a camping cooler. Honestly, this thing is big enough to carry lunch for 6 people.
Since the job is new and I want him to do well, I’m not gonna start nagging him about his addiction to soft drinks until a few months have passed. So each day I happily load up the lunch bag with FIVE bottles of soda - those are the 710ml bottles (each equivalent to 2 cans). Also in the bag is a frozen bottle of water, which he only drinks on very hot days when he’s out of soda. I bought a special ice pack that has indents to fit between two rows of cans - it also squeezes nicely between my bottles of soda. I figured I had to save on space - once all the liquids are in the bag there’s only about one third of the bag left for food.
Ah, now for the food. I was blessed at first. I have a boyfriend who loves sandwiches! He told me he could eat a sandwiches three meals a day. Excellent! So his first week I made his three sandwiches and squeezed them into the lunchbag. Some days he ate all three, other days he brought back one and I made him eat it the following day for breakfast.
One mornings when I was low on bread and sandwich meat I got creative. I took some frozen breaded chicken burgers, cooked them that morning, cut them in half so they would fit into the hot-dog buns that I was using as bread, added mayo, mustard, relish, and tomatoes. I found a tupperware that would fit the hot-dog bun sandwiches. That day he called me at work. He said the sandwiches were the best he ever had. He felt like he was eating a BurgerKing Chicken Sandwiches. He asked me if I could always make his sandwiches on hot-dog buns…..ok.
Also in his lunch I throw in some pre-packaged snacks. Rice Krispie squares, granola bars, whatever I have. I sometimes I put a small baggie of nuts. One time I threw in an apple, he thought it was a joke. The only fruit he eats are dehydrated ones. He gets a baggie of dehydrated pineapples, and another one of dehydrated bananas. He rarely eats the snacks, but I have to leave them in his lunch bag in case he’s ever low on energy. It’s a very physical job and I have to make sure he’s in top shape.
My boyfriend handles boxes all day long. He comes home filthy. He doesn’t have access to a sink and soap to wash up before he eats. I looked at possible solutions to help him wash up. Those anti-bacterial hand sanitizing gels that don’t need water - well, where does the dirt go? Also, they smell too strong. Next, they sell those wipes at drug stores near the kleenex. I don’t like those because they come in a pack of 10 or 14 and knowing my boyfriend, he’d open the pack, use one and then somehow the rest would end up out of the pack and ruined. Also, they’re very expensive. I finally realized that those wet-wipes you get at restaurants after you’ve eaten chicken wings were the ideal choice. They’re individually wrapped - which is super for someone like my boyfriend, he can only ruin one at a time. I found a restaurant supply store and bought a box of 1000 - it cost $10.89 for the box!!! I usually throw a handful into his lunchbag.
Last week he came home after a very hot and hard day at work and told me that I would have to increase the amount of soda to SIX bottles. I was a little sad, this stuff is probably eating away at his insides and he wants more of it. I just smiled and told him no problem.
Then the other day he came home having only eaten one of two sandwiches I made him. he told me that he thinks he’s fed up of sandwiches! NOOOOOOOO!!! Sandwiches are the ideal lunch for someone with his type of work. He doesn’t have anywhere to heat up his lunch. He doesn’t have time to use a fork. Then I remembered this blog, Gail mentioned the Thermos. So off I went yesterday to Walmart. I was looking for something that could hold a good quantity of food - say a litre or so. Have y’all looked at the thermoses out there? Sure it looks nice and big on the outside, but when you open it up, it only holds about a cup of food. I bought two bowl-type thermoses. I showed them to my boyfriend and he shook his head - he doesn’t see himself using it, unless it’s for something easy to eat - like meatballs???
Tomorrow is Monday, and I think I will make him one sandwich and use one of the thermoses for a hot meal — but I’m kinda lost - it has to be something that won`t spill easily. Any suggestions?
June 15th, 2008 at 9:22 am
How about if you have him pack his lunch for a week or so? That way he can put in exactly what he wants. Maybe after a week or so your sandwiches will look really good.
June 15th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
The sandwich!
I have to make my sandwich interesting enough, especially because of the easy access to fastfood and cafeteria food where I work. Variety is important!
- vary the type of bread (white, whole wheat, grains, buns, wraps, etc)
- meat should be varied as well (bologna, salami, chicken, ham, and the more expensive flavoured - but yummy - meats)
I buy a variety of cold cuts every week in small quantities. I could buy cheaper, but temptation is too close.
My mantra on this: what is the least expensive way to make it happen!
(So it has to happen sustainable system!) It’s cheaper for me to buy the better meat than to eat out.
June 16th, 2008 at 9:01 am
To Eleni - that’s a funny blog.
It’s summer now {in Ontario- don’t know what the rest of the country is in!} - how about salads - good hearty pasta salads loaded with fresh vegetables and grilled meats or green salads with a grilled chicken breast in it, etc. And if he complains after that - I agree with Susan - have him pack his own lunch for a week, that should turn him around.
PS - find the biggest fork you can for the salads - those tiny forks don’t cut it, even for my boys - I give them a regular dinner fork that they have to promise to bring back home or they know I’ll kill them.
September 14th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
One day when my work collegue and I were complaining about the coffee from the cafeteria, we decided to calculate how much money we could save by bringing in our own coffee.
By just replacing one “bought” coffee with a “home” coffee, we calculated that we could save $450.
However, who buys only one coffee?
My work collegue is trying to save money for her Christmas expenses and has begun bringing in her own instant coffee from home.
This was three weeks ago. On Friday, she said to me that she has never had so much money in her wallet before. Before she would take out money from the bank but because she wasn’t buying anything from the cafeteria, the money stayed in her wallet.