If you work outside of the home a great way to save a lot of money is to simply bring your own lunch to work. To illustrate, if you buy lunch every day and it costs $5.00 – $7.00 on average for each meal, you are spending about $150.00 a month! In fact, you’re probably spending more than that if you consider all the tax you pay.
I know it can be somewhat tiresome and annoying preparing lunch in advance, but if your workplace has a microwave, an easy solution is to cook enough dinner each evening so that you have leftovers to bring as your lunch. Another idea is to cook a large bowl of your favorite pasta, soup, or chili, and then freeze lunch-sized portions. That way when you don’t have any leftovers you won’t have an excuse to buy food from the cafeteria. There is also the option of buying ready-made dinners like Michelina’s, although you need to be careful as they often contain a lot of salt and can be extremely fattening! Even if there is no microwave available at your workplace, you can still prepare a variety of sandwiches, vegetable salads, pasta salads, and wraps.
There are health benefits to bringing your own lunch, too. While observing the habits of my colleagues who generally eat from the cafeteria, I have noticed that most order the special – a single dish of fried perogies, a burger, chicken wings, or something else equally unhealthy. By contrast, when I observe those who bring their lunches, they often have a healthy main dish accompanied by yogurt and at least one piece of fruit.
If making your own lunch is a foreign concept for you, I recommend trying it for one week to see how it goes. After one week, if you decide to continue to eat at the cafeteria, try to at least bring some of your own healthy snacks to accompany your meals and when you order, be sure to choose healthy options.