Take Your Lunch to Work

Since we're getting back to basics this month and trying to make our dollars stretch, plan to take your lunch to work at least four days each week. According to a recent poll, lunch out costs an average of $8.50 on the low end and $15.00 on the high end. If we meet in the middle, you could be spending $50.00 a week on lunch alone (that's $200.00 a month, $2400.00 a year), and for just one person!

Taking your lunch may have some challenges, but it can be done. The first thing to think about is that you don't have to go out and buy cart full of special food just for lunches. Dave and I think about what kinds of food will work for lunches when we plan our dinners. When making dinner, we make just a little extra and before cleaning up the kitchen, we package the leftover so it's ready to go with us the next day. We are also big fans of green salad for lunch. We have invested in several good Tupperware-type storage dishes so we can pack a salad and a little dressing in a separate little container. The nice thing about salads is you can put a little chicken or tuna, lots of veggies, and you don't need a heat source like you would for some other tasty leftovers.

Get creative, there are so many things you can take for lunch that are healthy, far more tasty, and way less expensive than eating out every day. Give it a try for a week and see what you find. I'll even challenge you one step further and say, see what you can make for lunch tomorrow without buying anything special, work only from what you have in your house today! I'll check back on Wednesday and see how you did.