I'm always giving guys at work a lot of grief about going out to lunch every day...it downright expensive.
This week I went to the store and bought $3 worth of bread, $6 worth of meat/cheese, $1 worth of bananas, and $2 on veggies/toppings. Monday morning I made 5 sandwiches and put 4 in the fridge. That's my 5 lunches for the week...only $12.
I used to feel like it was easy to get a $5 lunch at a restaurant, but lately I've seen prices $9-$10, plus tax/tip. Either way. If you eat out every day at an average of $7/day, you're spending $23 more each week than me.
A couple of dollars each day easily adds up to $1,000+ each year. Not to mention, I know what I'm preparing is healthy--an investment I'm sure will pay off in my old-age. Whether you're a freshman in college or years away from retirement, there's no reason not to consider adding 'making your lunch every day' as a late New Year's Resolution.
How do you make lunch on the cheap?
OMFG you are TOTALLY right Aaron! Back in 2010, I used to spend $5-$6 on a burrito or a day-old wrap from the Tarheel cafe for lunch. Although the burrito was always delicious, it was probably really bad for me AND I wasted a lot of money.
ReplyDeleteIt's just so craaazy that you should blog about this because 'making my lunch every day' IS one of my New Year's resolutions! I like to cook up a huge batch of soup or chili or stir fry on Sundays and take a little bit each day for lunch with a slice of bread or some rice. It's suuuper cheap and delicious and warm! The trick is having glass Tupperware in which to warm it up in AND bringing your own silverware.
Thanks Aaron!
That's great, lelie! Bulk cooking on Sunday evenings is a terrific way to save money and eat well. Great suggestion.
ReplyDeleteLEFTOVERS! It may seem obvious, but if you make a LITTLE more than you eat for dinner (if you like cooking dinner), you can take it to work the next day!
ReplyDeleteAnother idear: a couple friends and I cook some sort of dish for each other each week (eg. I might cook a big vat of soup for everyone in the group to have one to three servings) and swap--so we each have not only prepared (homecooked) food, but enough to have a mini potluck each day for lunch!