Save time and money packing your lunch
April 12th, 2007 | by mbhunter |Packing your lunch instead of eating fast food during lunch at work is an excellent way to spend less money. It’s nothing new, though.
One bad spending habit that crept in while we were budgeting by using The Force was eating out. My wife has been very kind in helping me with packing my lunch. Some days I do it, but mostly she does. She tried something different to save a little time this week. She made lunches for the whole week on Monday:
- Five sandwiches (three ham and cheese, two fluffernutter)
- Five ready-to-pack servings of vegetables (broccoli, carrots, and peppers)
- Five ready-to-pack servings of snacky foods (almonds and pretzels).
That’s most of the way towards a pretty decent, pretty healthy lunch. Then we put in a few more big carrots (I really like carrots) and a few candy-things for dessert (which she hides, lest I eat them all at once) and a yogurt, and I’m off. Putting together five servings at once takes less than five times the time of putting together one serving, because we’re not getting out the peanut butter, the bread, the bag of almonds, etc., five times, but only once. So doing it this way saves time.
When I saw that she had done this on Monday, I thought it was a cool idea. The only reservation I had was whether the sandwiches would stay edible for the whole week or whether they would crawl out of the refrigerator by themselves. The sandwiches held up pretty well.
Putting together five of (almost) the same lunch works for me because I don’t get bored with food easily and I know what agrees with me. This may not be the best solution for everyone, but any time that you can save while you save money is good.
10 Responses to “Save time and money packing your lunch”
By tanyetta on Apr 13, 2007 | Reply
fluffernutter?
By mbhunter on Apr 13, 2007 | Reply
Hehe — peanut butter and marshmallow fluff.
By Nathania Johnson on Apr 13, 2007 | Reply
I’m glad to know that sandwiches stay good throughout the week. I’ve been wondering about it but have never tried it.
By D on Apr 13, 2007 | Reply
I recommend not putting any mayo or mustard until the day you eat it.
The side benefit of this, is studies have shown (Dr. OZ) that eating the same breakfast and lunch, with little variations, stabalizes your weight. Something about regulating your taste buds and sugar levels.
So, outside of the money savings – the health is where the value truly lies.
By iportion on Apr 13, 2007 | Reply
I pack my husband’s lunch now I could find a place that would even be cheaper but time is also a factor. He wants his lunchtime to do paperwork.
By Flexo on Apr 14, 2007 | Reply
Every time I try to get myself to start bringing lunch to work, I fail… but this post inspired me to give it another try.
By JLP at AllFinancialMatters on Apr 15, 2007 | Reply
Save even more time by eating it all on Sunday. Oh wait, that won’t work…
Is “Fluffernutter” healthy?
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By PeterM on Aug 3, 2009 | Reply
Here’s what I do:
Instead of going for lunch, I usually go to gym and then have a post-workout protein shake or bar.
As a result:
- It saves me a lot of money (I would spend much more for a regular lunch)
- It saves me a lot of time (I don’t have to spend my evenings working out)
- It helps me keep in a good shape
I’ve been doing this for years, and it works perfectly for me.