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. 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 way better than what one of my fams referred to as, “outside” food.

On one episode of Til Debt Do Us Part, 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. She didn’t want to give up eating out with her co-workers so she’d end up 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. (And those are after-tax 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 lazybones! 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.

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 control the portions. And you can be as creative as you want to be.

One of our household’s 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 healthier, more delicious salad. And it’s dead easy to pack ahead and eat on the go.

Then, of course, there’s always the sandwich. Loads of people hate the idea of sandwiches because they have a tendency to get soggy. Easy solution: pack each ingredient separately and assemble it at lunchtime. Need to keep the ingredients cold? Freeze a juice box or half-bottle of water to pack with your cold ingredients. You can do this with homemade ice tea or iced-coffee too.

Salads and sandwiches, of course, are easy. But what if you want a hot lunch? It’s easy if you have a microwave at work. But if you don’t or are on the road, consider this marvelous invention called a thermos. It’s brilliant. Soups, fried rice, chili, lasagna, just about anything can go into a thermos. You can make extra for dinner and pack the leftovers for your next day’s lunch. To keep the food hot pre-heat the thermos by pouring boiling water in first for a few minutes, then dumping the water out and adding the reheated food.

Some people say they buy lunch because they love the social aspect of eating out. 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 by 80%.

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, or haven’t been saving two red cents for the future, then you owe it to yourself to use all the tricks at your disposal to make your money work as hard as you do.