2013 Spending Challenge - Work Lunches/Snacks

[charming23]

I am in. I got into the bad habit towards the end of the year getting lunch out. But I am determined to not do that this year. Especially since we just lost another employee (theft) and another is out on maternity leave, and my job just got bigger with more hours and responsibility.

I am going to go out to Target this afternoon and stock up and quick, easy meals to keep at work. Plus I am going to try and take leftovers when we have them. I will allow myself 2 meals a month out. We always order food the saturday after payday.

 

[princesspwrhr]

All five of us have Laptop Lunchboxes - www.laptoplunches.com For the most part this makes packing 5 lunches a breeze. The girls don't have access to a microwave at school, both my husband and I do, but mine is a pain to get too, so the girls and I usually go cold for lunch or use a thermos for soup or hot food. The hardest part is in the winter when variety of fresh fruit/veggies are more difficult (and expensive) to come by.

The initial outlay of money seems a lot, but it has saved so much over the last 4 years, and made things incredibly easy not only for work/school lunches, but picnics, day trips, etc. The website has lots of great ideas on it also.

Standbys for my family

Tortellini Salad - Trader Joe tortellini (pick your flavor) balsamic vinaigrette, cubed mozzarella, cucumber, peppers (green, red, yellow, whatever is on hand), small tomatoes.

wraps - sky's the limit here, but no one in my family is a fan of the standard sandwich

chicken salad in/with mini whole wheat pita

Quinoa with black beans & salsa

mini pizza _ from Trader Joes (or leftover if we order out! lol) The girls don't mind this cold as leftovers.

Make your own "lunchables" with meat, cheese, crackers etc

Breakfast for lunch (homemade waffle sticks, yogurt w/fruit, boiled egg and either more fruit or bacon if my husband made some)

Chili, soup, and I hate to say it, but the younger two girls love Ramen w/ half the seasoning.

My husband will take leftovers once, and thankfully that's usually all we have, but for those of you who have family members who will eat leftovers, and then eat repurposed leftovers (i.e. the roast becomes leftovers, then becomes BBQ sandwiches) - that's always a great idea also.

To get the fruits & veggies in the lunches and get them eaten, take a little bit of time when you get home from the grocery store and wash, slice and store them. I can only speak for myself, but I do not want to stand at the counter at 9:30 pm or 5:30 am peeling and slicing cucumbers, or cutting strawberries and peppers, or washing blueberries - so I do it when I get home from the store and when it's time to make lunch it goes together in mere minutes.

 

[DawnM]

Did you get the "spend $30 on a gift card and get a free burrito" deal?

We got 2 of them. So, 2 free burritos and $60 prepaid for Chipotle.

Dawn

I definitely need this! I'm a Chipotle addict. And now I work across the street from one and on bad weeks I've been known to eat there all 5 days in a row!

I use budgeting software too ( You Need A Budget), and my Chipotle spending alone had an all time high of $600 one month.

I've been on vacation this week and haven't eaten out at all. I'm hoping that will help kick start my ability to eat what I bring to work once I return.

 

[bjscheel]

DH packs a lunch every day and his has to be cold lunch. A lot of days it is a plain cheese sandwich, along with a bunch of prepackaged snacks and maybe some fruit. He packs it about 5 am so he wants it easy. Occasionally if we are at Subway he will get a $5 footlong and eat half of it for supper and save the other half to take in his lunch.

I pack almost every day. I do have access to microwave, but if I want to spend my half hour running errands (almost always), I pack cold and eat it at my desk just before going out to do errands. The best is when we have had a roasted chicken or roast beef at home- cold chicken or beef sandwiches are the best! I supplement with yogurt or fruit cups and snacks from my desk. My other standby is pb sandwiches. Leftover cold pizza is great too! Every so often I just can't stand any of that and I go to the gas station and get a hot sandwich.

My desk is well stocked with snacks- I get hungry in the morning! Also, the kids come after school some days so some of it is for them. Right now I have Toppers crackers, Whale crackers, animal crackers, Goldfish, dried fruit, M&M snack mix dark, Chips Ahoy, raisins, peanut butter crackers, granola bars, and Fruit Newtons.

 

[jeepgirl30]

I'm in!

Last year i grapped something almost everyday from either fast food, the cafeteria in the office building, or whatever. I was spending $8-12 a day. Plus I usually buy one soda at $0.75 a can.

Since being back on 1/3 I have not purchased one lunch. I got lucky today, i packed but walked off without it. Luckily there was a training session so there was a big salad untouched. I have fiber bars in my desk so I had that and the salad.

I hardly ever snack so the vending machine is not an issue for me. But I really want to keep on the no buy lunch. I am going to start bringing my own soda as well.

 

[Omalley]

Well as January is coming to a close, I have not spent any money buying lunch/snacks at work. However, I had an accident at home earlier in the month which kept me home for over a week...

I have mainly been packing leftovers and a nice side benefit is all of the extra room we now have in the refrigerator at home.

I hope everyone is having success at reducing money spent on work lunches as well. For an extra benefit take your 'savings' each week and use it to (1)boost your savings/investments or (2) pay extra on any debts.

Omalley

 

[goodfood4ursoul]

Packed lunches are going really well for me
I usually cut up a carrot and some broccoli and I have a neat small bowl that has a special well for dip (light ranch dressing), comes with a snap on lid so I take that with me every day.

I also take a sandwich, and I found a good jello fruit salad recipe that i make up and put into bowls with lids for my dessert:
(recipe is from America's test kitchen)
Pina Colada Ambrosia Jello Salad
2 (3-ounce) boxes pineapple-flavored gelatin
1 cup boiling water
1 (15-ounce) can pineapple tidbits, drained and juice reserved
1 (13.5-ounce) can light coconut milk
3/4 cup mini-marshmallows
1 (15-ounce) can mandarin orange segments, drained and halved

1. Dissolve gelatin in boiling water in large bowl.
Stir in reserved juice and coconut milk.
Refrigerate, uncovered, until slightly set (mixture should have consistency of egg whites), about 1 hour.
2. Whisk slightly set gelatin until well blended, then fold in marshmallows, oranges, and pineapple. Pour gelatin mixture into small bowls with lids and refrigerate, uncovered, until set, about 4 hours. (Can be refrigerated for up to 2 days.) When ready to serve, invert onto large plate.
To make ahead: This recipe can be made in advance and will keep well in the refrigerator for up to four days.

It's really GOOD and light and refreshing and I usually portion it out into 4 bowls, so about 1.5 cups a bowl.

I take a frozen juice box in my insulated lunch bag and that keeps everything cold and safe.
I re-use the same juice box day after day, re-freezing it at night.

Have taken a few left overs as well

 

[SueInBoston]

I was doing so good until this week I had to buy yesterday, today and probably tomorrow. But that is still good as I give myself $50/month for work lunches and I will still be under this month. Avg lunch cost here is $7-$10, no drinks.

 

[arwood82]

I did not do this for January but I am jumping on board for February. I think I am going to give DH and I both a budget of $50 each for the month and see how that goes. In march I will re evaluate and see if I can get that number down.

 

[goofyfigment]

I bought two sodas that was it all month

 

[donac]

I did pretty good. I think I only bought lunch 3 times. Brought my tea and lunch all the other days. Since we don't have any kids around any more I didn't spend a lot of money this month.

 

[MAJPLO]

I don't usually have the option to buy lunches so it isn't too much of a problem. I could, however get breakfast, coffee, or a morning snack and I haven't done that at all so far this year. In fact I think the only coffee I haven't made myself (Starbucks) was treated from a coworker.

 

[Darcy03231]

I take my lunch and snacks to work pretty much every day. I found what really helped me was to decide the night before what I was brining for lunch the next day. I also bought a larger size insulated lunch bag and a couple of freeze packs that fit in it.

To save money I buy a big bag of chips and on Sundays I repackage into smaller bags, rather than buying the snack size bags. This makes it easy to grab in the morning. I pack as much as I can the night before and put the lunch bag in the refrigerator so I'm not rushing in morning. I pull the bag out of the refrigerator, throw in the chips or anything else I'm taking that wasn't refrigerated and off I go.

 

[swilshire]

Getting in to a routine will make this easier. I typically eat lunch at my desk because I can't get away long enough to go out. I work four 11 hour days a week and keep snacks and sodas in my office.

On Mondays, I either bring enough leftovers from home for the whole week and put them in the fridge, or get carryout from a nearby restaurant using a Groupon or Half Off Depot certificate. Most of the certificates give me plenty of food to divide up into four meals.

At Qdobas, I get a huge burrito and a taco salad. I eat the salad Monday and bring a bag of Tostados from home to eat with a third of the burrito each day Tues - Thurs. Another favorite restaurant certificate gives me a Petro (chili, chips, sour cream, and tomatoes) for Monday and a double loaded baked potato (really two potatoes) to divide over the next three days. If I have fresh veggies, I have a salad with the potato. This makes my lunch for the whole week cost around $10.

Sheila

 

[charming23]

I did very well and only got lunch out once this month. Another day the boss treated to pizza after inventory.

Hoping to continue in February.

 

[DLandmomof1]

Thank you Omalley for starting this thread. I'm a little late in seeing it, but so glad I did. My husband and I just did the math and determined that he spends about $1400 to $1500 per year on lunches!

I've just recently become more serious about saving money with grocery shopping. Trying to plan meals around the sales, buying in bulk, and freezing more. I'm going to use a lot of the suggestions here for lunches. I'll also make the chicken soup from the Pioneer Woman and the beef & barley crockpot soup from Picky Palate.

Can anyone recommend a good thermos for soups? I can't find ours.

Guess it's time to find more things to make for lunches that my picky husband won't get tired of eating.

 

[iluvmickey2008]

I just did the math and I probably spend about $2,000 a year on lunches out that for the most part, aren't even that great! That would half of our Disney Trip!!

Bringing my lunch was actually my New Year's Resolution, but that did not go as planned, as we were all sick and well, I was lazy. I really, really need to get everything ready the night before. Maybe I'll eat out one day a week and bring my lunch for the rest.

 

[wishesuponastar]

I pack lunches for DH every day but there are those days that he says he gets "kidnapped" by the guys at work to go out

I hope I can encourage him to eat what I pack so we can save for our Disney trip. If he goes out once a week that will be ok. OP I'm so glad you started this thread. Good luck this month everyone.

 

[sallysue66]

I do the usual leftovers, sandwiches & occasional lean cuisines for lunch. Breakfast is the hard one for me because I usually don't have time to eat at home so I boil eggs for the week on Sunday & Wednesday (I'm off on Wed). Some of them I put in snack bags to grab on the way out and with some I make egg salad to stuff into mini whole wheat pita pockets. If I have leftover bacon, I warm a piece and put that in the pita too.

 

[Jannephotog]

Given I work in schools, it's easier to make myself bring a lunch everyday (cafeteria food? no thanks). My only weakness is a Diet Coke every so often, maybe once a month when I really need a pick me up....75 cents isn't too bad once a month. I've also started carrying a ziploc with tea bags in it so I can always nuke some water in my coffee cup and have a pick me up, plus I figure it's better than drinking coffee all day.

I tend to bring leftovers from the night before or a salad I'll put together the day before and some veggies and/or fruit. I try to keep packs of peanut butter crackers, pop top tuna cans & protein bars around to grab when I don't have time to put together a real lunch & need something fast. It's not fancy, but when you're hungry, it's pretty good. Oh, and never underestimate the power of keeping a jar of peanut butter in your desk. Perfect pick me up, especially when you need a quick sweet fix.