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Theres a guy in your office who always brings a brown bag for lunch. So whats in that brown bag? Oh, about forty seven thousand dollars!
How did I come up with that figure? 5 days a week for 50 weeks a year is 250 days per year. If you eat out every day for lunch thats a bare minimum of $5.00 a day. So we’ve got $5.00 * 250 = $1,250.00 a year just for eating out at lunch time.
Add in a morning coffee from the diner and a couple of snacks from the vending machine, and you are looking at a hell of a lot more than just $5.00 per day.
It adds up to lot of money - over 25 years the grand total is more than $30,000.00! I bet you never considered it from that point of view; most people don’t.
If you save this money, it doesnt just sit around doing nothing, put it in the bank and it will be earning compound interest over a 25 year period! Even at a very low 3% rate you would have an $46,941.30 in your retirement fund.
It’s very simple. Instead of eating out every day for lunch, just brown bag it. Here are some satisfying and cost efficient lunches you can bring to work with you.
1. Leftovers from your dinner the night before. Instead of throwing them away, bring them to lunch. Most offices have a microwave available for you to use. This is food that is already prepared and paid for; eat it. You can even deliberatly cook one more piece of chicken, or a couple more sausages.
2. Sandwich, fruit, and dessert. You can also bring a thermos of milk or juice. These are items you already have in your refrigerator or cupboards; use them to help you save money.
3. Soup and peanut butter crackers. This is an inexpensive and satisfying lunch, especially during the winter months.
4. Salads are another inexpensive and healthy lunch you can bring to work with you. If your work doesn’t provide a
refrigerator, you’ll need to keep it cool in a cooler type lunch bag.
5. Pasta makes a great filling lunch and is really quick to cook up.
Don’t throw your money away. Use what you have already bought to save you thousands of dollars over a period of years.
But, a word of warning! Make sure you actually save the money you were going to spend on lunch. Put it in a jar every week or so deposit it into an account that earns interest. Then you’ll really be able to see and enjoy how much you are saving.
Oh btw - a brown bag lunch is probably going to be healthier too. So, whats in your brown bag?
September 1st, 2008 at 6:19 pm
This is so true. I work at a place that employs (in all) about 1200 people. Many of them eat out every day. Many of them are constantly complaining about being broke. Sometimes I’d like to do the “V8 Thump” on their foreheads. :p
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:07 pm
It took me several years to convince my husband of this. Now he takes his lunch to work every day, except Friday when the guys in the office all go to lunch together.
Unfortunately, we haven’t been saving the money as we should have - not just throwing it away, but not saving it either. We’ll have to work on that.
September 3rd, 2008 at 7:25 pm
You also need to add automobile expense to the cost of eating out. It’s likely to be a short trip, which puts more stress on your car and sucks down more gas.
I don’t know where you live, but it’s hard to find a decent lunch for $5 around here.
September 4th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
@Anna - even 4 out 5 days makes a big difference, but as I said you’ve got to actually save the money somewhere! Doesn’t count if you just spend it on something else
@Elliot - yep, $5 is very much on the low end of the scale. The more you would have spent on lunch, the more you will benefit from brown bagging it.
JK
September 8th, 2008 at 12:47 am
making your own cappuccino just the way U like it in the morning and adding gourmet touches to your lunch…like cracked pepper, fresh spinach and sun dried tomatoes (very affordable) on a homemade pita pizza is pure indulgence…i watch the food network on weekends (or tape my fav chefs shows) for inspiration…so much better tasting and obviously healthy than fast food…and you’ll save a fortune!
September 8th, 2008 at 6:43 am
I do take my lunch every day. On the weekend we get a medium pizza (8 slices). My husband has 2, I eat 2 and then take 2 for lunch on Mondays and Tuesdays. I also chop up a cucumber and split it into separate baggies to take for lunch each day plus a yogurt and perhaps a banana some days.
The money I don’t spend on lunch, I use for the football pool at work. I’m already saving over $1,000 per month so I think that’s good enough.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:46 am
This is a good idea… Of course, if you’re in the type of job where you’re taking clients out for every meal you happen to have, then depending on your situation, the Company will pick up the bill. But if you’re not in that type of job, then this IS the way to go.