I enjoy leaving the office for an hour or so just about every day with coworkers..sure you spend a little bit more, but man is it refreshing to have a change of atmosphere. Most of the food joints that are sit down around my area are now offering 5 dollar lunch specials thanks to the economy, with tip its like 7 bucks a day, not bad only 35 a week for a decent sit down lunch, with plenty of good cooked food and variety

 

I'm on the road a lot for work, so I usually bring an assortment of light, healthy snacks from home (carrots, an apple, trail mix, Clif bar, etc.) to munch on throughout the day. It just gets too expensive to eat out every day.

 

cereal and a banana

 

You'd be suprised how well you can eat and for less than $8 dollars a day if you really start paying attention.

I think the most expensive things I buy are fish and lamb and I buy less than a pound of it for two weeks.

Just set a budget and than have crap back ups that you really don't like but will eat when there is nothing else,It will help you adhere to your budget better if your last resort is ramen and ketchup or peanut butter and crackers.

 

Making a good dinner with left overs is the best food and cheapest on your pocket. However, depending on whether you are single or have a family, left overs can be a big problem if you are single. It is hard to cook for one and so either you have leftovers for weeks on end or non at all.

You need to be creative when taking your own lunch because that get's boring. Michelinas, Lean Cuisines, etc, just don;t cut it for very long

 

I used to think nothing of spending $10 a day on lunch. After all, ya gotta eat and it's better than eating at McDonalds. Then I decided to add up how much lunch is really costing me.

$10 a day is $50 a week. Seems a little high but like I said it's better than McDonalds. Well, $50 a week is $200 month. Yikes! That's almost as much as the payment on my first new car. Over a year, that $10 a day lunch is...$2,400 a year! That's some coin for just a freakin lunch.

These days, I eat Health Choice or Lean Cuisine meals. They're pretty good and you can quite often find them on sale. Here, they're usually about $3.50/ea but when they have the 1/2 price sale I stock up. They're also good for dinner when you put in the OT and get home late.

Speaking of getting home late, do you have a crock pot? If not, get one. You just throw a bunch of stuff in there, put it on low when you leave in the morning and when you get home at niget, you have a hot meal waiting for you. There are a bunch of cook books on crock pot cooking too. And you can take the leftover in for lunch the next day. Hot AND inexpensive.

Just a coupla thoughts.

Warren

 

Thanks for the tips guys!! Many of these will be put into use next week!

I am going to buy bananas for sure.

I will also definitely keep the crock pot in mind! When I have the extra money I will buy one and look into some recipes. I think the cheapest thing to do is to do lunchmeat and leftovers for lunch.

If I had lunchmeat + banana or leftovers + banana for lunch at the office, I think I could get by pretty dang cheap through the week.

I have been a HUGE spender because of the way I was brought up.

I have been out of the house since I was 17 but always had income from somewhere else.

I am 21 now with my own house, my own vehicles... by myself all while still in school.

Cutting expenses is actually fun! It works my mind a little and really teaches me a new way of life. It is also teaching me the value of a dollar!

Thanks again guys!
-Dustin

 

good luck to you


you'll be surprised how well you can eat on a budget.

 

wow!!! helpful tips since im moving out of the dorms in a couple of months and i wont be getting free meals on the chow hall...

 

Check out your local GoodWill. They regularly have crockpots for around $5 or so, the same ones that go for about $50.

And although I have a cookbook on crockpot cooking, you might be able to find some at www.cooks.com or www. meals.com

Warren