The following is a guest post by Bryan Maltier. Bryan is a blogger specializing in personal finance, investments and insurance. He has worked for an internet company in their M&A department as well as a private equity firm. To learn more, visit Gajizmo.com for your personal finance needs, or BryanMaltier.com for a focus on insurance.
If you work outside of the home, you have to supply your own lunch. Unless the executive dining room is at your disposal for free, you’re on your own when hunger strikes at lunchtime. Eating lunch in expensive restaurants every day can be fun, but most working individuals have neither the time nor the money to indulge in that habit. Therefore, planning your own lunches and taking them to work with you is the best way to save money, be healthy, and avoid that food coma.
Planning Lunch
When it comes to preparing food, I’ll be honest, I’m lazy. Preparing a meal requires grocery shopping, preparation, cooking, cleaning, and only after all that can you finally enjoy your meal. At least that’s what I used to think until I had to start doing it for work. Getting each day’s lunch together is simpler than most people would think. As much as I don’t enjoy waking up 30 minutes earlier than I have to or staying up extra to make my own lunch, it does not take a lot of time to purchase weekly lunch items and pack your little brown bag each morning. In fact, lunches can be made the night before so that morning tasks are not as rushed, especially since I have a tendency to be late to work with the ridiculous traffic in Los Angeles. Each night, a fresh sandwich can be made and put together with fruit, chips, and a dessert, whatever you wish. Leftovers from the night before even make a great lunch if they are able to be eaten cold or you have access to a microwave. Eating leftovers may not be a gourmet meal, but when it can save you close to $200 to $250 per month in lunch expenses, I think its well worth the sacrifice.
Nutrition
When you eat in restaurants, portion control is extremely difficult. Packing your own lunch allows you to not only use coupons to purchase weekly food items, but controlling grease and fat content is quite simple. Sandwiches on whole grains, raw vegetables for snacking, fruit instead of chips, and water bottles in place of sugary sodas can all add up to excellent nutrition and saving money. A healthy soup can be placed in a thermos first thing in the morning and will still be hot at lunchtime.
The biggest benefit of this for me personally is the dreaded food coma. I used to eat lunch around 12:00 p.m., come back to the office around 12:45 p.m., and have a very hard time staying awake at my desk around 2:15 p.m. Now, I’ll be honest, I work out a lot, have a high metabolism, and I really like to eat, especially meat. The problem with all that is meat sits heavy in the stomach and requires a lot of work for your body to digest, not to mention the fact that I sit at my desk for most of the day after I’ve eaten. All these factors combined, I was not doing myself any favors eating out so when I started to bring my lunch to work and limited my intake, I felt better, more energetic, and didn’t have to work as hard at the gym to keep from putting on the pounds.
Time Savings
If you are restricted to a certain allotted timeframe for lunch each day, eating in restaurants or driving to and from your place of work to pick up lunch can take more time than it’s worth, sometimes resulting in only 10 minutes to eat. When you pack your own lunch, you can immediately grab your bag, or heat up your leftovers, and begin eating. You may even choose to walk to the local park and enjoy some time outdoors while enjoying that tuna sandwich. Enjoy some quiet time and clear your mind before returning back to the workplace. Eat lunch during the first part of your lunch hour and then get some exercise by strolling along in meditation or walking with a group of co-workers. Fitness and lunch can indeed go hand in hand.
I personally used to eat lunch and then take a 15-20 minute nap in the car. I had a very stressful job (analyst at a private equity group) and was usually short on sleep to begin with. Despite not being much time, I actually felt great afterwards and it helped me to unwind and de-stress before stepping back into the office.
Save Money
Eating out every day or buying lunch, even when using discount codes or coupon codes at a local deli or restaurant can add up to a lot of money. Taking just a few minutes per week while doing regular grocery shopping to pick out appetizing lunch choices is not difficult and can add up to considerable savings over time. So that boredom doesn’t set in, try a variety of items each week and switch them around. Crackers, yogurt, dried fruits, cheese chunks, or cooking a little extra at dinner the night before are excellent ways to have interesting lunches every day and save money at the same time. You can even buy a cookbook and experiment each night for dinner and keep leftovers for later in the week.
In the end, we can all come up with excuses to let deli sandwiches entice us or restaurants serve us, but packing your lunch each day is an excellent habit. If there is no refrigerator at work (doesn’t every office have one these days? If not, maybe you should look for a new company to work for), take a cooler. If you have to drive all day, make time to stop for a few minutes and enjoy your meal. If stopping is not possible, make bite-size items for your lunch bag and keep your eyes on the road. Where there is a will to use food coupons and save money with lunch, there is a way.
Do you regularly take your own lunch to work or school? Or are you guilty of regularly eating lunches from restaurants?
I freeze the leftovers and take those to lunch. I get excited if it was an especially great meal because I love reliving it again. If I have to “make” a lunch from scratch the morning before I go to work-forget it…so I have to be dilligent about making it ahead of time.
I was the same way in the past. I just wasn’t into preparing a separate meal for my lunches. If I had leftovers though, I was all over it. Some things even seem better the next day.
One of my biggest money problems came from eating out on a daily basis. I’ve been bringing my lunch to work for nearly 4 years now and it’s been a HUGE benefit for us. Just like you said in the post, we eat insanely healthy lunches and do it at a fraction of the cost.
I’ve coached a lot of people that have $200-400 allocated for lunches alone! That’s absolutely ridiculous. Our food budget for the entire month is only $280.
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$280 for the entire month! Wow, not sure I could do that, without some drastic changes, like vegetarianism or something. Way to go!
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Well Jason is going nearly vegetarian lately. They do seem to eat quite well for how little they spend. I know I could eat pretty inexpensively on my own, but once I have a girlfriend I tend to spend a lot more.
When I used to be single and work in downtown Chicago, I packed my lunch most days. However, I too was lazy. (I was also 23 yrs. old and hungover most days.) Unfortunately, I found that I began eating out more and more at lunch time – which cost me hundreds of dollars throughout the year.
Luckily, I live close enough to my work now that I can drive home for lunch every day. My wife Holly brings her lunch with her everyday, and it saves us a ton of money. Luckily, she has a lot more self-control than I do:)
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Living close enough to work to drive home to eat would be pretty convenient. I’d rarely buy lunch with that situation. Well I work from home right now. So I guess I do have that
When I go work in an office next week it will be a bit of a challenge to get back into packing lunches. Hopefully I don’t get lazy and go the easy route of just buying lunches.
Definitely agree – I’m not a morning person, so I hate the extra preparation but I also perform well under pressure. I tried to see if making my lunch in the mornings would just force me to do it, and it worked, except I got to work 5 minutes late everyday. My boss was one of those guys who called me at 8:01AM to make sure I was at my desk (yeah, getting micromanaged sucks), so eventually, I got so tired of him that I made my lunch at night. He was my motivation for making my lunch in the evenings, and at the gym!
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I almost always make my lunch. It saves me time and money. I would have to get in my car and drive somewhere during lunch traffic and that wouldn’t be fun either!
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I actually liked the break from the office and used that as an excuse to buy lunch. When I did pack my own lunch I would at least try to go out for a walk or eat in a park. Sometimes traffic is better than being cooped up in an office all day.
Great point, Jeremy! I feel rejuvenated and able to work hard again after stepping out of the office to clear my mind. Being in Southern California, the weather also helps. At some point, I was working 65 hours a week, so my lunch time was the only part of my day I actually saw sunlight.
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I bring my own lunch to work each day. I could use some added variety but a sanwuch and a couple snacks with a piece.of fruit gets me through the day and prevents me from eating way too much at he restaurants. It only takes 5 to 10 minutes Max to make my lunch and I think it is totally worth it.
The lack of variety is part of why I would get lazy. I can only eat the same thing so many days in a row. I think I’m getting better about it though because while working at home I would end up eating the same thing lots. I must be either getting more mature or more frugal.
I love taking leftovers to work because otherwise they usually go to waste. This is a great idea to save money and is usually healthier than buying food. I do not think packing lunch everyday saves a huge amount of money. I have compared the costs each week/month and if I pack a sandwich, side and a drink each day; I really do not save a lot of money. As long as you are not buying a huge meal everyday, sandwiches and salads from local places cost about the same as if you were to buy the ingredients.
It all depends on what you would eat from a restaurant or in a packed lunch. Personally I would never pack a drink because I am fine with just water. Also if you have to go pick up lunch, you may need to factor in gas. I think with the lunches I’ve started having, I’d save $3-5 each day.
As I mentioned previously, I worked in Southern California (expensive state) and in the financial districts, i.e. Newport Beach and Beverly Hills/Hollywood (very expensive). Chinese food, noodles, a small pizza, or a burrito would cost me $12, with tax. When someone got promoted, we celebrated at BJ’s Restaurant, and that cost $15-20. If I bought Subway everyday, then maybe you’d be right for my situation, but making my own sandwich and adding chips and a drink costs $3-$4. Compared to the $12 I spent some days, that’s a huge difference. My point is, I think it depends on where you live, work, and the types of restaurants you go to.
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I used to go out to eat quite often when I worked in the office. There were lots of places to go nearby. The cafeteria also had pretty decent meals so I spent quite a bit of money on their food as well. Now that I don’t have a desk job and a restricted lunch time which varies from day to day, I make my lunch 99.9% of the time. I usually make it the night before so I don’t have to wake up earlier. The odd time I’ll be lazy and get something from the cafe.
That’s pretty good to have that kind of dedication to bringing a lunch. I just hope I can have that consistency, but I kinda know I’ll come up with some excuse to indulge in something unhealthy. I guess my willpower just isn’t very strong.
I’ve also found that packing a lunch helps me save money and keeps the food coma away. It is annoying to pack though. I used to actually keep ingredients at the refrigerator of my old office so I could cut out the time it takes to pack a lunch at night.
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I’ve never actually tried leaving ingredients for lunch at work. I’d most likely just forget it’s even there since I’m not used to doing that. I agree that it is rather annoying preparing it late at night or early in the morning.
I can’t remember the last time I bought lunch at work – it has to be over a year at least, if not 1.5 years. I batch-cook about once per week and package the food in individual containers for lunches and I have a few quick-prepare recipes I use each morning or evening for the remainder of my lunch. I totally agree it’s a time-saver – you spend the extra time at home rather than during the lunch hour. My husband makes himself a sandwich most mornings and opens up a can of vegetables, but also tends to score free food at work a couple times per week.
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Batch cooking would work well, but I think I’d not want to eat the same thing all week. I’d have to do smaller batches and alternate. It sounds like you two do a pretty good job of avoiding spending extra money on lunches. Does your husband not like your food enough to take it to work?
Forget taking my lunch to work, I want to work with your husband and get free food brought into the office. Those were the good days! I guess we all just need to work hard and get to the executive lounge. =)
Um, couldn’t be further from the case for us! We are both grad students and free food is plentiful on college campuses, especially in the summer when the undergrads are gone! His department provides lunches for a bunch of seminars and always has leftovers.
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I’m a creature of habit (as is my husband) so we don’t mind eating more or less the same thing every day. Actually, my husband and I eat different diets – he’s “conventional American” and I’m low-carb. So he’ll take my batch-cooked food into work if he has to stay over dinner but likes his sandwiches or free food for lunch.
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When I was in debt elimination mode, I went for nearly eight months of no buying lunches. It paid off, and definitely noticed. Today, I’m so busy between work and businesses on the go, that I take leftovers for lunch 2-3 days a week, and other days I buy a “frugal” lunch.
It does get harder to fit in when you’re really busy. You don’t always want to take time out of your schedule just to prepare a lunch. It would be a good strategy when you’re putting extra effort into paying off a debt or saving for something.
Right on , man, great guest post! My wife makes me sandwiches a lot, or I have cold leftovers from the night before. And my wife is a great cook, so leftovers are always great! It’s not a matter of “should” with us, we simply have to pack our lunches, there just isn’t the money otherwise. *shrug* Ya do what ya gotta do!
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I guess with your line of work it’s pretty hard to find a microwave to reheat anything. That would limit options a lot unless it was something that you wouldn’t mind eating cold. It’s nice that your wife makes you sandwiches though. It’s much easier if someone else is preparing it lol.
The most important word in the above article is “planning.” With a little planning, you can save a lot.
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Exactly…it’s just about thinking ahead and having something ready ahead of time or having food in the fridge that can be prepared as a lunch to go. It’s when you don’t plan that buying lunch just becomes the only option.
My wife and I work from home which makes bringing our lunch to work a little easier but there is still the temptation to go to the local sandwich shop. We usually eat the leftovers from the previous night’s dinner. Also we have found that writing our weekly meal plan on a calendar helps control both the grocery list and restaurant bills.
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I’m the same way. I work from home so it’s easy enough to find something around here to eat everyday. The problem is that there is a mall food court within walking distance, as well as some other options nearby. So if I don’t have something appealing enough to eat here it does get very tempting to go for a little walk to get lunch. For the most part my frugal side has been fueling my willpower and preventing it from becoming a regular thing.
Hmmm…that’s interesting. I had not thought of that: writing down my weekly meal plan. If I ever get into a slump again, maybe I will try that to motivate me and get back on track. Thanks, K.
Well, I’m a bit spoiled and get free lunches at work (My division is owned by the on-site dining company). But for 10 months when I first got married, I moved to Oregon and had to brown bag it. My wife made me lunches the night before, and they were simple, delicious, and healthy. We spent maybe $2 a day max on those lunches, maybe less. When eating out, it cost at least $7 (more if I had to tip or ordered something other than water).
Before I was a budget-master, I used to work at the mall, and once spent $600 on lunch at the mall in one month (OUCH!) Glad I’ve learned my lesson!
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Wow $600 on lunches alone in a month? That’s a huge expense. It’s definitely one downside of working so close to so many fast food options.
It would be pretty sweet to have free lunches at work. It would save both money and time. Plus I’m sure the food is pretty tasty. I’d be pretty happy with that option or to have someone else making me lunches
Yea, the cafes are actually pretty awesome. And I usualy work it out where I can get a hot breakfast, and have enough “lunch credit” leftover to get lunch as well. It’s a sweet deal, not gunna lie
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Breakfast too?! Lucky guy. I gotta get hooked up with a job like that.
Bringing my own lunch to work is a BIG way I save money. Since we have so many student loans, we coupon and get a lot of cheap groceries so it only makes sense to bring a lunch. The only meal we really go out to eat for is dinner and it’s a lot easier to justify when we make our own breakfast and lunch.
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Just don’t let it justify those dinners out too often since that is the most expensive meal of the day. It sounds like you do a great job with breakfast and lunch though. I’m sure you probably don’t go out for dinner very often either.
I think we need to get more serious about this! Jeff takes his lunch maybe half the time, so definitely room for improvement.
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I think him selling his guitar and amp gives him a little bit of leeway there
For some people it is just tough to get in the habit of preparing lunches and eating the same thing fairly regularly.
We always take lunches to work. Usually it’s leftovers because that’s cheapest and easiest, but sometimes we splurge on some good bakery bread and cheeses. This weekend, we got fancy black olive bread, smoked Gouda cheese and salami at Granville Island plus some tomato and lettuce and made 6 sandwiches for $10 – wayyyy less than eating out plus there’s still lettuce and cheese left over.
Many of my co-workers buy lunch everyday and I have no idea how they can afford it – There’s just so many things that I’d rather put $7 a day towards. :S
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I was really impressed by your food spending you posted on your blog recently. It was all so cheap and all so healthy. I need to pay more attention to what you guys eat. I eat fairly healthy, but could be cheaper for sure.
My wife and I work from home now and again, but I also try and take my lunch as much as possible.
It just makes sense, and much more healthy as well
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The health side of it should make it a bit easier for me to stick with it once I go back to working in an office. I would feel too guilty about regularly having fast food. I can bring something so much healthier if I pack it myself.
This time of year, I usually take a peanut butter sandwich and a couple apples. I usually need a snack around 10 and again at 4 if it looks like I’m going to be there a while yet. It gets boring after a while, but I don’t need to worry about keeping it cool like I would a traditional meet and cheese sandwich.
I guess your options are a little limited when you don’t have access to a fridge while working. I’m not sure what I would do in that situation. I’d have to find some variety somehow.
This was such a great article and I couldn’t agree more! I make lunch for my hubs and myself every day and it has saved us a fortune in the long run. Everyone always forgets about the health benefits but you touched on that too! Such a well written article – thanks for this one!
Best,
Cat
aka
Budget Blonde
I’m glad you were impressed by this guest post. In the long run it certainly can save a lot. It’s those daily expenses that usually add up to the most.
Personally, I love lunch, it’s my favorite meal and I usually go all out. When I see people eating frozen dishes and simple sandwiches and I’d rather starve, haha. I’ll bring lunch 2-3 times a week and go out the other 2-3 times spending ~$10 each time. When I do bring my lunch, I either bring leftovers from dinner if it’s re-heatable or a sandwich with all the fixin’s, veggies and ranch, potato chips, fruit, etc.
I’m well known around the office now for lunch time feasts
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Haha sounds like some good lunches Harry. I can’t do an overly boring lunch either, but I do try to keep it reasonably priced. Hopefully you are able to balance out those expensive lunches with lower priced breakfasts and dinners.
Brown bagging my lunch for work is an area I do very well. I owe this mostly to the fact that my wife cooks a good meal about every night, and I just put the leftovers in a container for lunch the next day. Taking my lunch would be a lot more of a chore if I had to actually fix something.
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As a single guy I’m pretty jealous of you married guys with wives that make lunches for you. If I had good leftovers each day, I’d have very little temptation to go get fast food instead.
I always make my lunches for the whole week on Sundays. Downside? Same thing everyday. I try to make it something delicious (quinoa salad, chicken chili…) but ideally I would make two batches of lunches on Sundays to alternate. Of course that never happens
As long as it’s something pretty tasty, having the same thing all week isn’t too bad. It can lead to extra temptation for something different though. I’d have a hard time doing that extra food preparation on Sunday.
Great post. I have always taken my lunch for work, and feel almost like a criminal on the few occasions when I have to buy lunch.
Well I wouldn’t feel that bad if I bought lunch. I guess it depends on your financial position and what that $5-10 means to you. That mindset would sure keep you committed though.
I’m lucky to work at a remote site… so you have to take lunch every day, or survive on the stash in your desk/the fridge or hickory sticks from the vending machine!
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Having no other options is definitely one way to avoid the fast food lunches. Even if you wanted to buy lunch, you’re pretty much out of luck. That’s sure to make you pack lunches.