Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Saving Money on Lunch

Did you know that lunch time is where a lot of Americans waste money and calories?  When you are working it is so easy to just grab something on your morning/afternoon break and lunch break.  

My husbands place of employment is a perfect example of this!  Everyday 95% of the people he works with go down to the gas stations for their morning break.  Then at lunch they generally go back to the gas station, or order burgers from one of the restaurants in town. 

They figured on average they are spending at least $10 a day on food and pop.  That is $50 a week, or $200 a month!  Oy!  Those numbers are on the conservative side as well.  

My husband works with no one who has a concept of a healthy lifestyle.  These guys live off cigarettes, beer, Mountain Dew, and Little Debbies.  No joke.  

In the last few years my husband has lost nearly 50lbs.  All of this has been done through proper diet and cutting out pop.  After seeing our family doctor last month he is now on a mission to maintain this wonderful weight loss.  She wants him losing no more weight because where he is at now is perfect and healthy.  I am so proud of him!  

One of the easiest ways to cut the fat is by....get this...are you waiting for it?  BRING YOUR OWN FOOD TO WORK!  :)  


Every night I pack his lunch for the following day.  For his morning snack he generally likes fruit, celery with peanut butter, or a homemade yogurt parfait.  For lunch I generally just make extra of what we had for dinner the night before.  If we have no leftovers then he LOVES salads.  I wish I loved salads as much as he did!  Otherwise, sometimes he will request a couple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Nothing fancy here!  

He also only drinks water at work.  We have a reverse osmosis system and a filtered water pitcher at home.  He takes a 32oz water jug with him in the morning and drinks that at his desk until lunch.  Then he will drink the 24oz water bottle you see in the picture above.  

We save so much money just by him taking his snacks, lunch, and water to work everyday.  I am fortunate enough to be home by 1:00 in the afternoon, so I eat lunch at home as well.  I just can't imagine us spending $200+ a month on eating lunch out.  I think it is a waste of money and calories!  

Do you take your lunch to work? 

2 comments:

  1. It is most definitely such a $$ saver!
    The most fortunate part for me about working midnights is no place is open! Except of course the McD's up the street, 24 hours, but I don't like McD's, phew. So I am forced to bring my own in, which is a great way to make healthy choices because there is no other option.

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  2. You are lucky. When I was in college and working 3rd shift there were so many delivery places open late. On Thursday, Friday, Saturday some would deliver until 4am! It wasn't figure or wallet friendly. :D

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