Tasty Tips on How To Save Money On Lunch
Eating out every day for lunch gets expensive quickly. In addition to it being a hit to your budget, eating out may not always be the healthiest way to eat. You cannot choose not to eat during the day because that is not a smart option. These helpful and tasty tips contained in the article will help you eat well and at the same time save money on lunch.
Tip 1 - Balance Buying And Bringing Your Lunch
When you want to save money on lunch, the best way to save money is not to eat out at all. If you bring your lunch every day, you can save a substantial amount of money. While this may be the best option for your budget, it may not be the best way to build relationships with your co-workers. You may feel like you are missing out by never going out to eat with your friends at work. It is helpful if you strike a balance between going out to lunch and bringing your lunch.
You can eat lunch out once a week, which still allows you to save a significant amount of money but still enjoy having lunch out with friends. If going out to lunch once a week is still too much for your budget, you could consider just going out to lunch once a month or for special events, like celebrations.
Tip 2 - Skip the Drinks
When you go out to eat and want to save money on lunch, do not order a drink that is not tap water. Drinks, especially alcoholic ones, are an easy way to increase the cost of your lunch. You could easily pay $2 or more for your drinks for each lunch. That may not seem like a lot per meal, but when you add it up, you can see the actual cost.
If you go out to eat five days a week and spend $4 on drinks, that is $20 a week and $1,040 per year. By simply ordering tap water at lunch, you can save over $1,000 each year. Do not buy drinks from the vending machine, either. You are paying four times as much when purchasing through a vending machine. Instead, buy drinks in bulk when they are on sale and leave cases of them at your desk. Then, you can enjoy these drinks for less than half the cost any time you would like.
Tip 3 - Leftovers
A great way to save money when making your lunch is to make the best use of your leftovers from the night before. When you are making meal plans for the week, plan to make a little extra so you can have lunch the next day. You can also use a crockpot to make dinner, and then you can have leftovers for several days. Meal planning for the week is a great way to plan for the week ahead, purchase only what you need, and have lunches already planned. Making larger meals is a great way to save money on lunch and be prepared when the week gets hectic.
Tip 4 - Buy In Bulk
When you are thinking about preparing lunches for yourself during the week, it helps to prepare, or at least consider, the meals you want to make for the week. When you plan your meals in advance, you can buy in bulk, which helps you save money. You can often find bulk items at your local grocery store.
However, there are warehouse club stores that allow you to make bulk purchases all of the time. You will have to pay annual membership costs, which require an upfront investment. While paying money upfront does not seem to help your cost savings, it pays off over the long term. In addition, it provides you the ability to purchase staples that are non-perishable in bulk at a decreased price. This can include items like oil, nuts, dried fruit, rice, and pasta. You will have to have a place to store these items, but you will use them quickly, especially when you are making your own lunches and dinners.
Tip 5 - Use Your Freezer
A great way to have lunches ready for you to pack and go in the morning is to make meals ahead of time. Every couple of weeks, you can make meals that are perfect to be frozen in individual containers that you can grab on your way. Some great meals that are ideal to be frozen include stews, soaps, and other crockpot meals. You can make large batches on Sunday and then freeze them properly. While it takes a little more effort on Sunday, it will be worth it during the week when you do not have much time to spare.
You can also make loaves of bread and muffins in large batches and freeze them. You can put them in your lunch box while frozen, and by the time it is lunchtime, the baked goods should be thawed for you to eat. It can also keep other items in your lunch box cool until lunch.
Tip 6 - Look For Deals
There are many ways to save money while shopping for food. Many stores have savings clubs that give you extra discounts if you join them. In addition, many people have learned to save hundreds and thousands of dollars with coupons. You can take some lessons on the most effective ways to coupon and start saving. When done correctly, you can often get free food.
In addition, look for food that is on sale or bulk packages. For example, when purchasing ground beef, which is excellent for many different meals, look for family packages that usually contain 3 pounds of ground beef. You can save about 25 cents per pound with family packs. You can freeze the beef that you do not currently want to use.
However, there are many different meals you can make, including meatballs, meatloaf, and tacos, with beef. When purchasing produce, only buy organic when you have to. Organic produce normally costs about two times as much as non-organic produce. There are some fruits that are considered higher on the list of fruits highly contaminated. These are the fruits that you should buy organic versions of. For the other fruits, you should buy the cheaper versions.
Tip 7 - Avoid Pre-Packaged Snacks
While pre-packaged snacks provide the ultimate convenience, they are also expensive. However, it does not take as much time as you think to buy snacks in family size bags and pre-package them yourself.
When you come home from the grocery store, put the snacks aside as you put the rest of the items away. Then you can take some time to take the larger bags and put them in pre-packaged containers. This helps speed up the lunch packaging process by having everything pre-packaged all at once. It only takes an hour or two to create pre-packaged items. This also allows you to have pre-packaged snacks in serving size snacks. This can help prevent you from overeating.
It can also help your children not be overwhelmed by a large container. Sometimes, large containers can be too much for small children. When they have small containers with the appropriate serving size in each bag, it makes it easier to have snacks in small amounts.
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Still Need Help?
While it is great to have a plan for ways to save money when it comes to buying or packing your lunch during the week, it may not be the only step you should take. When you want to save money, it is helpful to understand your budget. Creating a budget is the best way for you to know how much money you have coming in and how much you are spending.
However, it can be difficult, too. That is why the Goalry Mall is here for you.
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At the Goalry Mall, we have various websites, articles, videos, and experts to help you with all of your money needs. we provide you with a place to upload all of your financial information, which you can access at any time. Our site helps you determine your budgeting goals and provides you with actionable steps to achieve those goals.
Conclusion
When you are interested in saving money, a great way to start with is limiting the number of times you eat lunch out. There are numerous ways you can save money on lunch, no matter if you are eating out or packing your own lunch. They may take a little more time and effort but are well worth it when you begin to see the savings. Keeping these tips in mind will help you see significant savings on lunch.