Brown Bag It To A Balanced Budget

A typical lunch meal.

If you are constantly taking out emergency loans, it means that your budget is not in check. You need to do something to get things straight and we have just the thing.

One of the biggest money wasters is a lunch budget. Depending on where you eat, you could be spending 10 to 15 dollars a day on lunch. When you compare that to the 1 -2 dollars that it costs to bring your lunch, you can see the potential for savings.

Take your lunch to work and you could potentially save up to 14 dollars a day. That is nearly 300 dollars over the course of a month. 300 dollars each month would do wonders for your emergency savings.

Taking Your Lunch To Work

You might have bologna sandwiches in your head, but, when you take your lunch, it does not have to be that way. With a little creativity and some prep, you can have meals that are much healthier and even much tastier than anything you can get at a restaurant. Here is what you need to do.

Food Storage

First, you are going to need a way to get this food to work in a fresh state. There are a lot of food storage options these days that will keep your food tasty for hours.

Invest a few dollars in some good containers and your odds of sticking to bringing your lunch to work are much higher. Look for items that offer insulation and seal well against the air. There is nothing worse than wilted lettuce or dry rice.

Plan A Menu

Go beyond the sandwich. Sure, you can buy a loaf of bread and a packet of lunch meat and eat all week for a few dollars, but it will come back to bite you. You might do well for a few days but you will quickly become bored and go back to your old ways.

Here are a few ideas.

Pesto

If you have never tried pesto, you need to give it a shot. You can even make it yourself and it is much easier than you think.

Pesto can be used in a number of dishes. Use it with pasta or put it on a grilled chicken breast. It can take a boring meal and kick it up to the next level.

Even better is the fact that it stores well. Make up a batch and freeze small portions. Then, pull it out the night before and cut doown on your lunch meal prep. Get a flavorful meal that takes just monutes to prep. Hard to beat.

Soup

Soups are another great meal idea. Buy a can for a buck or even make your own chicken soup.

Soups are easy to heat up and when paired with a nice roll or slice of artisan bread, they can be very filling.

The sheer variety of soups also make them something that is hard to get tired of. Cream of mushroom, tomato basil, chicken noodle, minestrone…. The list goes on and on.

Creative Sides

Even if you do chose to do the simple sandwich, you can take things up another level by adding a fancier side.

Make a simple fruit salad, a side of chili or even bake your own chips. Be creative, because the more choices that you have, the less likely you are to get bored.

Benefits To Taking Your Lunch

The benefits to taking your lunch go far beyond saving money. Even though that is the ultimate goal and 300 dollars a month is nothing to sneer at, there are a few other benefits.

Saving Time

Think about how much time you spend simply going to get your meal. You might have an hour for lunch, but it takes you 30 minutes or more to drive back and forth to get it. Most of your time is spent going to get your food.

Compare that to taking your lunch where you can eat at your work space or simply walk across the street to a park. Eat your lunch in 15 minutes and then have 45 minutes to do what you like. Get some extra work done or take some time for yourself.

Get Healthier

Most restaurant and fast food options are not the healthiest. High in fat and overly high in calories they do your waist line no favors.

Take your lunch and you will soon see the benefits. You will feel better and probably start noticing that your clothes start fitting a bit better.

If you are having cholesterol or blood pressure problems, you will be doing your overall health a huge favor.