The No Excuses Take Your Lunch To Work Entry!

Packing a lunch can save a family a nice chunk of change over time, yet I hear more "There's no way I could do that!" on this subject than I do on nearly every subject. Taking a lunch does take a little time, but the savings are astronomical over time.

Here's some of the common things I hear when people say that they can't pack a lunch:

I don't have time in the mornings!

Neither do it. I would never pack a lunch if I had to do it in the morning. I pack my lunch in the evenings, when we're cleaning up from dinner. Since my husband and I almost always take dinner leftovers, we just pack up individual servings as we're cleaning up the kitchen. I keep around quick to grab stuff (bought on super sale, of course!) We often take fruit snacks, dried fruit, crackers, yogurt, cheese sticks, real fruit, and cut up veggies as sides. Since we both like water and our offices provide cups, we just drink water at work for lunch. If you drink soda or juice, it is much less expensive to buy it at the store than it is to get out of the vending machine.

I don't have a microwave or fridge!

That's unfortunate, but you can still take wonderful meals! Sandwiches are quick and easy. If you hate soggy sandwiches, then pack each individual ingredient separately and assemble at lunch time. Salad are a healthy lunch that do not require microwaving. There are even some cold soups that would be a refreshing lunchtime treat. My favorite quiche tastes wonderful at room temperature.

I see those cold packs that you can stick in the freezer at yard sales quite often, but you don't even need those. A reusable water bottle filled most of the way up and frozen makes a good ice pack, and as a bonus you have cold water to drink with your lunch. I've heard of people doing this with juice boxes as well.


My job requires me to drive and I eat in the car between clients.

I've been there. I once had a job as a maid with one of those services. They did not really have a concept of such wonders of the words "lunch break." They considered the time we spent driving between houses as our break, so I had to pack something that would survive in a hot car that I could eat while driving.We were not allowed to do crazy things like get a drink of water while at the client's house, so I left my house every day with the following: Several large bottles of water, most of them still frozen from the freezer, an igloo cooler type lunch box, and assorted food cut into bite sized pieces. The frozen water would act as my fridge and as my hydration since cleaning was VERY hard work. I would make things like PBJ and cut the sandwich into four triangles, cut apples into bite sized pieces, cut up cubes of cheese- all easy to eat while driving, and to eat in bits and pieces during the day. Most of my coworkers did not bring lunch. We'd pop in at a drive through, or stop briefly at a gas station. My lunch was much cheaper than that , for sure.

When I was in grad school, I had a microwave but often had a schedule that did not allow for a leisurely lunch. One semester I had to eat while walking between classes- not fun! Again, the solution was bite sized pieces of stuff. Those sippy cup soups were pretty nice too.

I have to eat lunch out everyday so I can network and get ahead in my carer!

Okay. But does it have to be everyday? Our roommate was doing this and going slowly broke, so now he does it on Wednesdays. He and several of his work friends call it the Wednesday Lunch Club and take turns trying to find an interesting hole in the wall restaurant to eat at. I thought that was an interesting solution. If you truly have one of those high power super jobs, could you eat snacks at your desk and have a very light lunch out, like soup or a salad?

I just don't like to pack a lunch.

There are days when I don't like to pack a lunch either. When this happens, I pull out a trusty frozen meal, like Lean Cuisine or Healthy Choice frozen meals. (My husband calls these "Lady Lunchables.") I used to not do this because the meals were expensive and I try to avoid processed food. However, it is much easier, cheaper, and healthier to do this than to hit up the Value Menu because I could not deal with packing a lunch. Even full price, these are often cheaper than fast food. If you watch for coupons and sales, you can get these for about a dollar each.

Taking a lunch does not have to be difficult or boring. It does take a bit of time and creativity, but the savings will almost certainly be worth it!