Brown Baggin' It

  One of the biggest things we've done to save money is taking our lunches to work. Wouldn't you if you had a cool lunchbox like this?

Sadly, it's not bigger on the inside. 

 Phillip takes pretty much the same thing every day. A spinach/veggie salad with a homemade vinaigrette dressing. We've never really sat down to determine how much it is but this is my estimate based on the groceries we buy for it. This is the cost/salad.

Phillip's Salad with Vinaigrette Dressing
Celery                      $.23
Spinach                    $.33
Cucumber                $.07
Onion                      $.18
Red Wine Vinegar   $.23
Lemon Juice            $.01
Total:                    $1.05

This ends up being $5.25/week. That's less than you would spend on one meal if you went out to lunch. He usually adds in a banana and apple so that adds on another $1/day. That's still REALLY cheap! It's also very healthy and since he makes it all himself he knows what's going in it and that there are no preservatives, overloads of sodium or sugars or anything else food companies try to sneak in.

On the other hand, I'm not quite as good at packing healthy salads for lunch. Because there is a restaurant right across from my building it's way too easy to run over and grab something, I've learned that if I don't bring a variety of stuff and sometimes have snacks I will run over there instead. Here's a list of common items that I'll grab to take along with me along with the cost/item. The produce varies so I did a guesstimate based on my previous shopping trips.

PB&J Sandwich: $ .40
         Peanut Butter $.15
         Jelly                $.07
         Bread(wheat)  $.09/slice

Ham & Cheese on a Hawaiian roll: $.68
         Hawaiian Rolls  $.12
         Provolone         $.19
         Ham Slice         $.37

Apple ~$.82
Banana ~$.20
Grapes ~$.15/ounce
Strawberries ~$.11/ounce
Clementine ~$.12
String Cheese $.24
Greek Yogurt $.94
100 Calorie Almond pack $.38

 Today I packed: A PB&J, grapes, string cheese, yogurt, almonds, and a clementine. That brings today's total to $2.23. This is actually the first time I've ever priced out what we buy, I'm pretty happy with the results.

 It took me awhile to get over how much we were spending on produce and things at the store but if you break it down like this it ends up being much less expensive than anything you could go out and get on your lunch break. Chances are you'll be eating more whole foods and feel better than if you were to get something that had been more processed.

 I'm always looking for new combinations to put in my lunchbox, what are some of your favorite things to take along?