Welcome to the seventh day in our Month of Savings series.
Today we will be talking a little bit about how you can brown bag your lunch and save your family loads of money.
I stay home with my kids, but I still go to playgroups where the opportunity arises for a lunch to be bought.
The temptation towards going out for my husband though is prevalent every single day, since most of his coworkers forgo the savings and enjoy lunch out daily.
The thing that has always been important to me is that we don’t feel like we are being deprived of anything.
For me, being deprived of things makes living a frugal life hard. I don’t like to feel like I am missing out on anything and I try to reflect that in what we do in our house.
My husband takes his lunch daily to work and I try to take great pride in what we eat for dinner so that pride can be reflected in his leftovers the next day.
For him, sandwiches aren’t as filling as the leftovers.
For us, the leftovers are cheaper than the sandwich meat and snacky type of foods that I would pack for him.
I go to our Dollar Store and get the sectioned containers there for our lunches.
These run $1 for two containers or $1 for four smaller containers
. The containers weather the trips to work and back, but they don’t cost very much so I am not worried about them returning.
We put our containers right underneath the area where I serve our dinner.
Immediately after I have dished up everyone’s plate, I fill any leftovers into these containers for my husband.
We have designated a special section in our fridge for the leftovers so they are easy for him to find in the morning to take them into work.
I always try to include any condiments he might need and sharp cutlery for tougher cuts of meat.
You can save ketchup, mustard and mayo packets from restaurants to include in your lunches.
Syrup can be poured into a baggy and tied with a twist tie for brunches on the go.
Fresh herbs sprinkled on top give the food a more finished touch, but dried herbs can add a splash of color to your leftovers (although not as tasty!)
If you have a place that you can keep snacks, at work, hit your local superstore and pick up soda and snacks to keep in/around your desk.
This can save extra money too, by not visiting those pricey vending machines.
Potential Monthly Savings- $100 or more
Sound Off: Do you have any brown bagging tips to share? How do you save your family money in this category?
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