Save Money by Packing a Sack Lunch

Fuel costs are up. Food costs are up. Energy costs are up. People's budgets are stretched to the limit. How to stretch the dollar, eat well and stay healthy? Consider packing a lunch to work.

The thought of a sack lunch might bring to mind soggy sandwiches and stale chips but that is not necessarily so. The alternative, buying a hot lunch, often sounds more appealing.

Consider the options: A bought lunch might be freshly prepared for you, saving you time and resulting in a tasty meal without soggy or stale. But more often than not, purchasing lunch takes time out of the lunch hour. Such meals may be fresh but are often not prepared to exact tastes or health needs: too much salt, inappropriate portion size, undesired condiments and so on.

A made from home lunch might take a few minutes to prepare ahead of time but no time to order, pick up, or wait for during the lunch hour. A packed lunch may be a few hours old but with an ice pack or refrigerator in the office and a few easy tips you can ensure freshness and great taste. Then there's the savings. A bought lunch typically costs 8-12 dollars. Eating out every workday could cost two to three thousand dollars a year! Compare that to a dollar or two per lunch using ingredients bought during regular grocery store trips and you could save 2000 dollars or more each year!

A few lunch suggestions:

Upside-down Salad in a Jar - The problem with packing a salad is storing the dressing so that it does not spill, drip, or make a soggy mess of the rest of the salad. The answer is simple; pack your salad starting with the dressing on the bottom of a mason jar (or any reusable glass jar). Next, create a barrier with some dense veggies. A layer of cucumbers, corn, peas, mushrooms, or similar veggie will prevent the dressing from being absorbed by the more fragile vegetables. Add toppings such as croutons, tomatoes, cheese, olives, etc. Fill the remainder of the jar with chopped lettuce, close with a lid and keep chilled. When the lunch hour comes, find a plate, invert the jar and the salad will tumble out dressed and ready to go!

Fresh Panini Sandwich - The problem with packing a sandwich for lunch is that the bread absorbs a bit of the condiments and is less than perky when the lunch hour arrives. How to revive that sandwich so you look forward to your mid-day nutritional break? Find a small George Foreman grill for the breakroom. These small electric grills are perfect for toasting a pre-made sandwich and giving it a lovely, panini-style crisp crust. The cheese will melt a bit and the warmth will amplify the flavors. Side that panini with some crackers or chips, some fresh veggies and a beverage and you have a delicious packed lunch.

Leftover Medley - The problem with taking dinner leftovers is, well, they are often not as appealing the second time around. The trick is to make them over into a lunchtime treat. Some leftover chicken and veggies cut up into bite-size pieces, wrapped in a tortilla or pita and topped with your favorite dressing or salsa can make a lovely meal. Another way to reuse leftovers is to make a pasta salad tossed with some of last night's extra's. Or, use pita chips to scoop up a chopped chicken salad. A ready-made pizza crust can be turned into a delicious lunch with some left over grilled veggies, cheese, and the break-room's toaster oven.

Soup - Leftovers can quickly be made into a soup on a weekend afternoon that will then serve as a delicious lunch for most of the week. Start with some prepared tomato soup or chicken broth; add any leftovers, canned beans, cooked or uncooked vegetables and season to taste. Save yourself time by storing the soup in portion-sized containers and it is ready to go in the morning.

In addition to saving money by bringing lunch from home, consider using re-usable packing items. An insulated lunch bag, glass or plastic containers instead of plastic bags and a reusable beverage bottle will all save on waste and money as well. Some new items to consider might be a re-freezable cold pack, a "wrap-n-mat" for transporting sandwiches (a vinylized foldable mat that keeps sandwiches fresh but can be reused countless times), or a thermos for hot or cold beverages.

Switching to a home-made lunch need not be a sacrifice. There are many tasty ways to prepare and transport a packed lunch to work. Think outside the usual lunch-box and find some lunch solutions that will work for you.