Comments on: How I Made Brown Bag Lunches Work For Me

By: Family Matters

Family Matters — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 04:46:26 +0000

I must say this is more discipline than most people can take and takes effort to keep it up every day, so I’d introduce a brown-bagless day once a week, just to have a breather.

Also, for me, the main benefits of taking my own lunch are the nutrition/health and being able to choose precisely what I like.

Lastly, a counter claim for spending the preparation time is the time saved standing in line, ordering and paying for commercial food.

By: elva

elva — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 18:20:02 +0000

I have been brown bagging my lunch all the month of June. This really has saved me money and time.

By: Sue M

Sue M — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 18:10:26 +0000

I’ve been using the same lunch box/insulated bag for several years now. I use the reusable plastic disposable containers for my lunch, as they can freeze and then be in the microwave. Sometimes, i wrap my sandwich in waxed paper. Since I always use the same bag and same containers, it is not hard for me to remember to take it to work, then take it home. If I forget and leave it in the car, I remember when I go to pack my lunch again. The reusable plastic containers are dishwasher safe, and very often that’s all I have in the dishwasher. Saving money, saving the environment, saving me…all good money spent!

By: Louise

Louise — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 12:39:59 +0000

I tend to cook in bulk and freeze individual portions. This way I can simply take a meal out of the freezer in the morning and reheat it in the microwave at work for lunch. I also keep some non perishables at work in my desk such as nuts, apples, oranges, cans of tuna, salad dressing etc. This way I can just take some salad vegetables to work, open a can of tuna and toss it with the vegies and dressing. Voila! Suddenly I have a well balanced meal with fresh crisp veggies rather than a soggy mess I made at breakfast.

What you can leave at work in the fridge will depend on where you work, but if you can, then it is often worth leaving some basics in the work fridge such as a loaf of bread in the freezer, some butter or margerine, mayonnaise, a tub of yoghurt, cottage cheese etc. A large container of yoghurt will work out cheaper than individual serving containers, and fruit topped with yoghurt can be a good morning snack if you missed breakfast, or a light lunch if you’re short on time. Good quality wholemeal bread with peanut butter will be better for you as a snack than a muffin or cake. It’s a lot easier to avoid temptation if you have a few good quality items stashed away at work.

By: Jenyfer

Jenyfer — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 12:18:35 +0000

Jason–so totally true! I have a great deal with a contractor at work–I bring the lunch, he pays $5 a day AND washes the dishes!! Not only does it motivate me to pack lunch, it also has made me more into cooking and recipes and such. And it is found money! Of course not everyone will have this option–but ask around–you may be surprised.

By: jason

jason — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 04:23:44 +0000

Share you’re food w/co-workers, I found you can feed a few moochers for what you’d be spending at the lunch counter, and eventually most of them start to contribute to the pot, which helps with monotony since I don’t know how to make a big variety. I don’t usually feel comfortable getting together a potluck or anything but I’ve found if you just make with the food it’s contagious.

By: luvleftovers

luvleftovers — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 19:43:03 +0000

Oh, yeah, and U’m saving bunches. I’ve only been doing this on a regular basis for about 2 months, and I’ve already been able to put an extra payment on a charge card. Yippee!

When you see this happening, it just makes you want to save more. I actually feel guilty when I buy lunch now. I hate it!

By: luvleftovers

luvleftovers — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 19:40:51 +0000

Bringing leftovers is so easy. I just put mine in individual plastic containers and freeze them. Then I always have a meal for work or if I don’t want to cook. I find that many meals, such as stews, chili and casseroles, taste better the next day anyway.

I’ll sometimes buy prepared frozen meals if on sale, but I only eat these about once a week since they have so much sodium and preservatives.

AND, you can never go wrong with peanut butter and jelly! YUM!

By: Casey

Casey — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 01:24:21 +0000

Even forgetting the amount of money that you would save, what led me to start bringing all of my food to work was that I wanted to relax on my break. I work at a software company in downtown Portland, ME and there are a lot of places to eat. It is also busy during the day since this area is where most of the businesses are. I can take breaks basically whenever I want to, but most everyone takes their lunch at 12pm. By the time I walk outside to a restaurant, stand in line and order and get my food there is at least half an hour! Not very relaxing to me. I would rather bring my food and hang out in the break room or sit in the church garden across the street. To me that is a better way to spend my time.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 13:06:53 +0000

My adult son lived with us for about a year and took his lunch everyday. Of course Mom made the lunch. He was not good at bringing the containers home. I stumbled on some disposable plates (with the paper plates) that lock together. Invert one. I would make his lunch when I cleaned up from supper. I could even make him salads this way. Taco salad too. Yum. Just put the meat in a baggie and heat it. Sometimes I would skip a day with the left over so it was not the same for lunch as supper the night before. Also omlets worked great too. They had a toaster at work so he could make toast or english muffins to go with the omlet. This all saved him alot of money.

By: Ursula

Ursula — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 22:19:51 +0000

@Rachel – You could try making something on Sunday that you could take to work for lunches during the week. I like to make a crockpot stew or a pot of spaghetti sauce (with tons of onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, yum!) then I put it in 4-5 gladware containers and stack ‘em in the fridge. Voila, lunches for the week! Of course, you are having the same thing for the entire week, but if it’s a meal you like, then you can stand it for 5 days in a row. I just don’t make the same thing again for another 6-8 weeks, that way I don’t ever get too sick of the same thing.

As for lunch sacks … I have a cute VeggieTales lunch bag. It’s very easy to pick out of the fridge amidst all the boring brown paper bags and solid black lunch sacks of my coworkers!

By: Rebekah

Rebekah — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 18:43:35 +0000

I’ve been bringing high-protein bars for lunch, since my boss doesn’t like the way some of my more “exotic” lunches smell.

I’d begun by clipping coupons and stocking up for a week at a time. Right after the holidays, when people are trying to lose weight, this works out great!

Now, I’m buying “by the box” with my requirements being that the bars don’t cost much more than $1/each, that they are high in protein, and low in sugar. I keep a few different kinds on the cellar steps so that I can grab them on my way out to the garage.

I’ve lost weight. I’m on medication that makes me sleepy; I can stay awake, better, through the work day. A bonus: I feel like I’m “eating dessert.” (I found an amazing “vanilla-coated sugar wafer” with 15 grams of protein, which, when on sale, comes to $1/bar.)

If I have an errand to run after work and I feel drowsy, or hungry (we’re not supposed to shop hungry!), I’ll stop at a nutrition or vitamin shop and grab an energy drink or bar to get me through the errands. It’s cheaper than a designer coffee, and is better for us.

I eat balanced meals for breakfast and dinner, but this plan has worked since the beginning of the year: it’s cheaper and doesn’t upset my boss. I don’t have dishes to wash and/or bring home, and my cholesterol dropped from 180 (when I was bringing fancy lunches or frozen lasagna) to 117. I’ve lost between 1 and 2 SIZES since I began.

By: Violetta

Violetta — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 16:48:42 +0000

To keep myself on track even when I forget my lunch, I bought a dozen cans of good soup (that open without a can opener), a box of crackers, a package of those disposable plastic containers and plastic spoons. I leave them in my file cabinet. Whenever I forget lunch, I just pop the soup into the office microwave for less than $3.00 for lunch.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 16:32:17 +0000

Here’s a good tip and the way that I have done it for over a year… I actually take a loaf of bread and a pack of ham and a full-size bag of chips to work with me so that I don’t have to take a lunch everyday. The supplies last for a week or more and as each thing gets low I just have to remember and take that one item. It works great.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 15:15:42 +0000

I’m a brown bagger but I have hit a slump. I’m awfully tired of yogurt, fig newtons, banans, and I have never been much on sandwiches. Time to shake things up a bit!

By: Harish

Harish — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 12:55:47 +0000

Hi,
The mosyt interesting thing is that if you leave the $36,000 to earn interest at 7% you will earn interest of $36,419. Now your total saving is $72,419. Not bad from just saving $4 a day by making your own lunch.

I learnt a lot from this exercise. it is that we do not need to big things in life, by simply saving a little each day by reducing wasye and doing it consistently amazing results will result over a long period of time.

Thanks

By: Tordr

Tordr — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 10:49:26 +0000

Norway is the land of brown bags (matpakke), most people make their own lunch and bring it to work. Probably because lunch is expensive and not so good in Norway. It is my feeling that as you go further south in Europe more and more people eating out for lunch.

In Denmark I now eat a good lunch for $3,50, 2 minutes walk from work. But when I go back to Norway I will go back to brown bags as I would either have to pay $5,00 half as good lunch or $9,00 and a good walk for some better food.

By: Harish

Harish — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 10:34:39 +0000

Hi,
great idea i work out that spending$4 a day over 6 days and over 50 weeks and over 30 years will SAVE you from this idea (if you use food which is extra)$36,000. That does not take into account of the interest on this money saved over 30 years.

Even if you do buy food for this , it will be lower cost then having someone else do it for you and charge labour and overheads. Plus you know exactly what is going into the meal.

Can we please have a list of 100 simple ideas to reduce waste each day, I am new to this blog so there may already be one.

Thanks
Harish

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 00:40:08 +0000

I brownbag a mixture of leftovers, salads made for lunch at work and the ingredients to make sandwiches at work (I am fortunate to have a small fridge in my office). Doing this gives me a longer lunch hour because I don’t have to waste 20 minutes a day lining up for purchased lunches. It also means that my lunch costs per week usually range from $6.50 to $11.50. Buying lunch at work would cost me from $37.50 to $48.50 per week. I pack my food for the day at work the night before. I also pack my own snacks and drinks. I have been doing this for the past decade and it greatly helps my family’s budget.

My work colleagues rarely eat in my lunch room so I don’t worry about the lack of networking.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 23:32:53 +0000

A couple friends and I started a company two years ago and we’re in pre-funding development right now. When two of us started working here full time in November, we immediately realized there was a problem when each day we would decide on a place to get lunch. I’d say on average we were spending $8.50 PER lunch. And most days neither of us had dinner here either, and we’re at the office until 10pm every night. One day a few weeks ago we decided to go every Monday to the grocery store and buy 2lbs of cold cuts, 1.5 lbs of cheese, and two loaves of bread. Every couple of weeks we buy mayo… and we make sandwhiches every day. We split the cost 50/50 each week and on average spend about $15 per week. We brought that $8.50 average down to about $.80 PER meal!! It’s been great. Eventually I suspect we will lose a little bit of weight too, because those $8.50 lunch meals are usually about 800 calories more than you need ;-) We combat the monotony of eating sandwhiches everyday by buying different meats and cheeses each week. Occasionally we splurge on a $.50 bag of chips from a vending machine in our building. It’s been great.