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Small changes in your lunch habits can make big changes in your wallet

January 23, 2018 By: Sweet Frugal Life14 Comments

Finding ways to save money in your budget doesn’t always have to be extreme.  Sometimes all it takes is small consistent new habits to make a big results.

packing lunch for school and work

We decided that instead of having my husband go out to eat lunch with his coworkers every day we would instead pack him a lunch to take.  He usually has leftovers from dinner and some fruit or a salad, sometimes he will make himself a sandwich.

I added up how much this saved us over a year.  I estimated we  spend about $3 a day on the lunch he takes to work.  He works approximately 250 days out of the year making it $750 spending on lunch.  If he were to go out to eat with his coworkers we estimated he would spend about $7 (which is LOW balling it!) a day making it $1,750 a year for lunch.

So, just by packing a lunch for work we are saving $1,000 a year!  Think about this savings in long term value.  In 5 years we have saved $5,000.  In 10 years we have saved $10,000!  The savings over time is huge!  Imagine if I did the same thing, the amount would DOUBLE!

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If you have school aged kids you can also save a large amount of money if you pack them a lunch instead of having them buy a hot lunch at school.

I spend about $1 per kid for each lunch I pack them.  I have two school aged kids so that comes to spending $80 a year on school lunches for them.  If I were to buy a hot school lunch the total yearly cost would be $220 a year.  So by packing them a lunch we are saving $140 a year.  This isn’t a huge amount, but Every.Single.Dollar makes a HUGE difference when you are on a budget.

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These are our two easy secrets that have saved us over a $1,000 a year.  By the time all of my kids will have graduated from high school it will be over a $15,000 savings!  What lunch money saving secrets do you have?

If you are interested in more ways we save money each year check out my article:  What we cut from our budget to save over $2500 a year.

Comments

  1. Sarah says

    April 6, 2018 at 9:57 am

    I love this idea! My husband does the same, as did I when I was working! I love how you crunched the numbers! What a huge savings!!

    Reply
    • sweetfrugallife says

      April 6, 2018 at 10:09 am

      I love seeing the long term savings! It can make a big difference in your perspective!

      Reply
  2. Rose says

    April 6, 2018 at 10:10 am

    Wow! Great advice. Really makes you think about what you actually spend during the year.

    Reply
    • sweetfrugallife says

      April 6, 2018 at 10:49 am

      Yes it does!

      Reply
  3. pizzapullups says

    April 6, 2018 at 12:05 pm

    I almost always pack my lunch, it does save so much! Also it makes the occasional lunch out seem like such a treat.

    Reply
    • sweetfrugallife says

      April 6, 2018 at 12:27 pm

      Yes it does! That is a great point!!

      Reply
  4. Laura says

    April 6, 2018 at 1:47 pm

    It’s hard to believe packing your lunch each day can make such a difference! I made an effort to pack my lunch every day and it’s great to know it’s worth it!

    Reply
    • sweetfrugallife says

      April 6, 2018 at 1:59 pm

      So worth it!

      Reply
  5. journeyatsahm says

    April 6, 2018 at 7:41 pm

    We do the same thing. My husband loves eating PB&J EVERY DAY at work! He’s crazy. It saves us a ton of money and I get to eat the leftovers.

    Reply
    • sweetfrugallife says

      April 6, 2018 at 7:42 pm

      Sounds like you got the right end of the stick! ?

      Reply
    • edele says

      April 10, 2020 at 3:49 pm

      My husband loves PB&J every day lunch or dinner. so I purchased the BIG twin pack $9.00 and Jam $5.00 at Costco and it will last about a month. PB&J saves me from a lot of stress when I don’t fell like cooking or when he doesn’t want to eat left over(VEGAN)

      Reply
      • Sweet Frugal Life says

        April 10, 2020 at 4:15 pm

        So smart!!

        Reply
  6. Katie Walsh Beck says

    April 7, 2018 at 6:27 pm

    This couldn’t be more true – I cannot even begin to imagine how much money I waste annually on lunch out while at work…and I work from home several days a week! Still, every time I am in the office it is out for lunch and super expensive. Thanks for the reminder and the good ideas 🙂

    Reply
    • sweetfrugallife says

      April 7, 2018 at 9:01 pm

      It adds up quicker than we think sometimes!

      Reply

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