Can You Afford Not To? (Packed Lunches)

Name: shewhoguards

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Product:	Packed Lunches
Date:	04/06/08 (99 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap! Can include healthy stuff. Means I pack to not get hungry. A use for leftovers!

Disadvantages: Takes a bit of gathering stuff together

The credit crunch is upon us, and with cash getting low, packed lunches aren't just for kids any more. The average office lunch costs maybe £3 a day. Add £1.50 for breakfast if you're an early starter. Throw in 50p for a daily chocolate bar, and you're at £5 a day. That's £25 a week, and a hefty £100 a month. Not cheap!

Now, I'll start by explaining I have a freakily high metabolism. Not everything that works for me will work for everyone else, but I have to, for instance, pack more food than I think I'll need because if I'm hungry at the end of the day, there'll either be a chocolate machine trip or I'll be miserable. It also means very little of my food planning goes into worrying about my weight - if you are dieting, tweak however works best for you.

Now, I have a nifty little coolbag. It cost £1.50 at Asda, slings over my shoulder so it's easy to carry and looks a bit more adult than a packed lunch box. It can also, just about squeeze everything in for a day's food. When I say "a day" this lot usually carries me from 7 in the morning until 6 at night when I have tea.

BREAKFAST

This depends how bad I'm expecting traffic to be and if I've got chance to bake on the Sunday. If I'm expecting good traffic - school holidays for example - I pack one of the little Kelloggs multiboxes of cereal and fill a little bottle with milk. I try to grab them when they come on offer, but even when they're not, compared to £1.50 for a bacon sandwich it's a bargain.

If I'm expecting bad traffic, it'll be something I can eat in the car. If I have time to bake on Sundays, I usually do a week's worth of hot cross buns (without crosses) or cinnamon rolls. The ingredients cost pennies, and it keeps me going. If I've been lazy, Lidl's does a five pack of chocolate croissants - all in individual packets - for 79p. Not particularly healthy, but it gets me to work.

FRUIT

There's always fruit. If I'm starving, it'll be part of breakfast, if not, it'll be part of lunch or snacks. Usually it'll be a banana and a couple of satsumas, although occasionally there are apples. I love cherries, but they are expensive and get squashed.

I also include a packet of raisins or two. Asda do 5 for 35p, they are yummy and count in your five a day.

DRINKS

My big expense comes in here. I am addicted to Dr Pepper, I know it is expensive, but it is yummy and it is only one can a day. (However if Coca Cola is on a two for 1, this is an acceptable substitute). This is easily the most expensive part of my entire lunch. I try to cut it by filling my shed with six packs every time they're on offer, however, even at full price I'm STILL paying less per can than I would if I said I was giving up but bought it at work when the craving came.

I also always have orange juice. It goes with breakfast. I don't mind remade from concentrate, but I do like a carton that won't spill in the car if I'm in a traffic jam. Tropiana Go is nice, but expensive, so usually it's something cheaper. Goes towards my five a day!

My second can is a bit of an insurance policy. It's always an own brand drink - usually ginger beer, or cream soda - something I can get on 6 for £1.08. It never has caffeine in it. I would say I rarely drink it more than twice a week, but again, I would rather tote it to work and back undrunk than REALLY crave it and end up paying at the office.

MAIN SAVOURY

This is most often sandwiches. Bread is the one thing I don't stint on, because lousy bread makes me hate my sandwiches and want to stop taking a packed lunch. Better bread is still cheaper than buying lunch.

As I live alone, I try to make a large meat meal on Sundays I can make sandwiches off for the next week. A chicken does well for this, so does a cheap joint of pork if you can find one. Next week I'm going to boil a small ham. It's much cheaper than using the deli counter. If I'm opening a packet of bacon, I've also found that cold bacon sandwiches taste fine and are far better than wasting it.

If I haven't got any meat, and I'm feeling poor, it's tuna. A value can from Tesco is 37p and if made into tuna mayonnaise can last the week in the fridge. That stuff STRETCHES, especially if you add cucumber.

Other sandwich options (used less often) are cheese or egg mayonnaise.

This option really isn't limited to sandwiches though. If I've dropped into Tesco as they're making stuff down, I can often grab a couple of scotch eggs. Or, if I have eggs nearly out of date, I'll boil them and take hard boiled eggs. Or, if I've made something that makes good leftovers - gammon or toad in the hole are both good options - I'll take those.

I only have two hard and fast rules. It mst be quick to pull together in the morning - I have to be out too early to muck about - and it must contain protein. Not enough protein in my diet makes me cranky and miserable.

ADDITIONAL SAVOURY

Not compulsary, but sometimes I'll throw one in. BabyBel cheeses are nice, or Lidl do a bruschetta bread mix for 99p and they taste great cold.

CRISPS

Yes, fattening, yes, I'll die of salt overload but a little of what you fancy does you good. I'm currently trying to eat my way through a massive crisp sack as I was struck down by "am I running low? Better buy more" issues. However, were I running low I'd say Lidls usually does special offers on two 12 packs for - I think - £1.80 or £2 - somewhere around that figure.

YOGHURT

I don't particularly like taking yoghurt. I fear it bursting, and sometimes I think it makes my bag smell funny. However, I need the protein so Asda do value yoghurts for 9p each or you can get a 4 pack for 29p.

DESSERT

I must have dessert, or I will kill my coworker and take hers. Again, Sunday preparation helps out here. A big pie or crumble will last the week, and now we're in summer, if you know someone who gardens you can often beg free fruit for them.

Fruit salad is also an option, but remember to use a spill proof container. Believe me, if it leaks, it's NASTY. Home made rice pudding also tastes good cold.

CHOCOLATE

Again, count this on the insurance policy list. The chocolate is MAYBE eaten twice a week, when I need it. The thing is, if I DO need it, it's there. I pay £1 for a 5 pack of KitKat peanut butter, or Snickers and that's five times I won't spend 50p in a vending machine.

COSTINGS

On a day when I eat ALL of my packed lunch, including my insurance policies, at most it should most me around £2.20 - definitely £2.50 or under. For breakfast and lunch which fills me up, includes reasonable amounts of fruit and keeps me going until I get tea on, I think that's rather reasonable!

Crossposted to livejournal

Summary: The saving I make means the work is worth it