Date Created: Apr 25, 2005, 10:11 AM
Often when we are in a work environment, we tend to either eat out for lunch or eat at the cafeteria provided by the company without thinking about how much we spend. What difference does a few bucks make right? WRONG!
Whether you typically order take out, go out to lunch, or go to the company cafeteria, you almost assuredly use more money than you would if you bagged your lunch.
For example, I used to get lunch at our cafeteria and spent about $6 a day. That comes out to $30 a work week... and approximately $1500 (minus 2 weeks of vacation) a year. These days, I bag my lunch. Usually it consists of microwaveable Thai Noodles and a bottle of Propel fitness water, both purchased at Costco (another good Personal Finance tip: buy in bulk at a discount warehouse chain... just make sure you compare the prices with regular retail to make sure you are actually getting a good deal). Thai noodles come in a box of 6 packets for $6, so that's a dollar per serving. Propel comes in a box of 24 bottles for $12, so that's $0.50 a bottle. That means my typical bag lunch costs $1.50 a day, $7.50 a week, $375 a year (again minus the 2 weeks for vacation).
That's a savings of $1125 a year that could buy two Mac mini's, mostly pay for a new PowerBook, or get you some nice furniture. Me, I'll be paying down my debt so we can have a good FICO score before we start looking for a home to buy.... but that will have to be another Personal Finance tip article. So be sure to bag your lunch, and save a bunch!
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