I've been bringing my lunch to work/school pretty much every day for the last month, and I've settled on a few foods that I now bring with me consistently. I noticed on someone's blog that they were trying to keep their daily cost down to $4/day. I thought it'd be interesting to calculate how much I'm spending every week.
My lunch (Tu-Th) consists of:
- Naked Juice or Odwalla (whatever's on sale) - $2.50-3.50
- Arrowhead bottled water - $.16 (3.99 for 24)
- Croissant - $1.16 (3.50 for 3)
- Slice of Ham - $.25? (4.50 for ? slices)
- Slice of Cheese - $.60? (5.00 for ? slices)
- 2 100 cal snack packs - $1.16 (2.50-3.50 for pack of 6)
So that means I spend $6.83 three days out of the week, and $3.33 two days, for a total of $27.15/wk, or $108.60/mo.
At all other times, I'm either eating with M or friends and then it gets trickier to calculate. But $108 seems pretty reasonable, right? I could cut out the juice, maybe find a cheaper alternative? I'll have to think about it. I enjoy drinking it... makes me feel healthy. ;)
8 comments:
Hee hee. I was going to say when the Naked Juice takes up 50% of your lunch budget, that's too much. But since your lunch budget is reasonable to begin with, a little luxury like fresh pressed juice is okay.
That's a good idea! I might have to start tracking my expenses...
As for the juice, is there one that is less expensive? Or can you buy it in bulk so that it cost less? If not, like Shtinkykat said, it's okay to splurge a little :-) 3 days out of the week is better than 5 right?
Naked Juice is so freakin addicitive I swear. But if you buy the four pack at Walmart, it costs between seven and eight dollars I believe. That shaves off between 50 and 75 cents. :)
Juice is really expensive unfortunately. Maybe buy big bottles and have a reusable container to bring it in? I have a croissant addiction, I get the 12 pack at costco and freeze them, less than 50cents a croissant. Not that you are overspending or anything, just ideas.
OMG I LOVE Naked Juice. The Mighty Mango is my favorite. I would love to drink it more but it's too expensive. You can get a cheap, larger container from Costco. Juice is so expensive but i like it from time to time.
@everyone: I need to make a trip to Costco! ;) Serendipity - Walmart is far away (1 hr)... I only go there when I visit my mom. But I'll ask her to tell me how much the 4 pack is and if it's cheaper than Costco, I'll have to head down there soon. :)
@Miss M: When you take the croissants out of the freezer, do you need to do anything to them before you eat them? Or can you just stick them in your lunch bag and they're defrosted by lunch time?
@Shtinkykat: Yeah, it is 50% of my budget, huh? <.< But it's tasty! ;)
@Simplelivin: I think Bolthouse Farm might be a little cheaper. Or I could just buy a 6 pack of carton oj. I'll check around the next time I'm at the store. :)
@Bayjb: Mighty Mango is my favorite too! And the Mango smoothie from Odwalla.
It would definitely defrost by lunch, if you're using for a sandwich slice it frozen and wrap it up (loosely or include a paper towel to absorb any moisture). For breakfast I pop them in the cold oven, by the time it reaches 350 they're perfect.
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