It’s lunchtime, you’re starving and you need to eat. As was the case in my article last week, I’ll forego the health aspects associated with poor food choices. For our purposes we’ll focus on the negative aspects to your wallet. Trust me, these can be just as bad.
When we’re hungry, we simply want to eat something, almost anything. Give me a sandwich or anything else that I can buy quickly to stop the rumbling in my belly. Although a ham sandwich isn’t necessarily going to pack on the pounds, spending $10-12 when you could’ve otherwise saved the money with better planning still hurts.
A great way to avoid the pitfalls of an unnecessary lunch or dinner purchase is to plan ahead. If you’re a griller (like me) this can be done pretty easily. Fire up the grill, throw a pack or two of steaks, chicken or whatever and cook what you need for the week. Have a family? So do I. You can cook the meat you need and change up how you use it throughout the week. You can be pretty darn creative with chicken thighs if you want to. 
Not a griller? You can’t go wrong throwing a bunch of stuff in the crock pot either. Cook several meals over the course of a few days and put them in the fridge or freezer. Pull out what you need and when, heat it up and voila, ready made meal. The amount you’ll spend on one or two packs of meat vs. purchasing ad hoc from a restaurant can be quite staggering when you do the math.
I will fully admit, this is not the easiest thing to do. Watch any football game on TV and the amount of commercials asking you to spend your hard earned money on anything from chicken wings to tacos can be overwhelming. This sort of thinking takes preparation and commitment. A commitment to save money and spend it on things you actually want, like a new outfit or perhaps a night out with your significant other.
I mentioned in a previous article how smart it is to pack a lunch and/or dinner when going on a road trip. It’s equally smart to have ready made snacks in your car for those emergency hunger situations. I use the term “emergency” lightly as we can all certainly go a few hours without eating if we need to, but you understand what I mean. We’re starving, we need to eat and we need to eat right then. A pack of crackers could come in handy until you have time to sit down and have an actual meal. This would also help you avoid spending money on food if you can avoid it.
Many of you are reading this and thinking, “this isn’t that big of a deal.” It’s a bigger deal than you think. Just do the math:
3 lunches per week @ $12 each time (3 x $12 = $36)
$36 per week X 4 weeks = $144 per month
$144 per month X 12 months = $1,728
Keep in mind, this scenario would be for one person at a pretty cheap lunch place. Add in dinners or several expensive lunches and you’re easily over $2,000 for the year or higher.
I get it, we have to spend our money on something right? We do, but why spend it on something we can just as easily have at home.
Slap two pieces of ham on some bread and head out the door. Your stomach, and your wallet, will thank you.
