Make Your Own Lunch: Financial and Health Benefits

I find that lunch can be a right old pain in the backside when you’re working full-time. I work in central London, which like any city may have lots of variety, but if you want quality and healthy food you often need a small mortgage to fund it. The cheapest ‘buy out’ option is the sandwich from chains that won’t be named, chock-full of mayonnaise, salt and often questionable ingredients, not matter how ‘freshly prepared’ they claim to be. Or from the canteen, if you are lucky enough to have one and it be subsidised but then knowing what I know about large-scale catering, the quality of the ingredients is not going to be as high up the priority list as profits.

This brings me to the make-your-own point. I’m a huge fan of packed lunches. Once I got over the stigma of it, that is. It was only when I was working full-time in the music industry for minus £3 per hour that I realised that the only way to remove myself from sliding deeper into the red and drowning in my overdraft was to think about ways to keep my money in my pocket for longer than five seconds. The result was the packed lunch.

Your Challenge:

• Take a note of everything you buy in a working day from the minute you step out of the door until you walk back in.
• How could you make alterations to your current habits that could curtail some of that spending?

If you think more smartly about your eating habits and options then you can save loads and for some it can be a lifeline, where you were in the red two weeks into the month, you may be able to keep yourself happily in the black until pay-day and sshhh, don’t say it too loudly, but you might even be able to save a little.

some ideas to get you going:

• Bagged salad: buy it and keep in the fridge, or bring in a small bag every day from home
• Tinned fish: cheap, cheerful and super healthy. Choose mackerel, salmon and sardines for good fats – tuna has all it’s oil removed and has lashing of mercury so best avoided if possible.
• Seeds – add to your salads for that extra crunch and nutrition
• Balsamic, olive oil and lemons – perfect for dressings, they can be kept in the fridge or buy your desk.
• Leftovers – a brilliant way to keep abreast of your portion sizes at home and have lunch for the next day as well.
• Soups/stews/casseroles – ideally homemade – bring in a thermos which keeps contents warm for most of the day

Essentials:

• Tupperware – let it be your friend. The clickable ones are the best and come in different sizes.
• Fresh black pepper and herb grinders – you can get all sorts of condiment flavourings these days, keep one on your desk or in your draw for that extra seasoning.
• Plate, knife and fork: if you don’t have basic cutlery and crockery at work, get some cheap stuff, it’s amazing how different your meal tastes when eaten in china with a real knife and fork rather than a plastic one.
• Thermos flask – no longer the size of a tank, these sleek beauties keep anything vaguely liquid hot for eight hours.

Watch your bank balance swell:

• Get a money-box: Every time you bring your lunch in, put the equivalent money into a money-box.
• Open a savings account: set-up a standing order with the equivalent of the amount you spend monthly the day after you get paid.
• Give yourself a financial goal: make what you spend your savings on matter – whether it’s a holiday, a new coat or a contribution to the mortgage. Make it something to be proud of.

Remember – if you are in control of what you put in your mouth then you are more likely to eat well. Cheap eats do not have to be bland and unhealthy – quite the contrary, they can be super tasty.

Image by RambergMediaImages