The Frugal Lifestyle

[Diva]

I found this really neat website......stumbled onto it, actually!

Lots of good information! Hope You find it useful as well!


http://www.stretcher.com/index.cfm

[Medusa]

Anyone bring their lunches to work?

I once added up the cost of a Starbucks every morning and an out-lunch every day and it was pretty embarrassing to spend that amount of money on food and beverage.

Jack and I went to the store last week and got all kinds of fancy lunchmeat, lettuce, fancy bread and cheese, and good sandwich spread so we can have lunches at work that we actually look forward to.
Yanno, it kinda sucks to eat a crappy peanut butter and jelly on cheap-ass bread.

Today, I found a Marie Callendar pot pie in the back of the freezer. Its a parmesean chicken one and so far is pretty good

Tell me your ideas on saving money on food and drink at work!

[Diva]

I'm on this quest now to see just how long I can go between visits to the grocery store. Today, I have to go as my daughter will be here tomorrow and so I have to break my streak, I guess!

But it made me realize just how much I DON'T really need. So when I run out of bread, I go to crackers. Tuna salad tastes just as good on a cracker as it does on whole wheat.

[SassyLeo]

I spend about $150 (sometimes up to $200) per month on groceries. I make most lunches and dinners at home and eat out maybe 1 time per week- Usually Sunday breakfast with Erin. I buy things that can make different kinds of meals.

For instance: I buy several boxes of Israeli Couscous (YUM) or a 5 grain mix that Trader Joe's sells, which I make with chicken broth. Sometimes I will use it for a side dish with chicken or pork chops... just add some veggies. Also I make a cold salad with it for lunches.

I never eat out for lunch at work. The rare occasion is a group/team lunch thing we do like 6 or 8 times per year.

And I rarely buy coffee at work. I either make it at home or drink tea.

Lunch would normally cost about $7-8 per day. Coffee around $3. So that comes to $140 for food and $60 for coffee. $200 on lunch alone!

Ask June ... I'm a thrifty shopper.

[Chancie]

Pete installed an under the counter coffee maker in my little kitchen, and I have basically stopped buying coffee on the way to work. Then I bought a very beautiful water bottle and I stopped buying bottled water.

Oh, if only I had room for a freezer.

[Nattih]

I want the savy-cents couponer wallet. It's a pretty patent leather wallet, that has the accordion file for coupons and space for your regular wallet needs. I wish it wasn't $30 all together because that's not being too frugal

[freyja]

i find it very easy to not eat out at lunch.
Thank goodness for the good skills my mother instilled in us kids.
i have a delightful purple lunch carrying case that goes with me to work and on weekends.
i make sure to pack it if i know i will be out past meal time (say Saturday morning errands that might run longer than expected).

i keep water, a drinkin box, homemade banana bread and sometimes cheese and crackers as stand by snacks to keep me okay til i get home to real food.
First, the thought of eating garbage at a drive thru place (pick any of them) does not do my health any good. Second, it's expensive!

i keep my coffee shop spending to a minimum, perhaps twice a week, sometimes not at all.

It's not hard at all once you get into the habit of it.

[Andrea]

I take my breakfast and lunch to work every day. I am just not ready to eat breakfast before I leave for work and if I eat too early, I am hungry before lunch.

I like non-breakfast type stuff for breakfast so during the colder months Rene will make me a pot of pinto beans and a pot of bulgar wheat, which I combine with a dollop of smart butter. In the warmer months, I take rice milk and fruit, and add cereal from the box I keep at work.

Lunch is usually leftovers from dinner then night before. I make up a bowl as I clean up the kitchen so it is all ready when I pack my lunchbox in the morning.

I also take snacks such as an apple, cut up celery or pita bread and hummus, almonds, yogurt, etc., so I don't hit the junk food machines.

There is an 8 pack of diet Pepsi in the office fridge. I actually sell more than I drink, but it pays for the soda.

I used to treat myself to designer coffees now and then but there isn't any place near the building I am working in now so Rene bought me a one cup coffee maker for my desk and I love it. The Brita water filter pitcher saves me from buying bottled water too.

I get all squeamish when I think about putting my food in the smelly office fridge so I carry an ice pack in an insulated lunchbox (the soda doesn't bother me).

Andrea

[Bit]

I make lunch for Gryph and pack it along with a couple of drinks in his backpack for work. He prefers his Gatorade watered down a little, and his tea boiled strong; also takes a cup of coffee to work with him. The Gatorade is $1.50 a day at work and I only pay at most $2 for a week's worth at the grocery store, so there's $5.50 a week right there.

Days when I just cannot get it together enough to cook in time, he spends anywhere from $5 to $8 on lunch, so I make a pretty big effort to cook ahead and make sure there's always something lunch-worthy in the fridge. I normally get three lunches out of $4 worth of ingredients, so a conservative estimate would be that we spend $8 a week and that saves us approximately $17 a week--or more.
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A very kind soul *kisses to you!* sent me a gift card to Dollar General and I got a ride over there today. Wow, I found Crest Prohealth in the big tube for a dollar less than the grocery store and it came with a freebie sample of the rinse. I also got Glucosamine Chondroiten--Gryph says it really does make a difference with his knees--for half price. Then I found some hair squinchies for me (mine have finally all given up the elastic ghost) and some eeensy rubber bands for his braids (he wears braids to honor his Native American heritage) for a dollar apiece!! It was great!
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So, Gryph and I splurged and had a fast food dinner the other evening. I would tell you it was our anniversary dinner, but lol!! We FORGOT!!! (can we count it in retrospect?) Ah well. Anyhow, I asked to go out because we needed to talk away from distractions, interruptions, and tension. It was kinda hard to get the conversation started... how strange to have an attack of shyness after being together for three years, eh? and over such a prosaic and mundane topic, too.

We needed to talk about money.

Gryph thought I was nuts. He said we do fine, that he's good with how I handle the budget. I think he was pretty concerned until he realized I just needed input. There were things we hadn't talked about, yanno? So we spent a couple hours talking about the priorities of life.

What sparked it might seem silly or even inconsequential to others. Two magazines are up for renewal. They're more expensive than most of our magazines--and they're Native American magazines. So instead of just deciding to let them go, I needed to know what kind of priority they have in his life, whether the content makes a difference (yep, it sure does!). That led us to a discussion about what's important and in which ways.

I discovered things which surprised me, like a museum membership would be a really bad birthday gift because he really doesn't care about museums (what threw me on that one was the one N.A. magazine, since it's from the National Museum of the American Indian)... but on the other hand, he wants to decorate That House to be respectful of the Craftsman era, so if I find copper Craftsman-style lamps or mailboxes or furniture that we can afford, I should get them. And while landscaping the yard is a low priority for him, making me happy is a high priority, so it's okay with him if I spend money on a food garden even when the budget is squeaking. (He wins, I bought a raspberry vine today!)

Anyhow it was an interesting discussion, as much for the things we forgot to talk about as for all the things we did talk about. We started with a given: That House must be repaired, and all the bills must be paid. After that we ranked things low, medium, and high priority in terms of spending money--there were a few things that are high priority in terms of time and energy that are medium or even low in terms of money--and while we talked about ways to improve our lives, we completely forgot to talk about things like a new computer or cell phone service.

Like I said, it was interesting! And now I have a much clearer idea where our money should go, and what is most important in our lives.

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by Medusa

Anyone bring their lunches to work?

I once added up the cost of a Starbucks every morning and an out-lunch every day and it was pretty embarrassing to spend that amount of money on food and beverage.

Jack and I went to the store last week and got all kinds of fancy lunchmeat, lettuce, fancy bread and cheese, and good sandwich spread so we can have lunches at work that we actually look forward to.
Yanno, it kinda sucks to eat a crappy peanut butter and jelly on cheap-ass bread.

Today, I found a Marie Callendar pot pie in the back of the freezer. Its a parmesean chicken one and so far is pretty good

Tell me your ideas on saving money on food and drink at work!

Yup. I do bring my lunch/dinner/snack to work. Every once in a while I will give in and call a local pie place and get one of their medium sized $5 pizzas (that's $5 even, tax included). It always looks like I'm moving in because I'll bring a big recyclable bag (the kind you can reuse to shop in) full of things I could eat. I bring different options so I'm less likely to say "I don't want that, lemme call that Chinese place or whatever".

As far as TV dinners go, I wait until the Lean Cuisine Spa Entrees are on sale for $1.88 (the magic price) a piece and then I hit Albertson's with a stack of coupons and their store "double" off coupons (up to a dollar for each coupon), so I've been able to get about 15 of those suckers at a time for less than 80 cents a piece. Not only do they give me yummy dishes like Pumpkin Ravioli but (with the exception of a higher sodium content) are very healthy. I mix them with my homemade meals like navy bean and onion soup and the more 'lunchy' type foods (sandwiches) and the fruit I pick up at my food bank (I had my first apple pear from there!) and those 15 will last me a month.