1. How Much People Spend on buying Lunch
A Burrito at Chipotle costs roughly $9 excluding taxes, guac, and a drink. Assuming, you spent around $15 a day on lunch every day, you would be spending about $75 per week or $300 per month buying lunch. $300 per month on lunch is quite sizable to many given that it is the equivalent of making monthly car payments for a brand new 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer. Although, I wouldn’t suggest buying a new car, an extra $300 a month can mean more money you can put aside for your kid’s fund, retirement, or even a long overdue vacation. Packing your lunch everyday can be a tedious task, but it can make a positive long term financial impact
2. Why People Don’t make Lunch
Most people don’t make lunch largely for two reasons, either they don’t have time or don’t know how to make lunch. I would argue that several people do have time, but don’t want to make time. Every week, if you have an iphone or even a smart phone, your device tells you how much screen time you’ve had and if you have seen recurring notification of you spending more than 2 hours a week on your phone, you’ve got plenty of time to make at least one meal for your work day. In the contrary, if you make $100 an hour and it takes you an hour to make lunch, then it makes the most sense to buy lunch to save time. However, if you are making $15 an hour and spending $15 for lunch, then it may be worth packing lunch. Cooking to some can be very intimidating, but with a little bit of guidance from youtube or even starting off with simple recipes can be your first steps in your journey to improved culinary skills.
3. Save Time Making Lunch
Depending on how much and what you eat usually determines how long it takes preparing your food. For example, a salad is undoubtedly faster to make than a beef wellington. If your pressed on time, making simple dishes like pasta or salad can both save you time and money as opposed to trying to make a pot roast. As you start making simple lunches repetitively, perhaps the time it takes for you to prepare becomes shorter or you may even want to try more complex meals. Nevertheless, I’d recommend making at least one lunch per week and eventually growing confident enough to make lunch every day.
Assuming you have some culinary ability, you can bulk meal prep which entail preparing several meals or components of a meal all at once. Usually I’d spend Sunday night preparing all my meals for the week and it would take me roughly 2 hours to prepare 5 meals. Using an oven or an air fryer would definitely help allow you to bulk prep, but for those that don’t like the idea of eating the same thing for several days straight, then you can at least prepare ingredients over the weekend to be cooked during the week.
Overall, packing lunch can make a humble impact to your financial goals. Although, it may not make sense for everyone, it still is one of the most convenient ways to save money. If saving $300 per month is not motivating enough then I’d look at preparing lunch as a life skill or perhaps a way to achieve some of your fitness goals. I personally still make and pack lunch and it’s more self-fulfilling than it is a saving strategy.
