How to Save on Lunch at Your First Job
As a recent college graduate, getting started on your first “real job” trying to plan your expenses can be tricky. College expenses are less expensive for most people than after graduation, making it easy to fall off the train and end up spending more money than you’d expect.
I was doing an internship in New York this summer and knew my lifestyle was about to change. And I did it – from including a meal plan in my training to spending $ 12 on one salad – I had to quickly adjust my budget. Changing your eating habits is definitely more difficult than I expected, and I am still trying to figure it out. But after a couple of weeks of adapting to this new life, I learned a few tricks to save money on weekday dinners.
Pack your dinners
The most obvious and tried-and-true money-saving strategy is of course to pack your lunch. You won’t be the only one, trust me. You can cook it the night before (by making a double portion of dinner so you have leftovers the next day), or you can follow the cooking route and prepare your lunch ahead of time on Sunday so you don’t have to do it all day. week. (And we’ve got plenty of tips on cooking and savings products to get you started.) However, if you decide that this alternative is not for you, because you are either too lazy or a bad cook, there are other options.
Set a daily budget
While it’s easy to spend $ 15 on a salad – I’m talking $ 15 because of the extra $ 2 for an avocado – one way to mitigate the problem is to set a limit for yourself. I try to limit myself to $ 7 a day for food, and when I do, I don’t spend money on dinner or other activities. Instead of spending money on an overpriced salad, I opt for things like pizza slices, delicacies, soups, tacos, and egg sandwiches. Walking around my area and with a lot of Yelp support, I was able to find available locations using the price range search feature. For example, the Corner Cafe in Union Square offers sandwiches for under $ 6. You can also buy two slices of pizza at Big Slice NYC for under $ 8. I recently had lunch at Bite when I found it on Yelp and bought a large homemade soup for $ 5.50. Yelp is a good tool to help you find “cheap ” locations by comparing options to suit your budget. See what surrounds your office and try to find the best deals. Keep in mind that prices will vary from one city to another, so make sure your budget is realistic (New York is expensive, so I’m planning more than, say, Minneapolis).
Decision 50/50
If you’re like me and get tired of food quickly, consider what I call a 50/50 solution. Alternate your lunch wrapping and restaurant food every day. You can also buy a small snack for up to $ 3, such as almonds or salted peanuts, or bring one from home in lieu of a full meal, which will cost you more. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, protein shakes, oatmeal, or even vegetable hummus can all be good meal replacements. You will save money and get rid of the boredom of old ready-made meals. (Although I would recommend keeping the same budget that you set for yourself, whichever balance of options you choose.)
Store leftover food to go
Restaurant portions are usually larger than they should be, and when I can, I save leftovers for dinner to use as lunch the next day. This stretches the money I spent on lunch over two meals, and also saves time I would spend preparing a meal. Even if you don’t have enough food for a full meal, you can still cook something. Use small leftover ingredients such as vegetables to finish off your meal. For example, turn a plain omelet into a veggie omelet or plain rice into a vegetable fried rice. Prepare leftovers according to what works best for your diet for a healthy and satisfying meal.
Look for food delivery services for deals
GrubHub, Seamless, or UberEats are common and convenient, but if you tend to place orders, you should consider mixing the two. You should keep in mind that ordering food is still not a cost-effective method and probably won’t be your cheapest option as you will have to pay for food and delivery charges, as well as a tip. However, if you are going to do this, you can do it as cheaply as possible.
Most of the time, when you sign up for a new platform, they give you some discount on your first order, or give you X dollars off to download their app. This can be a great way to try new places and save on a few dinners. For example, Giving Assistant has several coupons for GrubHub for June.
Likewise, coupons can sometimes be a convenient way to deliver food and save you money at the same time. Sign up for delivery apps and restaurants to receive all the news, latest promotions and offers. RetailMeNot and Offers.com are two popular websites that will give you great deals and coupons when you order from Postmates , Eats24 , UberEats , Seamless, or GrubHub .
You can also use a service like MealPal , which will provide you with a discount code if you recommend to a friend. It has launched in Chicago, Washington DC, New York, Miami, San Francisco, and Boston. Likewise, take advantage of podcast promo codes to get free months of food from services like Blue Apron , a food subscription that gives you ingredients to cook yourself. Just remember to set a calendar reminder to unsubscribe when your free trial ends .
Making an affordable, healthy, and light dining routine is a long-term process for many people, so don’t berate yourself if you don’t get it right right away, and don’t be afraid to experiment with different options.
And if you’ve found your own methods to eat well without wasting your weekly budget on bad salads, let us know in the comments.