Great 'Best credit crunch work lunch' Hunt: What to make or buy on the cheap.

If you go to Tesco (or other supermarkets), get reduced sandwiches and salads, keep in the fridge and eat the next day, they're fine; I had a £2.80 pasta salad for 20p the other day, and a triple pack of sandwiches for 25p.

I also deliberately cook too much food sometimes, divide it into portions and freeze/refridgerate it and take it to work and nuke it in the microwave. Examples are lasagne, spaghetti bolognese, casserole/stew/Scouse, soups. If you're cooking pasta, you can cook too much and then use it cold in a pasta salad.

Make a batch of soup x 2. Use whatever you have at home to make a soup with eg stock (cube or HM), veg, left over meat, pearl barley, pasta or rice, old bacon in the fridge. Portion up into 5 or 6 servings. Leave one in the fridge for the next day's lunch and freeze the rest. Take one out the night before, defrost overnight in the fridge and take to work the next day.

I then repeat with another soup version eg leek and potato (any old manky ones are fine) or potato and carrot. Do the same and that is 10 days lunches for just a few pence.

Use microwave at work to reheat (if you are lucky enough to have one), otherwise heat up before work and take in flask.

Intersperse with leftovers from last night's meal if you don't fancy soup everyday.

Works spot on for me and has stopped me spending any money at the massive Mr T's I work next to

Egg sarnies are a staple in this house - good, quality, cheap protein. Boil, mash & mix with salad cream. Either make sarnies with or take a pot of egg mix to work with a pack of crackers/biscuits/pitta breads.

Also, make a fritatta or pastryless quiche. Great way to use up ends of cheese & old veggies or leftovers - just mix with beaten eggs & a splash of milk and bake in a pie dish or similar.

We do have chooks so eat a lot of eggs but a big box at the supermarkets is way cheaper per kilo than cooked meat/cheese.

packed lunches can be as expensive or inexpensive as your budget dictates or you want them to be. Like Flickering Amber I also do end of day reduction shopping and sometimes this enables pack ups to contain really lush expensive things depending on what you happen on

I regularly buy cooked meats which I freeze and use for pack ups, if I am able to buy a larger pack I buy a fresh loaf or rolls and make and freeze and use as and when required. OH had roast beef and horseradish rolls today made from a large pack which should have been £5 something which I picked up for 20p , I also regularly buy reduced cakes for pack ups, if I dont get to do any reduced shopping I batch cook cakes, slice and freeze. I wouldnt think OH's pack up ever costs more than about 30p tops, plus there is always enough in there for 2 easily ..... he often shares if there are any comments on what he has compared to what they have got :rotfl:

I have a friend who spends £20 plus each week on her OH's pack up and it doesnt consist of a lot at all

My son does an evening/night shift 4 nights a week and he takes something he can microwave , usually whatever we have had the night before , stir fry,curry,jacket potatoes etc [ this isnt costing extra as it is what he would have eaten when he got home if he had worked a day shift] he also has two other snackie type meals a day, something on toast when he gets up about 1 and a sarnie , soup or pot noodle when he gets back from work at 3 in the morning

my biggest expense isnt the daily pack ups, it is the weekends when we dont have pack ups

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mcallister1 wrote: »

For kids packed lunches-after all we adults never eat cakes or have drinks at lunch:o check out www.approvedfood.co.uk. Last week I got 30 Fabulous baking Boys cakes- in date- for £1. Also 24 Hib drinks for £1.:beer: and a box of ryvita crisp typw things for £1. Most of the food is past its use by date but has no sell by date, or is slightly mishapen ( e.g. the cakes)
The postage is £5 for up to 28kg. There's loads of great moneysaving potential there.
The site is closed until Thursday, although I think you can still order but there is new stuff which has not gone onto it yet. There's lots of discussion of what the stuff is like and how to order on the Shop but don't drop board here-http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1282695&page=18

thats a great find :T