Daily breakfast and lunch money - How to cut down?

[Deleted User]

Hi, everyone.

Sorry if this one seems like I'm being particularly difficult, I'm not, but would like your suggestions on the following.

On average, I figure there are appx 22 working days per month.
I don't eat breakfast at home because if I eat that early I feel sick, I simply can't face it, even though I've tried to force myself. I also don't eat cereal as I don't like the texture.
This means that every work day I end up at either a supermarket or somewhere like Greggs to buy my breakfast and lunch. I live in London zone 4 and my contracts tend to be in London zones 1 or 2, to which I take public transport (current travelcard £21 per week).

My typical daily eat is a sandwich for breakfast (anywhere between 99p and £2), something similar for lunch (from £2 to £3), a 500ml orange juice or similar but occasionally fall to a soft drink (from 60p to £1.50).

I don't eat that much food per day and am sad to say tempted by Subway too probably once or twice a fortnight (at £5 a bash or £4 for sub of the day as, if you pardon the expression, a 6 inch is never enough), so clearly I am spending a lot of money on breakfast and lunch. I work out that 22 x £6 (say) is £132 and I would like to not be spending this on breakfast and lunch, as it could go towards outstanding debts or actually having a life. Therefore, I would like to attempt to half this.

Problem: I have tried to make my own and take it with me, but it only results in me eating what I've made and still being hungry, so I end up spending money anyway. If I try making more, I spend more and also end up running out of ideas when I'm buying things to do for lunch and getting fed up with it and not bothering.

So is there a cheaper way to eat breakfast and lunch without it getting boring and without having to do it myself?

PasturesNew

Breakfast: a banana, or get a small tin of fruit with a ring pull from the supermarket during your shopping. Bananas travel well and are good for you. Also, bananas activate the brain (they're good if you are going into an exam).

Lunch: Same as breakfast and/or make your own sandwiches... for starters, cheat by buying a couple of pots of sandwich filler from a supermarket. A Tesco value wholemeal loaf is 38p and 2 pots of sandwich filler are £2.50 for 2. So £3 would give you enough bread/filling for 8 sandwiches (I get 4 sandwiches out of each pot without skimping).

Hope that helps.

You don't have to totally go OTT at first, take the easier routes of convenience food so you can be bothered. You can always take it to the next level and make your own sandwich fillings next month!

McKneff

In a word, no.

Keep making your own, but make more.
Buy unsliced bread, its more filling.
Is it really just an excuse and youre just being lazy when it comes to making your own, come on now, be honest.
You can get lots of ideas for breakfasts/lunches if you ask on here, on the right board.

[Deleted User]

McKneff wrote: »

Is it really just an excuse and youre just being lazy when it comes to making your own, come on now, be honest.

Oh yes, absolutely. I would have to make things the night before because I'm not a morning person and don't like facing the people I live with in the morning either because every little thing they do gets on my nerves (for example, one housemate piles all her unwashed stuff into the sink in the morning, fills the sink, then !!!!!!s off to work, meaning if I want to use it I have to take it all back out again) and currently moving house isn't an option because my job situation is unstable and I can't afford to sign up to a lease if I go jobless for months on end like I did last year.
I am being a bit lazy, so sandwich fillings are probably the best idea, or perhaps a few packs of ready made bits of chicken or something, my supermarket has them on 2 for 1 at the moment. At least that would cut me down to a few quid over a week instead of over 20, and probably can allow myself under £1 a day for extras like the odd pack of crisps (which I can multipack to save) and a drink or two.
Thanks to both of you for confirming that no, there isn't another way and that, yes, I am being lazy about it. I have prodded the relevant buttons.
Money saving does not come easy, eh?
My current debt is £7895, I have the spreadsheet on the go with a graph to look at the hopefully downward trend, and I'm very glad none of my 6 are over 18% interest, so I consider myself much luckier and in a lot less mess than many on this site.

chardonnay_2

there are loads of threads on the old style board about packed lunches, you'll get some great ideas there.

does your work have a microwave? if so you could make extra for dinner and take in the leftovers to work the next day.

AndyInYorks

Here are a few things to try:

For breakfast, as has already been suggested, Bananas are great. I always take a Banana to work in a morning and that usually sees me through to lunchtimetYou can buy a bag of about 8 Basisc bananas from Sainsburys for just over a pound, and they're fair trade too.

For lunch, I find breadcakes (or rolls if you're southern!) more filling than bread. You can buy large ones and one of those fills me up. If you have a freezer this can help keep them fresh. If you are still hungry, look for Sausage Rolls/Pork Pies etc on special offer.

As well as sandwich fillers look what cooked meats, cheeses etc are on special offer. Try and get a few smaller packs of different things for variety, otherwise by Thursday you'll be sick of ham! Pasta's also really filling, can be eaten hot or cold. So if you make pasta for dinner, cook some extra for lunch the next day.

For all your crisps/chocolate bars/soft drinks, these are much cheaper bought in multi-packs at the supermarket.

On the DFW board they talk about keeping spending diaries. I think this would be a good idea - write down how much you spend exactly every day for a week. I bet it's even more than you estimated.

PS - I have a colleague who makes all his sandwiches for the week on Sunday, wraps them all in cling film and freezes them. By lunchtime on the day in question, they've defrosted! That's taking being organised to a new level though.

[Deleted User]

chardonnay wrote: »

does your work have a microwave? if so you could make extra for dinner and take in the leftovers to work the next day.

I have considered this when I'm at places that do, but I see it slightly more economical to save it for next day's dinner instead.

AndyInYorks: Spending diary is exactly the reason I'm at this point. It's not pretty. I have just recently done my debt end spreadsheet and a spending diary was one of the factors.

I will, as suggested, tomorrow lunchtime go off up to the supermarket near work and grab some 2 for 1s jar fillings, ready made chicken, cheese, etc., and make my next day food the night before. And bananas, good idea as they're filling, I may need 2 a morning though as I've found eating fruit for breakfast has me ready for eating again around 11.
Will keep a record of how much it costs over the week including any straying and post back with results.

Thanks.

shopndrop

AndyInYorks wrote: »

I have a colleague who makes all his sandwiches for the week on Sunday, wraps them all in cling film and freezes them. By lunchtime on the day in question, they've defrosted! That's taking being organised to a new level though.

I agree with freezing ahead if you have room. I used to always make sandwiches for the week ahead for hubby and myself at the weekend and freeze them and that was nearly 30 years ago when we first got a chest freezer and I had loads of room. I used to wrap them in small freezer sandwich bags. I wasn't a morning person back then.

I am more organised now in the mornings so just make them fresh each morning.

Swan_2

LINK to the Old Style Forum index, scroll down for the lunches section, you should get lots more ideas there

HTH

[Deleted User]

Righto.
Just got back from Somerfield which is probably fairly expensive, but as my local supermarket has shut down and Morrisons hasn't bothered to pull their collective finger out and get on with the rebrand, this is the only option for now.

1 whole roast chickenn which I'm going to pull apart later - £5.72
Somerfield honey roast ham and roast chicken wafer thin 380g each - £5
Prawn coleslaw (good for 2 sandwiches) - £1.20

And I bought a bacon pasta pot for £1.25 for today's lunch and will have to buy a loaf later (80p).
Breakfast was a banana and I have 3 remaining (85p the 4) if I get hungry later, although after half a banana I nearly fell asleep, which I'm sure isn't meant to happen.

Haven't spent any money on drinks or extras so far today.

Was going to get a pot of egg mayonnaise too but it's far cheaper and nicer to make it and I've got 4 spare eggs at home so I'll be doing that later.

Total spend so far this week on breakfast and lunch: £14.82

andrewmp

Deleted_User wrote: »

Total spend so far this week on breakfast and lunch: £14.82

I spend about £5.00