Tip: Splurge a little

Being cheap is hard work! You deserve a reward every once in a while.

Something catch your eye on the shelf? Go ahead an get it but watch yourself and try to make it up in other savings that trip. For example, if I decide I want to upgrade my breakfast to some Toaster Strudels (on sale, $2) I can make up part of the difference by getting 6 burritos for 2/day ($0.33 each).

Another way you can justify getting something you want is by planning for future meals. One time I already chose around 8 lunches but then a box of corn dogs made me drool. So I got them. Altogether the 8 corndogs cost about $4 and eating 2/day will average out to $1/day. And now I have less meals to get on my next trip.

Save you extra $$$. If you happen to spend less than your budget, save it for the future. You might be able to get yourself something special next time or even have enough to eat out. Now that is thrity! You can also save your change from other purchases or that you find on the ground. At $2/day you can get yourself a meal pretty quickly.

Tip: Drink Up! (cheaply)

Don't give that chilling robot another one of your hard earned dollars! There are much cheaper ways to satisfy your thirst than the vending machine.

Don't pay for convenience:
Vending machines are easy and chances are the boss won't let you take a break to grab something from your home fridge. So be prepared and bring a drink to work with you. A can of soda from the vending machine will run you from $0.50 to $0.75 where as if you bought a 12 pack for $3 (what I look for) each can is $0.25.  That's a 50%-66% savings! Also don't be fooled by those sodas in the front of the store, they'll cost you >$1.25 for only 0.5 liters (16.9 oz). If you plan ahead when you are do your shopping, grab a 2 liter and put it in the cooler or frozen aisle while you shop. For < $1.25 you'll get 4 times the soda so you can enjoy your refreshing savings later.

Don't pay for pre-made:
You can save yourself a good chunk of change if you make your own juice or lemonade from concentrate or powder. Bring your own jug to work! For $2 at Walmart I can get 12 quarts of drink mix (generic Crystal Lite). For $2 in the juice aisle I can get about 4 quarts. You might have the best luck with the large canisters of tea, lemonade, and punch mix which are like 32 quarts for $4. Look in the tea aisle or in the drink mix aisle. With flavors like "Strawberry, Orange, Banana" and "Iced Tea with Peach" one package will keep my thirst at bay until I get sick of the flavor and switch to another one. Besides, with almost to no calories it will do a favor to your waistline compared with soda.

Don't pay for names:
Go to the store and purchase your favorite type of soda made by Pepsi, Coke, and the store brand.  Have a blind taste test with your friends to see if you notice a difference.  If you don't (or don't care about the difference) just buy the cheap stuff. If you have guests you might want to buy the name brand as to not offend them but even then unless they are fanatical about Coke v. Pepsi get the one on sale. Generic brands also might have other surprising flavors. I like the raspberry soda from Walmart.

Don't pay for anything:
I'm fairly certain the Department of Labor would fine or arrest your employer if they did not provide you with a source of water. It's free and hydrating. Please don't buy bottled water, it's a waste of money and plastic. Pitch in with your co-workers to get a tap or jug filter.  Purchasing one yourself would pay for itself very quickly. If bottled water was $1 and Walmart sells a filtered jug for $20 and you drank 1 bottle per day, it would take you one working month to pay for itself. And you could drink more water.

My method:
Every month the refrigerator gets cleaned out of all food. During the shopping trip the next week I always buy a gallon of Arizona Iced Tea. Not only will the drink last me for at least a week, the jug it comes in is sturdy and reusable.  When my iced tea is gone I always have the store brand Crystal Lite on hand to make something to drink. Full strength is too much for me to handle so I usually use one 2-qt powder mix in the full gallon container of water. You might want to try it if you are looking to double the value of your dollar and you might not notice a difference. Each gallon lasts me about a week.  I try to keep two flavors of drink mix so I have a choice when my gallon runs out. Pick up a few flavors if you have a couple extra dollars. Also, I like to take my jug home before clean-out day so I can reuse it at home or recycle it. Reuse your container or buy a dedicated container.

Challenge: Eat for a Week

I've been able to eat well off my previous challenges so this time all I need is a single weeks worth of food.  To make it more interesting lets throw in breakfast.

The Challenge: 5 days - $10

Tip: The most important meal of the day

My mother made me eat breakfast everyday. Everyday! Even if I didn't want to. Now I know she had some good advice.

If you eat dinner at 7PM and only eat lunch at 12PM, that is 17 hours without food! When a baby is born we feed them every 2 hours, slowly increasing that time. How did we grow up to not eat for 2/3rds of the day?

When you eat breakfast in the morning your body is less likely to be hungry. When I didn't eat breakfast I would sit for hours of misery until noon when I would have lunch. Also, your blood sugar levels are affected for not eating for that long and you tend to want to eat more (which is more $$$). You can easily come up with a regiment of breakfasts that cost about $5 per week.

Here are some tips for finding a good breakfast:

• Poptarts (generic at Walmart are 4 pairs for $1.50)
• Cereal (generic box is $2-3 and will last you about a week)
• Toast (quick, easy, $1 per loaf is good for a week)
• Donuts (probably not the healthiest but at my grocery store after 8PM I get mine $3 per dozen)
• Oatmeal ($2-3 per box of 10, get the variety pack to mix it up a little)
• Eggs ($2 per dozen, fry them up quick)

Most of these are good for work. Bring a bowl or buy a special egg cooker to go in the microwave.

Mayo Clinic
WebMD

Now you have no excuse!

I just read a great article at Mint.com (the same people who make the online finance tracking website). If you are reluctant about bringing your lunch to work or just need some help over coming some challenges, this should help you out.

The No Excuses Take Your Lunch To Work Guide

Receipt: $40 / month

Well that completes a month.

This trip came to $20.02 and I managed to get 13 meals, 12 snacks, 12 desserts, and 12 quarts of drink mix. As a bonus I splurged and got "Puffcorn" (a Cheetos/popcorn hybrid), and 2 candy bars. That exceeds my goals assuming I looked around in the parking lot for loose change.

If you've been paying attention, that comes to a total of $38.64 for 24 meals, snacks and desserts including something to drink. That is $1.61/day. At most there are 23 business days in a month so I've beaten my $40/month goal! If you spent $8 at lunch you would have spent $192 over the same time period or even just $5 you would have spent $120. You're welcome. Feel free to send the extra $80 my way :-).

Receipt:
Date: 7/16/2010
Store: Wal-mart Super Center

Great Value Drink Mix - Cherry Limeade 12 quart: $1.98 [Lol the receipt even says "CHRYLM" meaning Crystal Lite Mix]
Maruchan Instant Lunch - Cheddar Cheese: $0.28 [Let me get off to a good start again and I really like the cheddar lunch]
Maruchan Instant Lunch - Spicy Chicken: $0.28 [I want spicy but I know this will be too hot]
Maruchan Instant Lunch - Roast Chicken: $0.28 [3 * $0.28 ~~ $1]
Kit Kat Trial Size 8 pack: $1 [Still on sale, these worked great last time]
M&M Trial Size 8 pack: $1
Twix Trial Size 8 pack: $1 [Hmm, maybe I can make it 12 snacks & desserts and 13 meals to equal a total of 24 this month]
Great Value Crackers - Grilled Cheese: $1.98 [Wanted to try these last time, all we need now are dinners]
Banquet Dinner - Mac & Cheese: $0.88 [Looked tasty]
Banquet Dinner - Chicken Nuggets: $0.88 [Had a craving for these]
Lean Pocket - White Chicken Pizza: $2 [These were very good]
Hot Pocket - Buffalo Chicken SideShot: $2 [Craving wings sauce]
Jose Ole Burritos - Beef, Bean and Green Chilies: $2.98 [8 in a package, 2 per day]
Chester's Puffcorn: $2 [Extra cash, let me splurge]
Whoppers: $0.50 [Splurge]
Reese’s: $0.50 [Splurge]

Subtotal: $19.54
Taxes: $0.48 [stupid 8% tax on candy and drinks]
Total: $20.02 [if this was Price is Right I would have won if I said my showcase was $20]

Receipt Photo:
Some of you probably don't like my stream-of-consciousness commentary so here is just a picture of my receipt

Food Photo:

Challenge: $40 / month

Alright, tomorrow is another shopping day. This time we will round out the month for a total of $40. We started on the 30th so we will end on the 29th and take into consideration the extra meals I purchased last time.

The Challenge: 11 days - $20 total. 7/16-7/29.
This time I only need to purchase 10 meals (11 were purchased last time) and 9 snacks & desserts (12 were purchased last time). We'll also need some more drink mix. No breakfast yet.