How I reduced food expenses by 30% by bringing food to work

For the past few weeks, I’ve started packing lunches to work. There were quite a few reasons for me to do this. My office area only has a few reasonably-priced lunch and I don’t fancy myself dining in restaurants that often. It is also for health reasons as home cooked meals are definitely much more nourishing and healthy compared to food sold in food courts.

Here are some examples of the meals that I’ve packed lunches to work so far. I’ve included the Mickey Price (M.P) of cooking the meal myself along with the Usual Price (U.P) of eating the same meal in food courts.

Roasted chicken drumstick with side salad (M.P: $4.91, U.P: $6.00)

• Romaine lettuce ($0.98)
• Bell peppers ($0.32)
• Sesame dressing ($0.82)
• Mushrooms ($0.65)
• Dried olives ($0.98)
• Chicken drumstick with thigh ($1.16)

Chicken salad with sesame dressing (M.P: $5.10, U.P: $6.00)

• Romaine lettuce ($0.98)
• Bell peppers ($0.32)
• Sesame dressing ($0.82)
• Mushrooms ($0.65)
• Dried olives ($0.98)
• Chicken breast meat($1.16)
• Egg ($0.19)

Aglio Olio with chicken wings (M.P: $3.77, U.P: $6.00)

• Spaghetti noodles ($0.48)
• Bell peppers ($0.32)
• Carrots ($0.18)
• Mushrooms ($0.65)
• Dried olives ($0.98)
• Chicken wings ($1.16)

Chicken soup (M.P: $2.67, U.P: $5.00)

• Homemade chicken stock (free)
• Chicken breast meat ($1.16)
• Carrots ($0.36)
• Onions ($0.14)
• Mushrooms ($0.65)
• Frozen corn and peas ($0.36)

Japanese curry with chicken drumstick and chapati (M.P: $3.69, U.P: $5.50)

• Japanese curry roux ($0.69)
• Chicken drumstick ($1.16)
• Carrots ($0.36)
• Potato ($0.24)
• Mushrooms ($0.65)
• Onions ($0.14)
• Chapati ($0.45)

From a budget perspective, packing lunches for work definitely helps to reduce my monthly expenses. Using the meals above as an example for a 5-day work week lunch shows a 30% reduction in lunch expenses.

I’m pretty sure that I can reduce my lunch expenses further with ingredients that costs lower. For example, I would use a store-bought roasted chicken, cut them into various pieces and keep them in the fridge for later use. The bones would be used to make homemade chicken stock which would then be cooked into delicious soup.

Do you pack lunches for work too? I would love to hear what delicious food do you bring to your office.