Lunch is another great meal to save money on, and luckily it’s very easy to do so.

The most obvious thing to do is “brown bag” your lunch. However, some items people like to pack could be just a big a drain on the wallet as going out to eat everyday.

1. Avoid expensive lunch meats. These can take a big chunk out of your grocery budget if they’re not bought on sale.
2. Avoid “prepared” meals like frozen dinners. They’re expensive and full of fat, salt and other things you probably don’t want going in your body.
3. Avoid single serving portions of soup. These are usually pretty expensive and full of sodium. Besides which, most people don’t feel full after 1 cup of soup.
4. Avoid canned and bottled drinks. Why pay more for the privilege of individual portions. Bring filtered water in a reusable bottle or pour individual servings out of a larger bottle

So now that I’ve got the “don’t” out of the way, what should you bring?

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Breakfast in the morning is one of the quickest and easiest places to save some money, especially if you are the type who grabs it on the way to work.

If you don’t eat breakfast, you’re doing yourself a serious disfavor. Not only has science proven that it’s easier for breakfast eaters to concentrate, but you’ll be in a better mood because you’re not starving, and it will stop you from wasting money at the vending machines for a sugary treat during your coffee break.

Speaking of coffee, if you are a Starbucks addict. STOP NOW! I’m not saying you don’t deserve a treat every once in awhile, but that $3-5 coffee every weekday could very well be costing you over $1000 over the course of the year. Yikes!

Grabbing a breakfast sandwich and orange juice will also put a serious dent in your wallet (around here it’s been costing my hubby $4 a day!) Breakfast is such an quick and easy meal to prepare; why waste all that money when you don’t have to?

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It’s about time I actually got this place up and running!

This, hopefully, will be the first post in a large archive of helpful hints and tips for being frugal in the city.

As much as I love a lot of the “saving money” blogs around, most of them are focused on suburban married women with kids, living in the middle of nowhere. Nothing wrong with being a suburban mom, but there’s no way you could feed a family of 6 healthful meals for a week on $50 here in Arlington. Even buying store brands, shopping sales and not buying too many treats, hubby and I have trouble staying under $100 (of course, this has a lot to do with his refusal to eat beans and other sources of veggie protein, but I digress.)

So, here’s to what I hope is a long term and enjoyable project.

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