Photo Credit: Ramit Sethi

I got my first tip on Ramit’s Save $1,000 in 30 Days Challenge. The tip is to pack lunches for the rest of the week. Really? Um,ok. I was a bit surprised at first with the title, but after readig the post through, it makes sense to stat off with this tip. 

I don’t eat out for lunch everyday. If I do, it’s to socialize with some others. I also try to keep it $5 or under. My favorite lunch? Panera’s bowl of broccoli and cheddar soup with some bread and a cup of water. It’s $3.98 and it fills me up pretty well. 

I written about some quick and easy recipes that can be used as brown bag lunches the next day like pizza, nachos, chili, and stew. My husband tends to do sandwiches for his brownbag lunches. 

Eating out isn’t the problem, but eating out without a ballpark figure can take a chunk out of your budget.

I noticed from the 30 or so comments left on the post  that many are already doing this regularly. Good for them. It’s nice to see that some people are saving money as a habit and not a knee jerk reaction to the recent economic conditions. They’re more likely to stay on the course. 

I really liked some tips given by the readers:

• Susan : Save lunch-sized paper sacks when you get them (Chipotle has nice thick ones — I use them over and over).
• Mike: When you shop at the store, be sure to buy the munchies you might normally get from the snack machine at work. 

Today’s tip showed how beneficial this series can be. Even though many reader have already started doing this, spreading some tips amongst each other gives incentives to continue. Sure, I’ll only save about $16 this week, but the reader feedback helps a lot. Susan and Mike’s tips, for example, can help me to recycle, get healthier food options, and save some money.

Check out the rest of the brown bag post!

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