This is the third article in a series called Living La Vida Frugal. The Lunch Edition takes a look at a few things that I did in the past to cut back on my spending.
From primary school straight through to university, I would take lunch with me. In primary school, there was a School Meals programme, which was basically free. The days that I did not take to school lunch, I would have a school meal. In secondary school there was no such programme, so I would take to school my lunch. Occasionally I would buy lunch from the school canteen, but the lines were so ridiculous, that I kept that practice to a minimum.
In university, I would take lunch most days, but I would still have to buy something to eat, because of the long hours that I spent on campus. Some days I would buy a light snack which was some type of pastry and a beverage. Although I was a university student, who still lived at home, I still depended on my parents for money and I was determined to make it stretch.
When I got my first job in 2004, I carried the practice with me. I would take my lunch to work most days. On the occasional day I would buy lunch. The major downfall to buying lunch was that I had to walk to any restaurants, because I did not have a car. I would say that I used to buy lunch two to three times a week which translated to a maximum of forty dollars a week.
In 2007 I started a new job which came with a slight increase in salary. It was a new location too – right in the heart of Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados. The restaurant choices were endless. I bought lunch more frequently and cooking was done at a minimum. I also had friends working in Bridgetown, so I would go to lunch with them most days.
In January 2008 I started monitoring my spending habits. The results showed that I was spending too much money on lunch and I did not have to. I could cook and I could make a sandwich. A decision was made to cut back on buying lunch and I stuck to it. On evenings, I would go home and cook. And some mornings I would get up and make a sandwich. Buying lunch soon turned into a rare occurrence and I was able to save a bit of money.
When May 2008 rolled around I was on a strict budget which did not have a line item for lunch. I was determined to stay on track and I did!
Fast forward to 2012 and I’m still taking my lunch to work. I even got my mother on the bandwagon and she takes her lunch to work too. We share the lunch making tasks. She cooks some evenings and I cook some mornings. Most weeks I create a meal plan which allows me to buy the required ingredients when I go to the supermarket.
Other articles in this series are the Living La Vida Frugal: The Cell Phone Edition and the Living La Vida Frugal: The Hair Edition.