I successfully packed lunch for 2-3 days on Sunday night and took a stack of Rubbermaid and Ziploc boxes to work. (Yes! It’s a shameless plug for a stock I own because I love Rubbermaid!)
By fighting my urge to buy a soda as a beverage all day long, I ended up spending nothing on Monday. Not a dime. (In fact, I found one at the bottom of the washing machine tub.)
Four tricks to spending nothing:
1. Keep that office pantry stocked. (Granola bar breakfast)
2. Pack your lunch. (I finally had some time to cook all night on Sunday.)
3. Fight your urge to buy a drink and drink whatever is free. (Coffee, tea, water)
4. Plan your dinner in advance. (Do your prep another day and cook it all when you get home.)
Three out of those four tips are fundamentally about planning ahead of time. It doesn’t have to be crazy planned out, but some simple forethought while grocery shopping is enough. I’ve known for a month that my boyfriend was going to be away for the week. But I shopped the grocery store over the weekend and bought only a few things of what looked good that day. Some of it was convenience food, but it was worthwhile.
I picked up:
1 bag of Frozen *raw* chicken tenders (not breaded kiddie food)
1 bag of Fingerling potatoes
1 Bell pepper
1 Vidalia onion
1 pkg Sliced cremini mushrooms
There were some leftover shrimp that my boyfriend picked up at the DC Fish Market in Southwest, pesto and some Giant-brand tortellini in the fridge.
The meal plan looks like this:
Sunday afternoon: Cut up the chicken and make two marinades. Marinade the shrimp. Prep the pepper into julienne strips. Cut up the onion into two cuts. Cut the onion in half and slice the first half and french the second half. Put all the prepped food into tubs and put in fridge. (Meat goes in glass bowls. I think it’s easier to control contamination with glass & plastic wrap.)
Sunday night: Cook the leftover shrimp, toss with pesto and tortellini. Box leftover portion. Cook half the sliced onion and half the bell pepper. Bake the potatoes per the package recipe. Cook one of the chicken marinades. Box all of it. It should be enough for 2 meals.
Monday lunch: Shrimp and tortellini leftovers.
Tuesday lunch: Chicken, veggies and potatoes for lunch.
Wednesday lunch: Bought a sandwich and ate my lunch for a snack around 5. Chicken, veggies and potatoes for lunch.
Wednesday dinner: Popsicle, Triscuits with Boursin cheese.
I also cooked again on Wednesday night to clean out the fridge a bit.
Thursday lunch: Chicken with leftover pesto, onion/mushroom saute, and Boursin/garlic alfredo sauce on spaghetti.
I planned on Five Guys for dinner on Tuesday but ended up at Tiffany Tavern in Old Town, and I passed on chicken for lunch that day because I had plenty of meat later. My friend canceled our baseball game on Wednesday, so I went out for lunch ($5.50) and ate my lunch later.
I’m really trying hard to make $200 bucks last for two weeks. So far so good. I am down to about $114 with about 8 days left till payday. I am still not sure I will make it, but it’s good for me to try right now.
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Some great sounding meals here. Keep up the good work!