Inspired by Krystal at Work’s commitment to packing her lunch to work 9 out of every 10 work days, I present The Sandwich Project.
What’s up?
I want to try and squeeze some money out of budget and make my life more streamlined. Buying lunch at work is a waste. As my old man likes to point out, he makes a kadrillion more dollars a year than I do, and he packs a lunch!
Krystal started packing her lunch at the end of ’09 to see if she could do it and what she might save. I don’t recall seeing the savings, but for me it should be substantial. I figure, maybe half of what I currently spend.
But why didn’t I do this before?
Lazy mostly, like to be spoiled… yup that too. Cost, I wasn’t convinced that it would necessarily be cheaper… and for sure not a better quality of lunch. But that is crazy bullshit that lives in my head.
I was buying sandwiches. WTF right? Bread, meat, cheese, veggies. I can do that.
Krystal allowed herself a bought lunch on paydays. I get two of those a month. Sounds like a fair play.
A roadblock that I throw up is waste. I hate waste. Food waste is like The Olympics… I am lighting money on fire. I don’t just hand my money to the garbage can normally (Madelyn however, well she’s a stasher and if she finds my wallet, money walks to weird places).
Before I would get all gung-ho on “packed lunches,” go to the grocery store, buy all this stuff and seriously, days later I’d stop and buy lunches, then the end of the week I’d be tossing rotting goo into the garbage bin.
David Eleanor turned me on to the big Tupperware thing with a drip tray. Lock your lettuce in there, lives forever. At least a work week. Pre-chop some veggies, Subway style and lock them in airtight container in the fridge, they should last too.
Quality is the last obstacle… but heck, I was a sandwich artist professionally for years! I am the Chris Pronger of Sandwich, I can rock a sandwich. What sets the restaurants apart from you and me, I believe… is bread. That might take some time to dial in. I like Bond’s Bakery, but they aren’t near my house… so this week, its Safeway Sandwich Kaisers and French baguettes.
So here is the plan. Each week, I’ll design my menu (likely the same thing every day, at least to start), buy my groceries for lunch, and make it and eat it… then blog it. My goal will be to get my cost-per-lunch down to $5 a day. If the 12-year-olds making sneakers can live off like $2 a day, I can live off a $5 meal.
Likely my sandwiches will be pretty basic to get going. I hope to learn to make more interesting subs and the like as I progress. Make the microwave my bitch.
Week 1 Grocery Bill
.870 kg Trail Mix = $6.87
340 grams Turkey Breast = $8.13
1 cucumber = $2.29
Red lettuce = $1.49
4 Granny Smith Apples = $2.95
mmm Horseradish Cheese = $3.63
Almond Granola Bars = $3.99
Artisan Buns and Rolls = $1.28
I think that is everything. After taxes and my Safeway discount it worked out to $29.61 for 3 work lunches and a Saturday. Already above $5 a day.
BUT I bought more trail mix than I need and more granola bars, so next Monday will be my real test. I might be able to do better on lunch meat too. IN the summer veggies will be in season and I hope that helps a bit too.
Coffee and water are provided at my work, so water it must be (I might pack some change for a pop or chocolate sometimes too).
So, Turkey and cheese bunes with lettuce and cucumber, with an apple, trail mix and a granola bar. That’s lunch this week. Next update, Wednesday when we’re back from Vancouver. Just a two day work week to pack a lunch.
Go with yourself.
This is your mother, signing off with unsolicited advice. So, my friend who is interested in vegan dining….
Using the stereotypical RDAs for food groups, you need like, 3-4 servings of protein a day. Assuming that you don’t get soy, eat a lot of legumes or quinoa, or drink that much of the cow, I’ll figure you’re gleaning all of it from meat and meat alternates – like nuts and seeds.
A serving of meat is 3oz. – approximately 85 grams. Meaning, for five days of work, you need only 425 grams of meat OR 2.5oz of nuts/seeds. Or a combination thereof. Step up the produce portion – seriously, just an apple besides the sandwich fixins – drop the (extra nuts and likely sugar) granola bar for, say, yogurt and you’ll save spades.
Protein costs the most, out of pocket and in the long-term, apparently.
That all being said – GO YOU, You can totally do it!
I love it. yeah maybe figuring out how to cut back or reduce meat might be huge for bring average cost down. and I’ll need to ramp up veggie and fruit servings.
I make four packed lunches a day and my kids eat a ton! The majority of my grocery bill goes towards lunches. The packaged stuff is hugely expensive, unhealthy, heavy on packaging and their favourite part of lunch.
My kids need protein. Otherwise they come home and act like assholes.
To supplement sandwiches, i also make a big bowl of pasta salad and give them that (cheap). Sometimes i make them chicken nuggets which they love, pan-fried tofu and wraps! The typical chicken ceasar wrap is their fav. and it’s super simple and quick.
And hey, your a grown-up, what about leftovers heated up in the microwave, that’s super cheap too!
Hey Jeremy,
Here is a coupon for $3 off POM Smart Bread. You are making money with this.
http://www.groceryalerts.ca/buy-3-ultra-moeullex-or-smart-bread-of-pom-and-save-3
We may have a coupon on there for mustard as well.
we pack lunches too… it’s cheaper and i like the quality control.
my advice for keeping the costs down is to skip the cheese. it’s generally pretty pricey and not overly healthy anyways.
and then i make up the flavour portion by making fancy mayonnaise.
we mix it up every week or two… like if i’ve made pesto, i’ll save a teaspoon and make a pesto mayo in a tupperware for sandwiches… or chipotle mayo, curry mayo etc.
whatever is around goes in the mayo.
for the meat, i’ll look for sales on stuff like whole chickens etc and cook one off, shred it into a tupperware and use that all week for sandwiches.
leftovers often make it into sandwiches too… we try to cook one extra piece of meat purely for the next day’s sandwich.
also, those veggie tupperwares are so so so worth the investment. we have 3 in different sizes and love them. they keep stuff fresh for an amazing amount of time.
my last word on sandwiches from home is that i would suggest packing your veg separately and putting it on at the last minute. to me that’s the big difference in buying a sandwich vs the brown bag sammie. i hate the soggy bread and the wilted lettuce… so i often assemble my sandwich at work right before i eat it.
(also, that seems like a LOT of money for your veggies – cucumber & apples especially. is produce more $$ on the island?)
I used to be the KING of waste, especialliay with fresh fruit & veggies.
I’d get into my “healthy” mode at the grocery-store, but by the time I got ’round to using my fresh produce, it had turned into a putrid, soggy, mess.
The solution was offered to me on the late night infomercials, but I did not believe it (until I tried it).
Those “Debbie Meyer Green Bags”.
They really DO work, as promised!
You can get them at Wal-Mart, or at those “As seen On TV” stores, in the mall.
BTW, they also carry the same thing (altho un-branded, and made in Japan), which are of equal quality, and half the price).
I buy them now and give them away to friends & relatives, and they are all equally impressed with the results.
There is a PBS documentary on You-Tube, that tested these bags, by making a salad after 18 days of storage, and it was still good.
Altho I raised my children on Happy-Meals, I am now mostly organic. No chemical pesticides, no artificial growth hormones (either animal or vegetable). I even choose veggie wieners and hamburgers.
The thing I hate most, is that many grocery stores still package “fresh/organic” items in packaging that may not be recyclecable (at least in Coquitlam). “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot???? We need to change this!
Congrats on your quest.
Healthy (and $$) cannot be trusted to mass production.
Building sandwiches at work is what i used to do oddly enough. When I first started at the Zone and made no money. And kept the veggies in a sealed container.
Then I went away from that, but I am getting back on the grind.
As for the cost of veggies. Not sure if its an Island thing? I suspect it is, but it is likely more a case of a Safeway thing. I get they cost more, but I like the Safeway by my house, so I go there. My initial goal is to replicate a safeway deli sandwich, so for now I am using their products… but then I want to make better sandwiches and source the best stuff I can. Summer should be fun when i can get local Island produce. You can even get Island flour from one farm so i hear… maybe I should try that for fun, make bread 100 Mile diet style.
Hey Jeremy, good for you! I used to buy wraps every day at school and when I realized how much I was spending… I started packing my own lunch. I don’t know what it is, but I can never get sandwiches to keep well enough through the day that I’m satisfied with them at lunch time. I figured it was too fussy (and took up too much space in my bag) to bring all the ingredients in separate containers and assemble the sandwich there, so I embarked on an awesome leftovers plan.
Do you and Coral cook much at home? Ryan and I are not always very organized when it comes to having a meal together at dinner, but usually I’ll have a snack while cooking, and then take the leftovers for lunch and have them for dinner the next day. I end up cooking Monday for Tuesday’s lunch and dinner, then cooking Tuesday for Wednesday’s lunch and dinner. It’s a bit fussy, but ends up working for me. Best part are the awesome lunches though!
Rather than finding the perfect sandwich, you should give one bowl dinners a try for lunch leftovers. I have a lunch Tupperware container and usually it has a grain, vegetables, and protein (Friday’s lunch was brown rice with tofu and veg stir fry) and it ends up being more filling and satisfying than a sandwich.
I think another bonus is that since I don’t have to buy specific items for lunch, it evens out our grocery bill and keeps dinner leftovers from going to waste.
$2.29 for ONE cucumber? Start shopping for your veggies at the Root Cellar.
I’m excited for you JB! You ARE the Chris Pronger of sandwich making.
[…] and I found it VERY cool that he’s been inspired by my lunch challenge, and is now taking on The Sandwich Project in an effort to save money. (Take a look at the photo – Jeremy’s wife baked him a […]