Frugal Friday

I'd like to start a new series for 2010 on my blog called "Frugal Friday." 2009 was a year of vacations for me! I took several trips - both flying and driving - to many destinations. This year, I'll have to tighten my purse strings a bit and focus on ways to save money and reuse/re-purpose items. What many of my friends do not know yet is that I have purchased a house! Yes, I am once again taking the plunge. I have purchased a home right here in the Ville that is very close to where I work. So this fuels my need to keep a closer eye on my finances. I was blessed this last year to be able to live with a friend (and now my parents) after selling my first house, so my living costs were pretty minimal, making it possible for me to go to so many great places in 2009. Not to say that I won't spend money on things or won't eat out some or won't take a road trip or two, but I'd like to spend a little less and save a little more this year. So, my Frugal Friday posts will be a way to document this and keep me accountable and aware of my spending....and maybe give anyone who reads my blog some ideas too. I'll post some pics of my new house (I won't be moving in until late February) and the decision to stay put here in the Ville at a later date, but for now - enjoy my first Frugal Friday Post!

I got into the bad habit at work of going out to eat almost every single day for lunch. Although it is nice to get out of the office for an hour, go laugh with my co-workers and to have the food prepared for me, this is a very costly habit (not to mention the unnecessary calories!). Each lunch was an average of about $8-10, plus a tip!

So my solution for eating out was to make sure I have several options to choose from if I stayed in instead (or going out would continue to look better than staying in!). This picture shows what's hiding in the drawers beneath my desk at work.

The left side are 100 calorie Pringle Packs and a variety of potato chips (okay, not the healthiest, but let's take this one step at a time!). On the right in the top drawer are oatmeal packets (for breakfast) and protein bars (for when I hit the gym). The next two drawers down are Chef Boyardee canned pastas and several different types of soups. Like I said, I will work on the healthy part as I go, but for now I am just concentrating on not eating out (which is already saving some calories) and not getting bored with my lunch options. So for a fraction of the cost (about $45), I'll eat lunch for a month for what it would have cost me to eat lunch out every day for just a week.