I have carefully cultivated an attitude that is best summarized by the sentence, “Eating is what I do at *home*.”

Repeating that to myself like a mantrum helped me switch my habits around a lot, and helped me resist going out to buy lunch at work on days when I had failed to pack one. On those occasions, I just repeated that thought in my head and waited until the day ended, then had dinner at the house.

Then when I’m leaving in the morning, I just grab my canvas lunch bag and put in the container, a heel of bread or two, a piece of fruit, and maybe a mason jar of milk (if I’m out of milk at my company’s fridge–I use the milk for tea I make during the day. Which is economic defense strategy #1 for me: “always have a snack and a drink available for breaks at work so you don’t end up at the local coffee cafe”)

2) I keep 2 tins of sardines (in hot sauce or mustard sauce) in my lunch bag and one in by backpack at all times. If things get really desperate, I can always go in the back room and wolf one of those down and follow it with a glass of filtered water.

(As you may be beginning to surmise, I am gonzo about avoiding spending money out of the house for food)

3) Over time, I have redefined my needs for lunch at work, and am willing to just eat a little (small bowl of soup and some bread) or go without and just have an extra cup of tea or cocoa (made from that mason jar of milk I keep at work) for the “break factor” and am willing to go a little “empty” in my stomach during the day. I realized it wasn’t a disaster if I felt a sensation of hunger, and I can wait until I get home to eat. Mind you, this is a recent development, just since this summer.

Since learning to reframe the sensation of mild hunger and realizing that it wasn’t an immediate threat to my survival (actual starvation takes between 10 and 14 days, as a matter of fact–a fact that helped me in reframing this) and defer eating when appropriate or convenient, I have also lost an entire waist size and can now fit in the clothes I wore when I was 25 (I am 40).

This has been a gradual evolution for me, but grocery costs that used to be around $220 per month are now slightly below $100 a month just for me. I have largely eliminated eating out, and it’s down to less than once a month now. There are people who spend even less, between 50 and 75 dollars, which I would regard as a bottom limit for what you can spend on food.(If you’re interested in how, check out Early Retirement Extreme).

ciao

I’ve heard a lot about this “all day” method. We need to try it. Thanks for the tip.

Best of all, the cuts of meat that do best in the slow-cooker are the cheap ones! It’s difficult to cook in small portions, but most leftovers freeze well. I freeze them into individual portions and take them for lunch.