Saving money everyday is especially easy when it comes to food. The amount of cash you could keep in your pocket, or more importantly in your bank account just by "brown bagging it" is amazing. It is something we all say we are going to do more often and just never seem to get to it. I figure if I show you the actual numbers you might change your ways. Two examples of this are bringing your own drink, and making your own sandwich.

1) If you insist on not making your own lunch, the least you can do is bring your own drink. I happen to be a soda and bottled iced tea lover and bring my own everyday. Soda can be found on sale for (4) 12 packs for $10.00 on a good sale day. That comes to about $0.21 a can. $1.00 seems to be the going price for a can of soda at the sandwich or pizza shop. That is a savings of $0.80 a day. Five days of work gives you a savings of $4 a week. If you work 48 of those weeks in a year, that gives a total savings of $192.00 a year. For you fast food lovers, a combo meal costs is usually a minimum of $5.00. Get 3 things from the value menu and bring your own drink and the savings are about the same.

2) Taking it a bit further. Sandwiches, submarines, subs, grinders, or whatever they are called in your parts are a great example. The profit margins on these products are huge for the sandwich maker. You can figure to pay a minimum of $4.00 for a half of a sub, a normal sandwich, or wrap. Eat one of those a few times a week and it really adds up. Good lunch meat in the store costs approximately $7.95 a pound which will get you anywhere from 4 to 7 sandwiches depending on how thick you like it. Bread can be had for $2.00 a loaf and cheese $3.00 a package. Add that all up and you can get lots of sandwiches for $10, even if you want lettuce, tomato, and condiments. Eat a sandwich every day of the work week and that is probably about $5.50 with soda and small chips. That is $27.50 for the work week, as compared to $11 or so with brown bagging it. Using the 48 weeks we mentioned in the soda section, that is a savings of $792!!!! That seems worth the few minutes it takes to make a sandwich to me. Especially when top of the line cold cuts can be purchased for $7.95 a pound, and a majority of sandwich shops use cold cuts with tons of water and other fillers.