If you’re someone who works in the city, it’s very likely you’re spending a good chunk of change everyday on lunch.
If you’re someone who works in the city, it’s very likely you’re spending a good chunk of change everyday on lunch.
A regular rice or noodle based dish in the Central Business District (CBD) can cost anything from $4.50-$6.50. Throw in a drink at another $1.50-$2 and that’s already $6!
And if you just so happen to want something more expensive, you’re looking at possibly spending up to $9 a day!
Let’s do some quick math.
Assuming I work 20 regular days in a month, and I spend an average of $5 on food and $2 on a drink,
I’m spending upwards of $7 a day, multiplied by 20 that’s $140 spent on lunch EVERY MONTH.
I’m not even counting weekend outings or dinner dates with friends, which can easily cost up to $20-$30 each time!
Being fortunate enough to work from home in 2020, affordable lunches at the neighbourhood coffee shop were that much accessible.
However, I was SHOCKED at the difference.
Out of the same 20 days, if I bought a meal at $3.50 and getting a bottled or cartoned drink to last me 1 week,
I’d be paying just $4.50 a day, which would be $90 a month!
This would easily save me $50 per month – enough to cover an insurance premium, or a phone bill!
The problem with this strategy is – there are only so many times you can eat the same $3.50 meals before you get sick of them, and then you fall back into buying pricey meals even with cheaper options available.
So how do I get nutritious, well-rounded, tasty meals without breaking the bank?
The answer is something a lot of people aren’t going to like – you cook them yourself!
Now before you press the big red X at the top of the page, hear me out,
I would set a weekly budget for my meals – because when you’re working from home, getting fresh groceries for meals is much easier.
A quick trip to the local Sheng Siong, or NTUC and I would be back with my groceries for the week!
Each meal would consist of rice, a meat and a vegetable, and if I wanted drinks I would get them but sticking to water at home not only helped reduced costs but made for healthier meals too.
Rather than planning recipes ahead of time and stressing about whether I would follow them religiously, or have the right ingredients,
I would get a bunch of ingredients and then decide what to do with them later on, here’s an example of what I would shop for:
| Rice | $7.30 for 5kg |
| Chicken Fillet | $5.50 for 5 |
| Brocolli | $3.00 for 250g |
| Bag of Carrots | $0.95 for 500g |
| Bok Choy | $3.05 for 250g |
| Shiitake Mushrooms | $2.25 for 250g |
| Egg Noodles | $1.15 for 180g |
| Total: | $23.20 |
(Prices taken at time of writing not indicative of current prices)
Since 5kg of rice can easily last me a month, the rest being bought and consumed weekly,
We’re looking at a total of $15.90 per week, and with the rice, a total of $70.90 PER MONTH on lunch!
That’s basically HALF of what I would expect to spend on lunch if I was always buying lunch at work!
So now you have your affordable ingredients – now what?
Like I mentioned before, rather than stressing about planning the exact things to prepare, I would have a list of simple and easy recipes on hand such as:
- Teriyaki Chicken Rice Bowl
- Stir Fried Fish & Broccoli
- Roasted Potatoes, Vegetables & Flash Fry Fish
- Spaghetti Bolognese
- Thai-Style Chicken Rice
- Garlic Fried Noodles
Feeling hungry yet?
The best part of all these recipes are that they are:
- Easy to prepare (Takes less than 30 minutes including preparation)
- Not heavy on seasoning (Can be cooked with most common seasonings, or bought affordably as well)
- Healthy – meaning you can spare some calories for a sweet drink or desserts!
On top of that – even if you were to prepare meals to bring to work on a daily basis,
Not much time or effort is required to get ingredients and prepare 1 dish a day,
Or you can prepare multiple meals at the start of the week to keep them as the week goes by!
So if you want to slash the amount you’re spending on lunch WITHOUT compromising on taste, quality, or portion,
Start prepping your own list of recipes and lunch staples to start cooking at home!
Happy lunching!
Comment below with what dish YOU’RE looking to prepare on your own!
