Meal 1

I promise, I'm not going to blog every lunch, but I thought I might document day 1 for a few reasons.

1. It might be a challenge to document lunch costs.  The photo above, depending on what metrics you use, was practically free. I got the hot dog for free from my father-in-law, the chips probably cost some money, maybe forty cents or so? See the next bullet for the cole slaw and bread.

2. Another reason I felt day 1 might be worth documenting is because the bread was the last piece from the last loaf.  We bought a new loaf of bread for this week.  I dont know if the bread would've gone stale, but its certainly possible, especially if I would've eaten 5 meals of my week out.  The coleslaw I also made with some cabbage and carrots that we bought for another recipe.  I used up the cabbage making coleslaw and, like the bread, this very well might have just turned bad and ended up in the compost (dump).  I think that these two points highlight some of the other stated goals of the lunch budget, is to use up what I already have, and not let perfectly good food that I already paid for go to waste.  With some minor constraints, and a little motivation I am thinking about how to use the leftover items to make something that I actually enjoy for lunch. It may or may not be worth mentioning, but not buying hoagies for the hot dogs was a decision I made. That is, to use up the sliced bread we had rather than loading up on more bread for one specific purpose.

3. The goal of the lunch budget is not just to save a grand every year, but to save a grand every year and eat just as well (or better).  Honestly, this lunch approximately as good as going out to a hot dog cart and buying a hot dog, some cole slaw, and a bag of cooler ranch doritos.  I am not trying to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches everyday, but I'm sure there will be a quite a few of those just based on ease, cost, and taste.  The goal is to eat as well or better for less while reducing waste and being more productive.