Asked how he afforded international travel on a small salary, a colleague of a few years ago pointed to the lunch bag on his desk.
He said he and his wife both took their own lunch to work, putting what they saved on restaurant lunches into a jar. Whatever that added up to each year was what they spent on their vacation.
The same principle also applies if you need to save a few bucks to pay a burgeoning food or gas bill. It’s pretty easy to save $50 to $80 each week.
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that more people are brown-bagging it these days. It noted that online bag retailer eBags.com saw sales of lunch bags and coolers increase 39 percent in June over the year before.
Even if you never have time at home to make your own lunch, you can still save a buck. One suggestion is to buy a $5 footlong sandwich at Subway, eat half and save the rest for the next day. Buy a snack or a drink at the grocery store, and you wind up spending about $15 to $20 a week.
Mike Benbow, Herald writer
