Saving Time By Making On The Go Lunches Simpler

Some days we have to choose between our sanity and our time. By using these tips to make simpler lunches, we’ve made a hectic time much easier in our home.

Saving Time By Making On-the-Go Simpler Lunches

**Disclaimer before I start this post….I wrote this post 9 YEARS AGO and was too afraid to publish it because I don’t advocate for homemade products in it. While you can absolutely make all homemade things and still make the ideas in this post work for you, I was scared of the backlash I might get.

The truth is, we all go through seasons in life when we have certain things we have to do and we might have to decide to do things differently. While I still make the majority of our food from scratch, I also still try and make lunches like this for my husband. On weeks when he has to go to work, this is very helpful for us.

Having major health issues for the past few months has reminded me that we all go through these seasons sometimes and we do the best we can. I hope that you still find this article helpful!**

Lunches within our home always pretty much look the same, I mostly like to eat up leftovers each day. If for some reason we don’t have any then I will usually make a quick chicken soup (in the winter) or we feast on whatever garden veggies are available (summer).

Lunches for my hubby, however, can look quite different depending on the day fo the week. Sometimes he eats at home with us or sometimes he has to have food that he can take with him to work. He also doesn’t have the same dietary restrictions that we do at home so the possibilities are much different.

At some point during our life journey I had to make the decision if I wanted to make my life simpler or if I wanted to stay a bit more frugal with his lunches. I could either buy his lunch ingredients and just put them together myself or I could make everything homemade for his lunches, even though we couldn’t eat any of it.

Those of you that also have celiac disease will understand why I chose the simpler way instead of making homemade. You just can’t always make different meals for each member of the family!

I don’t mind making a loaf of homemade bread for the kids to eat, it just has to be gluten free, but they will eat the entire thing in one sitting. (I need a bigger bread machine!) So my issue with making homemade things that only my husband can eat was that since he would be the only one eating this and it was homemade it would go bad before he could eat it all. That might result in food waste which actually might end up costing me more money….either way, I chose to do things the simple way.

Luckily through the years I’ve found some great ways to save on his lunches to stay within our budget and still keep him full during the day. Today I’m going to share how I do that!

Simpler Breakfasts

Since he is on the road for the majority of the day when he works, I usually send my hubby with his breakfast as well. He enjoys natural pop-tarts or protein bars when I can find them at the discount store. (I won’t pay more than $1.50 a box)

If that’s not available or I want to give him a variety of breakfasts throughout the month I will make up Breakfast Sandwiches or Burritos ahead of time and freeze them until we need them. (Usually a tortilla, eggs, cheese, and some kind of meat.) I also make Bagel Sandwiches if I can find a good deal on bagels at a Bread Discount Store. (A bagel with an egg and cheese).

Anything made is made up ahead of time and packaged in gallon sized freezer bags (a week’s worth of breakfasts in each bag). The night before I get the bag out of the freezer and stick it in the fridge so they are ready to go.

Simpler Lunches

Hubby always takes sandwiches or my homemade “lunchables” for the main part of his lunches. We find deals on good breads either at the Bread Discount Store, Costco, or Sams. I try and stick with organic bread if I have to buy it. Any extras on the loaf I put in the freezer until I need them.

I always try and find a variety of meats so he can have a choice of what sounds good. If I’m really stapped for time, the sandwiches can be made up ahead of time (usually 2 weeks in advance). I put together the meat, cheese slices, and bread and place them in a sandwich bag inside of a large freezer bag. (Same with breakfasts, a week’s worth in each bag so I can take the bag out of the freezer on Sunday to be ready for the week).

When we are packing a lunch, all he has to do is grab the sandwich and he can customize from there if he wants to.

If I’m not as busy, I will just make the sandwiches right before he leaves.

I also make homemade “lunchables” to change things up a bit. This consists of several small bags or a divided container that has crackers, sliced cheese, and some kind of meat (deli meat, jerky, sausage, etc). We’s started making these more often than sandwiches because they are easier to eat on the road and not so carb heavy.

Simpler Extras

A sandwich won’t be enough for the full day so I always pack “snack bags”. (Of course, we always have fresh fruits and veggies to grab too but I can’t usually put those things together ahead of time).

At the start of the month, I bag up these snacking bags. They usually consist of some kind of cracker, a granola bar, and a “treat”. All of the items for these bags I find at the Discount Store (The boxes are dented or close to expiration so we can get some awesome deals!) or I find them on sale at Sams or Costco.

These snack bags are also great for the kids when we have long days in the car. I can grab several in the morning before we head out the door!

All are packed in an easy-to-grab bag and stored in a small tote that we keep in the kitchen. I make extra bags of chips too by getting larger bags and re-packing them into smaller bags making my own snack packs when I have time. I don’t mind getting the snack packs of chips but they are so incredibly expensive.

Could I make this process more frugal?

Sure.

But this way works for us right now and we are happy with it. It’s simple, and streamlined, and I can make up just about everything ahead of time so in the morning when hubby is trying to get out the door, we just have to grab a few things and he’s ready for the day. It does wonders on our “morning rush stress” when it seems like there are 100 things going on at once.

Doesn’t it seem that we always get to those points in life sooner or later? We have to choose to save money or keep our simple life. Some things are absolutely worth it to make at home, and sometimes it’s OK to take the easy way.

Everyone will make a different decision based on what they are faced with and what works at that point and time in their life. What was a time in your life you had to make a decision like this and what did you do?

We do have a great page with Make Ahead Meals here on Little House Living to help you manage your time better!

More Lunch Ideas

• Easy and Healthy Frugal Lunch Ideas
• 25 Healthy Lunch Ideas
• 153+ Grocery Staples That You Can Make At Home
• No Cook Meal Ideas for Hot Summer Days

How do you simplify on the go lunches in your house? What things do you make ahead?

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Merissa has been blogging about and living the simple life since 2009 and has internationally published 2 books on the topic. You can read about Merissa’s journey from penniless to the 100-acre farm and ministry on the About Page. You can send her a message any time from the Contact Page.

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This blog post on Making Simpler Lunches was originally written in 2014 but never published. It has been updated and finally published in January 2023.