Can we talk about how I used to buy $12 lunch every day and now I make a week's worth for that? | Budget Friendly Meals

Sean Perry · 2026-10-10T11:25:05.148412+00:00

I used to grab a sandwich and chips from the deli near my job every single day, and that was $12 easy, sometimes $14 if I got a drink. That went on for like two years, and I never really added it up until my card got declined at a gas station last month. Turns out I was dropping almost $300 a month just on lunches, which is insane when I think about it. So I started cooking a big pot of something on Sunday nights, like chili or chicken and rice, and portioning it out into those cheap plastic containers from the dollar store. Now I spend maybe $15 at Aldi on ingredients and that covers my whole week. The food isn't fancy, but it's filling and I'm not stressed about money by Thursday anymore. Has anyone else made a switch like this, and what's your go-to cheap meal that actually keeps you full?

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Can we talk about how I used to buy $12 lunch every day and now I make a week's worth for that? | Budget Friendly Meals - The Community Guide