A great way to save money when traveling or when you are out in town for the day is to bring your lunch with you! We are on a limited grocery and eating out budget and spending $10 here and $8 there on fast food and eating out while we are on the go adds up quickly and is not feasible on our budget!

So, what is the solution? Bring your lunch!!

Saturday we attended Pod Camp Nashville 2010 in downtown Nashville! It was a free conference and we found a $5 parking lot a block away from the conference but we couldn’t justify spending $10 each on lunch at the conference!

Instead we packed our drinks (water & sweet tea) and stopped by Kroger on the way to Nashville!

Here’s what we purchased:

1 loaf of bread: $.78

Pimento Cheese spread: $2.50

Vinegar & Salt Chips: $1.79

Total (with tax): $5.46

Of course we only ate half of the pimento cheese spread and chips and less than half a loaf of bread so our lunch was only about $2.73 which saved us $17.27 (compared to purchasing lunch at the conference)!!

I realize it’s not a healthy lunch but it can’t be any worse than burgers and fries from a fast food place!

One of my favorite homemade on the go meals to make is a simple Chicken Salad! It’s so easy to make and pack for a frugal meal when we’re out! Serve it on homemade bread with an apple and you have a very frugal, healthy homemade lunch that saves you money!!

We’re definitely going to bring our lunch more often when we’re on the go. A little bit of planning can really save a lot of money which can make a big impact on your budget!

Do you bring your lunch with you when you are away from home? If so, what are some of your favorite meals to bring?

Linked to: Frugal Friday